I’m finishing Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, and I’m struck by how similar he is in some respects to Henry James. I’ve always thought James was a little more modern or forward-thinking than many nineteenth century writers.

Proust is very cerebral in many of the same ways that I found James to be very internal. Proust is perhaps more interested in what is going on in the mind of his narrator while James is more interested in revealing what’s going on inside by telling us what’s not happening between the characters.

Both writers have long passages of very good description whether of the environment or the characters. Proust uses a great deal more internal dialogue than James, but I’m finding their styles to be quite similar.

Am I imagining this? I’m really finding Proust to be an extension of James or a further growth from what James started.

Topics: writing, literature, style, writers, Henry James, Marcel Proust