Right there, this taste transports him right back to Combray.

He gradually recalls that at Combray, his Aunt Leonie used to serve him a small madeleine dipped in lime-flower tea. He has “an amazing pleasure” right away from the scent and flavor, but at first, he is unsure of why. To him, Combray appeared “dead.” His mother serves him tea and a madeleine, a tiny sweet confection, one day. When he had problems falling asleep in the past, he would often consider Combray, although his recollections were fuzzy. The story’s emphasis shifts back to Marcel’s adult life in the present. He also anticipates the moment when the kiss will end, and he will be back alone in the night because he longs for it so much. Marcel makes an effort to hide how much he treasures those moments. Since his mother appears to simply tolerate the behavior and his father disapproves of it, he is terrified of receiving derision for expressing such a foolish wish. He yearns for his mother to give him a comforting goodnight kiss, yet this yearning is tense. Marcel has little luck falling asleep with a magic lantern. Marcel also considers how habitual views shape one’s environment as he remembers his bedrooms in Paris, Venice, and the beach hamlet of Balbec, as well as in the made-up French village of Combray. He discusses some unusual sleep-related states of consciousness, such as nodding off while reading and waking up in the wrong place. Marcel thinks back to his early years and remembers the pain he used to feel when he couldn’t fall asleep. ‘Swann’s Way’s’ narrator, however, is never referred to as Marcel and never states his name. Because of his many similarities to Marcel Proust, some readers refer to this narrator as Marcel. The narrator remembers a moment in the early 20th century when he was a child. ‘Swann’s Way’ is divided into four parts. An unnamed narrator who is assumed to be the author tells the story of ‘Swann’s Way.’ This is volume one of a seven-volume French memoir that has been translated into English and made available in several editions. ‘In Search of Lost Time’ explores the passage of time and the absence of meaning in the world as it follows the narrator’s childhood memories and experiences into adulthood in high-society France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Swann's way audiobook