This is a novel that describes its own creation. The plot of the novel, in very banal terms, is how Marcel Proust realizes his vocation in life, which is to be a writer. He realizes this after a series of false starts: first, he becomes a social climber, who thinks the goal of life is to be witty and artistic and in the best salons with the noblest

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But here too I found compensations. If I could remember a phrase or even a word of the passage I wanted to go back to, I could search for it. Even better, I could send myself a message in a bottle and cast it out into the night. That is, when I came to a phrase I knew I would want to return to later, I could highlight it on my phone and paste it

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