Between Lost and Found

We're starting Volume 4 of Proust's In Search of Lost Time. This week's episode discusses the first chapter of Sodom and Gomorrah which starts off with a BANG! Are you ready for the next Proust adventure?

We’re halfway there! This episode celebrates the conclusion of the third volume - Le Côté de Guermantes. We explore the final (and rather humorous) scenes of the chapter Le Côté de Guermantes II. We deep dive into the ridiculousness of France’s aristocratic society while also unpacking heavier and more nuanced topics, such as mortality, grief, memory, and the inevitable passage of time accompanied by its fleeting beauty, fame and status. As always, Proust is everywhere including in the most tortured poetry. Join us as we reflect on the elegance of Proust’s prose and the melancholic beauty of his reflections on a world that is slowly slipping away.

Mangeuses by Lauren Malka was so good it deserved an English episode in addition to the French! The book delves into the role food and eating play in the life of women. It discussion the individual pressures as well as the political and societal pressures felt by women around their bodies. But, we also celebrate the revolutionary act of savoring food and taking pleasure in each bite of a confit de canard!

Dans cet épisode, nous discutons le livre de Lauren Malka – Mangeuses : Histoire de celle qui dévorent, savourent ou se privent a l’excès. Nous explorons les expériences universelles et personnelles lie à l’acte de manger, passant de la honte et de la culpabilité à la célébration et à la joie. Nous examinons les pressions politique et sociétales qui ont contrôle et critique le corps de femmes.  Et surtout, nous célébrons l’acte de rébellion de s’aimer tel que nous sommes et de savourer chaque bouchée de ce confit de canard !

We're back on the Proust train. This episode covers the first chapter of Volume 3 - The Guermantes Way (Le Côté de Guermantes). We focus on the Dreyfus Affair and its role in French society at the time of Proust and today.

Kicking off 2024 with a BANGER of a book! This week we discuss the Nobel prize winning Annie Ernaux's The Years (Les Années). Spoiler alert - we loved it. Come listen to a better, more feminist Proustian collective memory exploration.

We're BACK! After a long hiatus, Les Bookworms are back with an episode reflecting on our Proustian journey or lack thereof (spoiler alert...c'mon not really). We also chat some of our favorite books from our break, books we are excited to read and some other literary moments that have sparked joy in the last few months. In the episode, we reference a new bilingual literary journal - Version Original - which you can order on their website or pick up in several bookstores across Paris. As always, happy reading! For more from Les Bookworms, check out our Instagram @lesbookwormspod or our ⁠blog⁠.

This episode is a pull back and pause on the journey of reading the world's longest novel. We've officially completed the first two volumes of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. We look at the volume as a whole and discuss a few issues we've had with the text so far. We also discuss why people consider this classic on of the greatest of all times and if we would recommend reading it. Happy reading! For more from Les Bookworms Pod, check out our Instagram @lesbookwormspod or our blog: https://lesbookwormspod.com. 

This week on Les Bookworms Pod features two Paris memoirs that we enjoyed reading: Paris on Air by Oliver Gee and No. 91/92: notes on a Parisian commute by Lauren Elkin. Two short reads that transport you directly to the heart of Paris. Both stories touch on the experience of living in Paris following the 2015 terrorist attacks, while also navigating personal insights and reflections of the daily experience of life as foreigners in Paris and France in general. We are longtime fans of both and enjoyed reflecting on what about these books spoke to us.  You can find fuller episode description and other book reviews on our blog: https://lesbookwormspod.com For current reads and a dose of French living, check out our Instagram: @lesbookwormspod

Les Bookworms are back for 2023 with an update on Proust! The third check-in covers mainly the second part of Volume II - "À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs" (In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower). This section was packed with very interesting and profound ideas on love and the construction of our identities by ourselves and others. No need to have read Proust to listen we give a 30 second recap of everything that is important. You can find a fuller episode description and other book reviews on our blog: https://lesbookwormspod.wordpress.com For our current reads and dose of French living, check out our Instagram: @lesbookwormspod