While his debut "Days of Joy" received little attention during his lifetime, this first collection of stories is now considered a prelude to Proust's most famous seven-volume work "In Search of Lost Time." The most significant elements of human life are addressed in "Days of Joy": character development, love, loneliness, illness, death, and self-alienation are just a few of the themes that Proust has given a place to in his unique and still influential style.