Marcel Proust

Brian Nelson, Emeritus Professor of French Studies and Translation, Monash University, Melbourne, and Edited by Adam Watt, Professor of French and comparative studies, University of Exeter

Brian Nelson has been editor of the Australian Journal of French Studies since 2002. He is well known for his critical studies and translations of the novels of Émile Zola. These include The Cambridge Companion to Zola, Zola and the Bourgeoisie, and translations for Oxford World's Classics of The Fortune of the Rougons, The Belly of Paris, The Kill, Pot Luck, and The Ladies' Paradise. He was awarded the New South Wales Premier's Prize for Translation in 2015. His most recent critical work is The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature (CUP 2015).

Adam Watt is Professor of French and comparative literature at the University of Exeter. He has published widely on the life and works of Marcel Proust. His books include Reading in Proust's A la recherche: le délire de la lecture (2009); an illustrated biography, Marcel Proust (Reaktion Books, 2013); and as editor, Marcel Proust in Context (CUP, 2013).

"As well as extensive notes at the back of the book, there is also a highly readable introduction by Adam Watt." - Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers

"[An] excellent introduction (supplemented by copious notes) [by] the Proust specialist Adam Watt." - Adrian Tahourdin, Times Literary Supplement

"[...] this new translation which concentrates on [Swann's] infatuation for Odette is a gentle and accessible introduction to Proust's monumental oeuvre, being quite self-contained and not nearly so daunting a read." - Robert Tanitch, Mature Times