In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way, A Graphic Novel

May 31, 2023

ISBN: 9781631496479

When significant changes take place, one looks for a safe place. We had a lizard running around the house, and I couldn’t catch the creature, and with every attempt, I made the lizard more uncomfortable and stressed out. Which caused a certain amount of tension within me, and I’m sure the creature could pick up my frustration. Although the rate of seriousness in the world should rank relatively low, my time with this visitor was horrific and nightmarish. My Mother and Uncle’s passing last year have made me feel unbalanced, and the Lizard added that touch of losing my reality or what I think is my placement in the world. In truth, the Lizard has every right to be where he was, as I should have been a better host. Still, the quiet moments I sought were reading the graphic novel version of Swann’s Way.

Reading about intense jealousy and how one perceives the idea of love brings me comfort. Charles Swann, one of the main characters, is almost a hero of mine. Not because he has good qualities but because he has many faulty aspects of his charmed personality. I’m putting my big toe into the bathwater of Freud, and it excites me to realize that In Search of Lost Time is one of the significant works of literature under the impression of Freud’s work in psychology.

This graphic novel is an adaption by Stéphane Heuet, who does beautifully detailed drawings that illustrates the Proust world as one can imagine it in one’s head. He is stronger with architecture and scenery than faces, but that’s OK; I find it charming. It reminds me of TinTin. But this is a visual treat and seems ideally suited for the subject. The translation by Arthur Goldhammer is terrific as well. For me, graphic comics/novels are a hybrid of film and literature, but it is in their medium. Still, after reading the Lydia Davis translation of Swann’s Way first, it reinforces certain aspects of the story, but also the illustrated art lives on by itself. I feel Goldhammer and Heuet capture the essence of the Proust narrative, which serves very well in the graphic novel world.