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Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time, published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927, runs to more than a million words. Early on, the narrator tastes a madeleine cake dipped in tea, and memories of his childhood come flooding back.

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Proust (1871–1922) was a Parisian writer who spent his last years mostly in bed, working to finish the book. Publishers turned down the first volume, Swann's Way, among them the respected Nouvelle Revue Française on the advice of André Gide, so Proust paid Grasset to publish it in 1913. He died in 1922, and the last three volumes appeared after his death, edited by his brother Robert. In the madeleine scene, the taste brings back Sunday mornings in the village of Combray, when his aunt Léonie gave him a piece of madeleine dipped in her tea. Proust called this 'involuntary memory': the past returning through the senses rather than by effort. Psychologists now call vivid memories set off by a smell or taste the 'Proust effect', and Guinness World Records lists the book as the longest novel.

Türkçe oku
Marcel Proust'un Kayıp Zamanın İzinde'si bir milyonu aşkın sözcükten oluşur ve 1913–1927 arasında yedi cilt hâlinde yayımlandı. Romanın başlarında anlatıcı çaya batırılmış bir madlen kekinin tadına bakar ve çocukluk anıları birden canlanır.

Parisli yazar Proust (1871–1922), son yıllarını çoğunlukla yatağında, kitabı bitirmeye çalışarak geçirdi. İlk cilt Swann'ların Tarafı'nı birçok yayınevi geri çevirdi; bunlardan biri de André Gide'in önerisiyle kitabı reddeden saygın Nouvelle Revue Française'ti. Proust da kitabı 1913'te masrafını kendisi karşılayarak Grasset yayınevine bastırdı. 1922'de öldüğünde son üç cilt henüz yayımlanmamıştı; onları kardeşi Robert yayına hazırladı. Madlen sahnesinde tat, anlatıcıya Combray köyündeki pazar sabahlarını hatırlatır: Léonie Teyzesi o sabahlar ona kendi çayına batırdığı bir parça madlen verirdi. Proust buna “istemsiz bellek” der: Geçmişin çabayla değil, duyular yoluyla kendiliğinden geri gelmesi. Psikologlar bugün bir kokunun ya da tadın birden canlandırdığı güçlü anılara “Proust etkisi” diyor. Guinness Dünya Rekorları da eseri dünyanın en uzun romanı olarak kaydediyor.

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Background reading: Marcel Proust
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