Why Marx would have loved Proust

If the Marxist Liberation Front or New Communist Party of Europe ever needs a recruiting manual, may I recommend Proust's In Search of Lost Time? Or, as a second choice, any novel by Henry James? These works are among the greatest accomplishments in the history of literature (not all of James, but definitely all of Proust) and they have the unique qualities of making you love the author while leading you - or at least me - to hate the main characters. Let's take Proust, which I'm reading now in the Davis translation of "Swann's Way," and in this or even in the old Moncrieff translation (I wouldn't even try it in French - hard enough in English!) contains the most beautiful and thoughtful writing, the most astute exploration of character and class, and the most complex and nuanced self-analysis of any novel I've ever read. And yet: I understand these characters, I know them as if I've lived with them (and if you've read all 7 volumes you will have lived with them) but I have little or no sympathy for (most of) them: has Swann ever worked a day in his life? Have any of them? There are references to professions, e.g., the foolish Dr. Cottard, but essentially their lives consist of drawing rooms and being rich. And their wealth comes entirely from their social position - nobility, generally. This is a society that ought to be overthrown! What keeps the novel from being corrupt of course is the central character, the writer/narrator, Marcel, who we understand ultimately breaks free of this society, realizes he has wasted his life as a dilettante and a fool, and devotes himself to silence and art - in other words, Marcel becomes Proust.