Rating: 
Summary: Even if de Botton didn't exactly change my life....
Review: I'm posting this on behalf of a friend:
The book has such wide application. I think I benefited particularly, as a "writer" of sorts, from de Botton's discussion of the avoidance of cliche, of expressing yourself clearly, of NOT letting a great work of literature (or art, or music) paralyze your own voice. Then there were echoes, too, in the part on suffering successfully with some of what Dr. Timothy Johnson covered in that book my mom sent me.
And perhaps because it's fresh in my brain, having read it just a matter of hours ago, I really enjoyed his assertion that there's folly in trying to soak up some sort of cosmic significance in monuments, historical sites, and other artifacts that artistic idolaters hold dear. How many times have I found myself at So-and-So's ancestral birthplace, or the site where Such-and-Such wrote his opus, and felt...absolutely nothing. Just a place. Just a house. And I always thought my lack of emotion was a consequence of my shallowness.
Granted, I didn't agree with all of de Botton's conclusions (a stance of which I think Proust would approve), and was somewhat taken aback with his notions on friendship--I mean, what if I really DO want to know whether my poetry stinks or not? And sometimes, I felt as if he was weaving elaborate Proustian examples in order to illustrate some pretty basic points.
But in all, even if de Botton didn't exactly change my life, I'm more prepared than ever to start "Swann's Way" and see if Proust can. (Seriously, I'm actually looking forward--with trepidation, mind you--to starting that thing. But the time! When will I find the time?!)
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: 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.
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