"Within a Budding Grove" is the second volume of, "In Search of Lost Time," the rambling masterpiece by Marcel Proust. Assuming you are considering this, the second volume, you have probably already read volume one, "Swann's Way." If not, then please go back and start there - although there is not a `plot' as such, this is the story of a life and it needs to be read in order. If you enjoyed volume one, then, presumably you are now comfortable with the meandering sentence structure and pace of this work.