How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel

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Summary: Can you say, self-love?
Review: Rambling comments about Proust. The author lacks content and the ability to bring together the larger picture of Proust's work. I do not recommend this book, but to those who *love* Proust and their own ego, as the author does.

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Summary: Finnaly I enjoy reading a book and laugh for it own cliches
Review: It is a very fine text: it makes you laugh like hell and show you, really, how to enjoy life in front of Proust who was stocked in his bed. Unfortunatelly Alain de Botton does not writes about "How to enjoy French music". He did not considered the so famous Sonata that Charles used to beleive he was in love. May be Cesar Franck or Gabriel Faure was the topic vs Wagner who was German and "in" at that time.

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Summary: Quirky proof that literary criticism doesn't have to be dull
Review: I hate literary criticism. Few things make me bristle more than the thought of anonymous critics deconstructing classic works of literature and reshaping them to fit pre-constructed agendas. Alain de Botton, in his delightful, "How Proust Can Change Your Life," proves that if a critic is a writer first, even the distatsteful act of criticism can sparkle. de Botton has a quirky conversational tone, seamlessly blending personal anecdote, biographical background, and literary wordplay (check out the swirling sentence in Chapter 3) to create the greatest possible result, making the reader want to revisit the always daunting Marcel and his brilliant "Remembrance of Things Past." This is the greatest achievement a critic can hope for, and De Botton accomplishes it marvelously. This book is perfect.

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Summary: How to make and keep friends: give the book as a gift!
Review: Utterly unique: How Proust Can Change Your Life is criticism, history, biography, psychology, it is speculation and sheer joy. Share it with people you cherish, give it with enthusiasm: people will love it and you for the consideration. Amazing how perceptive De Botton is, how subtle his distinctions, how articulate his formulations. . . like nothing I have read in literary criticism: elucidating, informative, evocative and ultimately, if conceivable, an enhancement to the pleasures of reading Proust; a wonderful introduction, a rewarding reflection of/ on the original.

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Summary: This was excellent
Review: Wonder if everyone else will like this as much as I di

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Summary: Not a Novel. Not a Self-Help Book.
Review: It is difficult to supress a smile while reading, How Proust Can Change Your Life. This is yet another intelligent and thought provoking literary work from Alain de Botten. What it lacks in length it makes up for in humour. I only say this because, by the time the last page is turned, you will be wishing it would continue. This book is quite simply funny. The way Proust's impossibly long novel, In Search of Lost Time is referred to, and exerpted from, to form the basis of this book, is sheer genius. Few people, and I number the most voracious readers among them, can stomach trudging through Proust's work, and who can blame them? It is hard to digest grains of wisdom from a man who kept life at a distance, barring it beyond his bed-chamber door. Still, Botten must be credited, for transforming something so long-winded, into something- shy- of two hundred perfect pages

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Summary: A thought provoking, funny and altogether enjoyable book.
Review: The book walks fine lines between biography and criticism, seriousnous and humor. It also achieves the odd combination of being a self-help book. Through Proust, and through the author's interpretation of Proust's life and writings, the reader is given some sage advice on a broad spectrum of topics. And it's funny. I laughed out loud at one point, which I don't often do when reading. Finally, it made me want to read Proust. It's an excellent book, and I highly recommend it

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Summary: Pleasant book with a misleading title
Review: The title is misleading. Neither Proust nor the author have much to say about running one's life. "Random observations on the life of Proust" would be a more accurate title and under that banner it's a charming, short read

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Summary: Simplifying a complicated world
Review: This is another one of Botton's fine contributions to contemporary writing--a combination work of literary criticism and practical study of Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Having recently completed the first volume of Proust's novel, this book gave me a deeper insight into Proust's handling of such themes in the book as love and friendship. As in his books On Love and The Romantic Movement, Botton shines in his ability to sensitively express various aspects of love and its influence on relationships. He also does a fine job of using various Proustian plots to help the reader understand how to simplify a complicated world. For example, one of my favorite pieces in Botton's book is his comparison of Albertine to the Duchesse de Guermantes and their polar approaches to appreciating art and apparel. This differentiation, in turn, raises an awareness of the joy and fulfillment that can be achieved in being non-acquisitive when it comes to attaining one's desires. For anyone wanting assistance in seeking a more spiritual life, Botton's book is a gem

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Summary: Loved it!
Review: This book is witty, charming, insightful -- and very hard to put down. But the author (through Proust's wisdom, of course) demonstrates why even really great books still need to be closed sometimes -- which is only one of the paradoxes that made reading "How Proust Can Change Your Life" such a delight. One of the best books I've read in a long time -- and I read a lot