Contrasts between opening of Swann's Way and In the Shadow of Young Girls

The 2nd volume of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (aka Remembrance of Things Past), "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, the Grieve translation - can it be that this translation is not as fluid and beautiful as the Davis translation of Swann's Way? I find myself backtracking and re-reading a surprising number of sentences - is it the Grieve is Australian and his cadences are a little different from Americans'? Or is it that the tone and style of volume 2 is slightly different from volume 1? Clearly, the opening of volume 2 is more pedestrian and matter-of-fact (for Proust) than the famous lyrical opening section of Swann's Way. In the Shadow begins with some of the narrator's observations on two rather different characters - the stuffy doctor Cottard, and the formal retired diplomat de Norpois - and then it gets kind of funny, as the narrator (Marcel, as we much later learn) announces that he wants to pursue a career in literature (mainly, to stay in Paris to be near Giselle on whom he has a crush - he's probably about 12 years old?) - and of course his father is skeptical, but surprisingly Norpois tells M's father that literature is a viable career and he has little faith in the newer crop of diplomats - this opens a whole world of possibilities for M. Section moves along as M wants to go to the theater to see the famous Berma perform - but only in a classic, e.g., Phedre, as it would be a disappointment and unsettling to see her perform something contemporary - he goes with his aunt and is stunned at how mediocre her performance is. This is a seminal moment for M - as he learns not to accept received ideas of greatness, to make independent judgments, to not be influenced by reputation - important and empowering concepts for a young writer or critic to understand and feel.