Under the shade of blooming girls

Proust worked painstakingly for ten years, from 1909 to 1919, on the novel "Swann's Way" — one of the books in the "In Search of Lost Time" series — and it was this book that brought him both success and fame as an unsurpassed stylist. In essence, the plot of the novel — the transformation of a boy into a young man, first real friendship, first love, first steps into high society, first liaisons with women — is a perfectly traditional French "coming-of-age" story. However, the plot merely frames the true merits of this work — the inexpressible beauty of Proust's language, the refinement of his style, and his legendary, jewel-like attention to detail.