Student Blogs

In Combray, the narrator invites us along his journey of reminiscence full of nostalgic details and layers. The intricate details about Combray help us get immersed in this town, although it can seem quite overwhelming at times, it is undeniable that the attention to detail paints a vivid picture of Combray. As a setting, the […] read full post >>

“I did not understand half the words the lady said, but my fear that there was some question concealed in them which it would have been impolite of me not to answer made me keep on listening to them with close attention, and this made me very tired.” (80).  This quote humorously sums up my […] read full post >>

“Combray” by Proust takes us through the nostalgia trip of our main character. This one was admittedly a harder read for me. I found myself passionately reading on and on with these very descriptive adjectives being thrown at me continuously. There were parts I found to be rather boring and others I found truly captivating. … read full post >>

My initial response to Marcel Proust’s “Combray” was that it was confusing and full of long sentences that never seemed to end, yet it was also filled with vivid imagery that let my imagination run wild. Specifically, I appreciated the details of the narrator’s reflection of his sleeping process and the thoughts that ran through […] read full post >>

Huh? That was my initial thought when I started reading this section. It seemed like the author was saying some profound things, but in all honesty they flew over my head. I had a hard time following what he was saying, but after re-reading some of the lines it started to make sense (a bit). […] read full post >>

After finishing “Combray,” my impression is that “I believe he didn’t write a book but rather his life.” I feel my emotions about this chapter are contradictory; I sense I can’t grasp the endpoint, yet I am drawn to this descriptive style. Most novels usually have a central theme as an unspoken agreement. However, this […] read full post >>

To be honest, I am not a fan of this novel. I found it quite confusing and a bit difficult to follow. As discussed in the conversation video with professor Farid Laroussi, time in this novel is not linear. For such a long book to never mention the precise time is crazy to me. I […] read full post >>

Hi Romance Studiers, After reading Marcel Proust’s “Swann’s Way”, part 1 “Combray”, I found myself lost and dissatisfied. Conceptually, the idea of building a world through the lens of a child, and as they grow up and realize the beauty of the world they live in, so does the reader, was very interesting. The execution […] read full post >>

My first thought when reading “Combray” by Marcel Proust was, why are these sentences so long?  It wasn’t until I continued to read the novel and watch the video on Proust that I realized these unconventional grammatical rules and sentence structure were simply a part of modernism. The reason for the length of sentences became […] read full post >>

Frankly, that was not the easiest read!! I found many of the descriptions were hard to follow and quickly lost my interest. A particularly difficult one for me was the seemingly neverending description of the church around p. 81 – 90. However, the parts that I DID really enjoy I decided to read closely, and […] read full post >>

Hey Folks! This marks my first post on this blog related to a specific text. Today I’ll be Talking about Marcel Proust’s “Combray”. Let me start by saying that reading this book was confusing at first, and something akin to reading an excerpt from an academic article. Without the historical or contextual background of Marcel Proust […] read full post >>

This week’s reading, Marcel Proust’s Combray, was very challenging for me to get through. This book was very different compared to anything I'm used to reading. With the book's heavy details and symbolism, I had a very hard time trying to stay engaged ... read full post >>

This week’s reading, Marcel Proust’s Combray, was very challenging for me to get through. This book was very different compared to anything I'm used to reading. With the book's heavy details and symbolism, I had a very hard time trying to stay engaged ... read full post >>

Proust’s “Combray” was definitely challenging for me to follow along, with its lengthy sentences and extremely detailed descriptions of his own memories. I found the plot dreary at first. That said, I appreciated how Proust depicts the scenes where he drowns in his own thoughts, creating a gloomy atmosphere right from the start that signals […] read full post >>

“But, when nothing subsists of an old past, after the death of people, after the destruction of things, along, frailer but more enduring, more immaterial, more persistent, more faithful, smell and taste still remain from a long time, like souls, remembering, waiting, hoping, upon the ruins of all the rest, bearing without giving away, on […] read full post >>