Rating: 
Summary: Finding serenity in a labyrinth
Review: Then, as a chocolate truffle comes at the end of a seven course meal and threatens to dissolve the wonders of all the complexities of taste that had come previously to the pallate, came Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life--for, having been introduced to Proust, like M. Botton, at an early age, perhaps too early to appreciate it to the fullest degree possible, yet grateful for the experience, I had taken the full meal before the truffle--and I was filled with a sense of new taste, and new desires for old tastes; yet I also marvelled how the book remained light, well-informed of but unburdened by the labyrinthine Proustian sentence structure and syntax (which is featured on a particular page containing the longest sentence in literature--Proust's, of course); and I found new clarity in all my emotions, especially in how much I hated James Joyce, all through the instruction of this book; which I must admit is far better if you have taken the year off and read In Search of Lost Time; and it occured to me that one could easily talk of any chapter of this book in analysis, which is a high, high compliment, for it indicates that an experience with a book can penetrated one's very psyche; and what better is there in the book than the Proustian paradoxical discovery of finding all complexities of beauty in the simple, the uncomplicated, the serene--this is a great book, which makes, unlike so many books, an exceedingly gracious exit, advising us, importantly--perhaps saving our lives!--how to ESCAPE from the spell of great books, of which this may be one, and which certainly derives from the richest seven-course meal the French have yet offered the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Provisionally a minor classic
Review: I found this book to be original and thought-provoking. For some reason, it evoked a similar state of mind to that which I experience while reading Iris Murdoch's "Under The Net". It appears to be a light philosophical treatise, albeit disguised as light literary criticism. As such, it passes the essential test of practicality. I have found myself (mentally) referring back to certain passages when wondering what to do about this or that situation in my own life. I also found it to be very good fun to read. Time and re-reading often do strange things to books. So I am not prepared to come to a conclusion about "How Proust Can Change Your Life" until I have read it again in a couple of years' time. But I am already looking forward to doing so. Meanwhile, thanks Alain de B for a very unusual experience.
Rating:
Summary: GET THIS BOOK
Review: I read all the time, every day, and this book is fantastic. I've read Proust, but it isn't necessary to have read him to love this book. In fact, this book makes a nice introduction to Proust, and if you wanted to fake having read Proust, this would be an enjoyable way to pick up enough information to do just that :-) This book is simply one of the loveliest meditations on reading and life, and how they intertwine, that I've ever read. It's not a book for people who don't like to read, but for anyone who DOES like to read, I think it would make a lovely gift. I gave it to myself, and I thanked myself for it very much.
Rating:
Summary: A different self-help approach.
Review: I have tackled only "Swann's Way" from the seven volumes of Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time," formerly translated as "Remembrance of Things Past." You need not have read Proust to thoroughly enjoy this concise 197-page book in nine chapters. When you finish it, however, you will be seriously contemplating having a go at Proust's masterpiece in its entirety. Consider the chapter titles. The fourth is "How to Suffer Successfully." The seventh is "How to Open Your Eyes." The eighth is "How to be Happy in Love." The last, and my favorite, is "How to Put Books Down." The author draws on the ideas and characters found in Proust's masterpiece and renders Proust's response to these issues. All of this is very wittily done. The whole thing is leavened with fascinating biographical tidbits concerning this strange, brilliant man, Marcel Proust. In that last chapter Mr. de Botton (apparently a Brit) presents us with Proust's view of books and their proper place in life: "It is one of the great and wonderful characteristics of good books (which allows us to see the role at once essential yet limited that reading may play in our spiritual lives) that for the author they may be called "Conclusions" but for the reader "Incitements." We feel very strongly that our own wisdom begins where that of the author leaves off, and we would like him to provide us with answers when all he is able to do is provide us with desires . . . . That is the value of reading, and also its inadequacy. To make it into a discipline is to give too large a role to what is only an incitement. Reading is on the threshold of the spiritual life; it can introduce us to it: it does not constitute it." On the other hand should we expect any lesser eloquence from a man who on a different subject said this: "People who are not in love fail to understand how an intelligent man can suffer because of a very ordinary woman. This is like being surprised that anyone should be stricken with cholera because of a creature so insignificant as the comma bacillus." I loved this book. It was indeed a tonic, and I think you might find it so, too.
Rating:
Summary: A different self-help approach.
Review: I have tackled only "Swann's Way" from the seven volumes of Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time," formerly translated as "Remembrance of Things Past." You need not have read Proust to thoroughly enjoy this concise 197-page book in nine chapters. When you finish it, however, you will be seriously contemplating having a go at Proust's masterpiece in its entirety. Consider the chapter titles. The fourth is "How to Suffer Successfully." The seventh is "How to Open Your Eyes." The eighth is "How to be Happy in Love." The last, and my favorite, is "How to Put Books Down." The author draws on the ideas and characters found in Proust's masterpiece and renders Proust's response to these issues. All of this is very wittily done. The whole thing is leavened with fascinating biographical tidbits concerning this strange, brilliant man, Marcel Proust. In that last chapter Mr. de Botton (apparently a Brit) presents us with Proust's view of books and their proper place in life: "It is one of the great and wonderful characteristics of good books (which allows us to see the role at once essential yet limited that reading may play in our spiritual lives) that for the author they may be called "Conclusions" but for the reader "Incitements." We feel very strongly that our own wisdom begins where that of the author leaves off, and we would like him to provide us with answers when all he is able to do is provide us with desires . . . . That is the value of reading, and also its inadequacy. To make it into a discipline is to give too large a role to what is only an incitement. Reading is on the threshold of the spiritual life; it can introduce us to it: it does not constitute it." On the other hand should we expect any lesser eloquence from a man who on a different subject said this: "People who are not in love fail to understand how an intelligent man can suffer because of a very ordinary woman. This is like being surprised that anyone should be stricken with cholera because of a creature so insignificant as the comma bacillus." I loved this book. It was indeed a tonic, and I think you might find it so, too.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the read
Review: Enjoyable book by a young, enthusiastic author. The themes here repeat in his fiction, but he'll mature. Meanwhile, it would be hard not to get something out of this. I've bought it to give to friends.
Rating:
Summary: Original effort that is both insightful and entertaining
Review: First, while I really love this little book, it doesn't quite deliver on the title. Not that the title isn't accurate. Very few fiction writers can actually change one's life, but Proust is one of a very few that can (reading him has very definitely changed mine), but I'm not quite sure that de Botton gets at the reasons why. At least, he didn't get to the specific reasons that Proust has had that effect on my life. Nonetheless, this remains an amazingly good introduction to Proust, and is a marvelous first-book for anyone contemplating reading Proust's masterpiece. Proust is, of course, the author of what is very widely considered to be the great work of literature of the past century and what is increasingly considered one of the great masterpieces in the history of literature: IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME. de Botton's volume isn't precisely an introduction to Proust so much as a series of reflections on themes that can be illustrated by aspects of Proust's life or by passages in his great novel. Many of these are marvelous at assisting even a veteran reader of Proust to gain new insights into his book. Is the book worthwhile for someone who does not plan on reading Proust but just wants to read an enjoyable book? Certainly. de Botton is unfailingly witty, almost always interesting, and frequently insightful. None of this relies either upon having read Proust or intending to. The book can certainly stand on its own. Reading this book is fun and easy; reading Proust can be fun at times, but it is also challenging and demanding frequently. But that may be why de Botton's book is unable to show how Proust truly can change your life. Proust has a way of sucking you deep into his book, making you so much a part of it that you feel almost that it is you and not the narrator from whom all these feelings and emotions arise. You almost become a part of the novel, and your life can change because Proust can create a story that becomes a mirror to your own life, instilling a sense of the things we ought to have done but didn't, but providing the revelation that it isn't too late. Proust can also show how all the failures of the past can become the material for future success and accomplishment. de Botton hints at some of this, and even quotes some key passages that in the context of the novel most eloquently display this (cf. the Elstir speech on p. 67, which I believe displays the central theme of the entire novel better than any other passage in Proust). I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone wishing either a fun read or a light-hearted intro to Proust. But even more I recommend reading Proust. Only in doing that can one actually discover how Proust can change one's life.
Rating: 
Summary: Weak and almost insipid
Review: I realize I am in the minority but I thought this book was a very weak extraction of some of Proust's concepts that almost seemed insipid after de Botton removed them from their context. I was not impressed with the flimsy essense that de Botton derives from Proust's work. The concept that original observation requires self editing and avoiding stereotypical labeling and categorization is not new news. The concept that reading allows us to reflect on our own circumstances and experiences is also not new news. The third theme that the best artists observe the world in a unique way, allowing others to appreciate their vision and possibly develop a vision of their own was the last straw for me. There are some adolescents with limited life experiences that may find this book of interest. For a more experienced reader, go to the source itself, not this weak distillation.
Rating:
Summary: A very informative character analysis
Review: This book was a very interesting treatise on human characters, not to mention Proust himself. Makes a good companion for the novel that it references, In Search of Lost Time if I'm not mistaken. Though not an easy reading at times, it certainly is worth digesting. I do sympathize with Proust on how sick one can become from listening to other people speak in cliches. Even better was Alan's The Consolations of Philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: ballsy and cheeky at the same time
Review: The purpose for reading philosophy is twofold: to understand one's nature and to change it for the better. Modern and post modern philosophy is to choked with metaphysical gibberish that unsuccessfully tries to explain one's nature and has no practical purpose. Usually nothing worthwhile can be gleaned from studying modern and post- modern philosophical material. This book is excellent in a sly way. Proust's (pronounced Pruest) writing is notoriously lengthy. I have never read any of his work yet. De Botton shows the worth of reading Proust in a modern age where information is instant and usually incomplete. De Botton's reasons are a mix of Bloom's "How to Read and Why" and the realization that Proust is a little to lengthy for the impact of his philosophy to be maximized. "How Proust Can Change Your Life" is half Cliffs Notes and half simplistic self help books like "All I Needed to Know I learned in Kindergarten." De Botton was probably someone who was turned off by the frequency of educators and authors who sucked the life out of the gist of the material. I like the balls and cheekiness of the subjects tackled, but I honestly doubt that anyone who purchases this book would be disinclined to read a lenghthy tome before reading this book anyways. I doubt De Botton is seeking converts who will become comfortable reading authors like Proust. In fact, I think he is saying that Proust's books are a little to long for their own good.
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