Sodom and Gomorrah

Marcel Proust · 1871–1922 · France

Originally Sodome et Gomorrhe (French)

Why it matters

Proust turns his anatomy of desire toward homosexuality, unmasking the Baron de Charlus's secret life and igniting the narrator's ruinous obsession with Albertine. Society itself starts to look staged, everyone playing a part they never chose.

At a glance

Dense digressions on desire and disguise complicate an already elaborate social plot.