Sodom and Gomorrah

"Sodom and Gomorrah": 
In November 1913, the first volume of Marcel Proust's novel "Swann's Way" was published. The publication was made possible thanks to the efforts of friends of the little-known writer, as the complex, autobiographical work initially did not excite... publishers, nor later critics and readers. At that time, hardly anyone could have predicted that the cycle "In Search of Lost Time", the first book of which would be "Swann's Way", would eventually be regarded as one of the most significant works of world literature of the 20th century. Each novel in the cycle is dedicated to a particular stage of life: "Swann's Way" tells about the childhood of the main character and about the events preceding his birth; "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower" — about his adolescence, the collapse of first love, and the birth of a new one; "The Guermantes Way" — about his youth. "Sodom and Gomorrah" (the last of the novels in the cycle published during the author's lifetime) continues the themes and plot of "The Guermantes Way": it continues the story of the social successes of the young hero. It also includes the theme of love and the hero's relationship with Albertine, referring back to the book "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower". The fourth novel in the cycle "In Search of Lost Time" is presented to the reader in the translation by Elena Baeva, which refutes the sadly entrenched opinion that Proust is a respectable, intellectual, but boring author.