After reading In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower I think it's safe to say that Proust was the best writer ever, even better than Shakespeare. His style has a poignant poetic rhythm, yet there's a methodical calculation to it as well. This unique balance of polar opposites puts him at the top, in my opinion. Shakespeare may have the most memorable lines, but Prost has an equal ability to move the soul, doing so with better trains of thought that lead to long strings of words that vibrate on the highest level.
Volume 2 of In Search of Lost Time was more enjoyable than the first for me, mainly because of volume one's tedious "Swann in Love" chapter (everything before that is diamond, though). The first half of volume 2 was solid, but ultimately my favorite parts came in the second half, during his vacation at Balbec. The sunrise, the entrance into Balbec, and his description of the beaches were just as breathtaking as the flowers and Gilberte during his stroll in volume 1. Near the end we finally get to the young girls in flower, and it is the purest, most refreshing passage on adolescent love that I can recall. Even the nostalgia of Mme. Swann's ethereal aura in her vivacious drawing rooms can't quite eclipse the young girls in flower. The whole thing is beautiful, brilliant, and inspiring. Thank you, Proust!
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