Proust Marathon marks 100 years of ‘remembrance’

“For a long time, I used to go to bed early” — so begins “Swann’s Way,” the first volume in Marcel Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu” (“In Search of Lost Time,” also known as “Remembrance of Things Past”).

Some of the writer’s fans will be staying up quite late, however, to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the book’s publication at the Yale Proust Marathon Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 16–17.

The event, sponsored by the French Department, will bring together 100 students, scholars, and guests, who will take turns reading their favorite passages from Proust’s masterwork in the language of their choice — French, German, English, Chinese, Portuguese, and more. The readings, each about 10 minutes long, will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and run until 3:30 a.m. on Sunday.

The literary marathon will take place in a full-scale recreation of the cork-lined bedroom where Proust labored to finish his seven-volume novel — set in the Saybrook Underbrook Theatre, 242 Elm St.

All are welcome. Refreshments — including madeleines, the pastry that famously prompts an onslaught of involuntary memories in Proust’s narrator — will be served.

Those interested in taking part in the Proust Marathon as a reader can sign up at http://www.proustatyale.com.

The event is supported by the Moliere and Co. Fund in memory of June Beckelman Guicharnaud.