Funny and full of sex: why you should read Proust’s In Search of Lost Time | Marcel Proust

I read all seven volumes of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time over the course of nine months. In response to Mike Bromberg (Letters, 26 May), much happens besides the famous event of the madeleine: the advent of lights, cars and airplanes, not to mention endless romances and social celebrations. My recollection is that every hundred pages or so would yield about five to 10 pages of the most revelatory reading I’ve ever had. Was it worth it? Completely. Can I do it again? Maybe not. But I won the bet.
Bill Gaver
London

Proust is nowhere to be found. I often read in French on the Metro during my year abroad in Paris. It was the 1960s, and being buried in a book was a good way to avoid male attention. For anyone who is afraid that nothing happens, read on – there are many types of sex, for example, and more.

Along the way, you can enjoy Proust’s narrative power – from the blossoming May tree to the caller’s voice to the stumbling over the paved stone – and his brilliant analysis of psychology and society.
Sally Burch
London

I’ve read The Hunt for Lost Time three times in translation, and I have to say it’s very funny in places, with amazing plot twists.
Claire Chandy
Bristol

A few years ago while painting in India, I picked up a Proust book to help me through the weeks I was away. The crew wondered if I was reading it and moved my sign. He was impressed when I complained that I had lost my place.
Anthony Burton
Stroud, Gloucestershire

Who finds Proust difficult – and who doesn’t? – must try joke Bible published in six volumes by Delcourt. Accessible, highly entertaining and surprisingly faithful to the intentions of the original prose.
John Prescott Thomas
Bristol