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Days of Reading

Days of Reading

By Marcel Proust

Days of Reading. Penguin Books’ edition, 2008

11 min read19 min listen10 chapters

Summary of Days of Reading book by Marcel Proust

An exploration by one of the finest novelists in European history of the habit of reading, including what makes for a good book and a good reader, as well as the ways in which reading helps us connect with the past.

Chapters in Days of Reading book summary

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1

What do you get from this book? A passionate account of reading from one of history’s greatest writers

2

Marcel Proust became one of Europe’s most influential writers, but began as a sickly child devoting all his time to reading

3

The English writer John Ruskin expanded Proust’s ability to see that books both preserve memories and reveal truths

4

Reading teaches us to value both art and life, but a good book is built on meaning—not just aesthetics

5

Good writing doesn’t force opinions on us, but it does show us how to develop our own thoughts

6

Reading is a form of friendship where the complications of real life fall away, and we engage completely with ideas

7

The emotion of reading is rooted in the way it preserves the past, and shows its similarities with the present

8

Summary of the key insights

9

Selected critiques in brief

10

Final word

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Who should read Days of Reading book

  • those interested in art
  • the nostalgic
  • amateur philosophers
  • lovers of history

About the author of Days of Reading

Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust

French novelist, essayist, and critic Marcel Proust is widely considered one of the greatest authors of the early twentieth century, revolutionizing the novel alongside the likes of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and other modernists. His epic tale of time and memory, In Search of Lost Time (1913-1927) was originally published in seven volumes. Proust’s other books include Pleasures and Days (1896) and the unfinished Jean Santeuil (1952).

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