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A Book Club Reader Gives Her Ranking of Proust, Hesse, Austen, Tolstoy, Cervantes & Dostoyevsky (Patreon)

Published:
2021-06-24 16:35:33
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Today we're having a chat with a book club reader about her journey through the Great Books so far.

We're talking about:

  • ranking the books so far
  • how to persevere with Proust
  • why some people skip 'Combray'
  • rereading, poetry, and characterisation
  • the parallels between Tolstoy, Austen, Hesse & Proust
  • why reading Proust is like wandering through the Louvre

How would you rank the books you've read so far?

How do they compare with any other books you've read?

What are their difficulties and pleasures?

Happy reading!

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Comments

Sharon xx

Hi Ben and everyone! This was so good and it's very interesting to see what titles others finding challenging or not. Thank you so much to the lady who was brave enough to share publicly. As I'm cherry picking my titles [just due to the demands of life/work/family] I haven’t covered all the authors/poets to date; I’m trying to do a few things really well rather than lots of things badly. I have a tendency to try and read ‘all the things’ and it creates a huge self-imposed pressure and is not at all enjoyable so I’m being more selective in my approach. I have found it impossible to rank the ones I have read because they all bring something different to the table and challenge me accordingly. They bring out different things in me and provoke myriad emotions and reactions but that’s all good – there can be no downside to that. Even Borges, who is still not my friend, taught me something about myself and my taste in literature. Even if something is not to my taste I can appreciate the message and the skill of the author. However this is where I am, in no particular order: - • Short Stories/Novels = Borges, Turgenev, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky [AK & C&P are still in steady progress and currently I’m enjoying C&P the most, who knew?] and Proust. • Poetry = I've dipped in and out of Dickinson, Shakespeare [Sonnets], Browning and Blake and I have a ‘hot date’ with Percy Shelley this weekend. • [From my own library I’m still enjoying Dickens and Mantel] As someone who came to Proust having never even heard his name, I thought I’d share my experiences of reading, 'In Search of Lost Time'. I had absolutely zero preconceived ideas or expectations as a result of my naiveté, other than knowing it was a tome, so I was open to whatever Marcel had to offer. These are the things I’ve discovered: - • I found each page/paragraph to be a short-story in and of itself. • It may be because I’m older, but each line/paragraph evokes a memory or an emotion which I’ve really [and cathartically] enjoyed journaling about. • As Ben mentioned, I can often identify and empathise with how the protagonist is feeling. • I never looked for or expected to see the bigger picture early on [probably because I knew the book was so huge], I’ve just waited for things to unfold and reveal themselves to me which leads me to. . . • I’ve really relished anticipating ‘the reveal’ whilst enjoying the minutia enroute. This is a great example of, “It’s not the destination but the journey that matters”. Or enjoying where you are on the way to where you’re going. • I enjoyed the first few pages so much I was actually a bit cross when other characters started to appear and the narrative began to widen out. It felt like these people were intruding on my relationship with the protagonist [Proust?]. I was so surprised by that reaction. If you pinned me up against the wall and forced a favourite out of me it would be Proust closely followed by Turgenev. I hope you are all well, happy and, wherever you are, enjoying a bit of sunshine. I have a horrible feeling that summer in the UK might have compacted itself down into the first two weeks of June. Sharon xx

hardcoreliterature
>>62587418

Hello Sharon :) Thank you for sharing! Cherry-picking is definitely the smart approach. Picking the books one wants to spend most of their time with is half the battle. I do love that Borges is not your friend (yet?) but Turgenev is. And very nice rankings. I love asking this question because everyone has such different answers and I think it reveals so much about a person and where they are in their life right now. You have Proust at number one, followed by Turgenev - beautiful! This may actually be my personal ranking too. You may find you enjoy Maupassant in that case when we come to him. I do hope your hot date with Percy Bysshe Shelley went well - my favourite, but he's one to be wary of :)

Sharon xx
>>62587418

Hi Ben, thank you for your response. Maupassant is ready and waiting on my shelf and I’ve just emailed you the result of my hot date with, Shelley. 😉. Sharon

Florian Pesantes

I wonder how much life and life experience plays into preferences. I’m sure I hadn’t been able to read Proust as a teenager or young student, when I had still an abundant wealth of unscheduled time. I remember though that “Siddartha” and other books from Hesse fascinated me then. “Glasperlenspiel” and “Narzisse und Goldmund” I remember particularly, not the content, but the impression they made on me. Now after decades under merciless time pressure in my job, where I’m constantly trying to focus on my patient’s needs and build a personal bond and trust to each of them, while having the tiny digital clock on the right lower edge of my computer screen under surveillance, I thoroughly enjoy this time- and pressureless lecture of Proust. I am curious how Hesse speaks to me in this period of life.

hardcoreliterature
>>62769524

I think life experience plays into preference quite significantly. Intelligent younger readers will likely find it easier to graduate from Dostoyevsky than Proust, whose work and worth was lost on me in my younger years. I was speaking with a 94-year-old gentlemen recently and as he was regaling me with stories from the war I had an insight - "this is why we read Proust". But I don't think my younger self would have stumbled upon this insight, and I think of all the insights lying in wait for me down the line, just needing a little more lived experience to unlock them :) Also, Florian, I love your phrasing - "pressureless lecture of Proust". I'm also intrigued to hear how you respond to Hesse. If I were a betting man, I would guess that you will love him.