![]() ![]() This volume, Heuet’s third adaptation of Proust, follows the young Marcel as he falls more than a little in love with a group of girls he observes at the Balbec seaside, where he is staying with his grandmother. Reminiscent of the old Classics Illustrated renderings of period novels, Heuet’s reduction of the author’s words has kept the tenor of Proust’s style. Viewing these tiny gems is rather like looking at the miniature portraits fashionable in centuries past: they are vivid and full of detail, and the artist’s hand is sure. ![]() Where the story frames are solid and straightforward (except for delicately shaded skies), the thumbnails are delicate and evocative, with color conveying detail. Totally different are the thumbnail views Heuet includes of the impressionist paintings of Marcel’s artist friend Elstir. Scenes are drawn with bold lines, and narrator Marcel’s face, in keeping with his semi-invalid condition, is somewhat paler than those of the young ladies he courts. Patches of brick and slate summon the eye to ornate buildings deep tones of claret in carpeting and draperies give rich warmth to formal salons. Ladies clad in fluttery white walk the grand promenade, under skies of pale blue that stretch over deeper blue waters, gray-green shrubbery, and custard-yellow beaches. The adaptor/illustrator, whose artistic gift is readily apparent, offers the reader pane after pane of drawings that move the story along. This would be a great introduction to Proust for those who found the sheer size of the original too intimidating. One of the chief attractions of graphic novels is, of course, the “graphic” part, and the delight of the art alone is well worth it. While the idea of attempting to reduce Proust’s nearly 2,300-page work to a series of graphic novels may strike one as ambitious, aficionados will want to look at this illustrated rendering. The perfect opportunity to do so lies in this version of Proust’s Remembrance. “I was falling into that heavy slumber,” wrote Proust, “where are unveiled to us the return to the days of youth, the finding of past years, of lost feelings…” Readers might like to revisit a time when reading was a simpler, though perhaps no less enjoyable, pastime.
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