A Proust Dilema...

On Monday I ordered some books that I don't yet have for the challenge my friend Clarissa and I set for ourselves to raise some money for Charity, more about that on Saturday.


Today two of them turned up, 'Tropic of Cancer' which was exactly what I expected of it, and 'Remembrance of Things Past' which was not.


Let me fill you in a little, Remembrance of Things Past is a 3000 odd page work of literature which took Proust 14 years to write. First off I was expecting something a little smaller, even if it did take 14 years. 


However this wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't then noticed that the book I'd ordered was the second volume in a 2 volume work...


So my question is do I bite the bullet and order the first volume and read them in order? Or do I take what I've got, and give it a shot just from volume two?


I really want to give the reading list my best shot as it's for Charity. However the second volume alone is over 1000 pages, and I don't really want to buy another book and have them languish on my shelf for years as I can see it taking a while to read.


Help!!


Rowen