Student Blogs

In a novel, I find that I tend to look for easy reading – something that I can pass my time with, and enjoy my time while it’s also quite light to read. I look for a setting and perspective. Contrarily, Proust’s novel immediately dived into the narrator discussing his dreams, which had me questioning, […] read full post >>

Hi everyone! While reading “Combray”, I realized that the main thing I struggle with when reading older literature is the specific way that they often construct sentences, especially figures of speech. It feels very convoluted to me, and I find it challenging to keep track of where sentences began in the first place. Often, there […] read full post >>

I would be lying if I said that picking up Swann’s Way wasn’t a daunting act, one requiring an immense commitment of attention and patience, coupled with silent confusion. Proust’s writing, known for its expansive sentences, intricate reflections, and a kind of obsessive nostalgia, was hardly near the top of my TBR list. And yet, […] read full post >>

Hello all, and welcome back to the cottage. I shall open today's reflections with a quote: "I told myself I would have time to think of what to do" (Proust, 43). In fact, this is what I mistakenly thought when I assumed the first of these entries ... read full post >>

Hello all, and welcome back to the cottage. I shall open today's reflections with a quote: "I told myself I would have time to think of what to do" (Proust, 43). In fact, this is what I mistakenly thought when I assumed the first of these entries ... read full post >>

Marcel Proust’s “Combray” was definitely not an easy piece of literature to read, though I eventually found it to be more interesting than expected. At the beginning of the novel, I was already confused about whether he (Proust) was afraid to sleep or if it was a pleasurable activity. Overall, I believe Proust’s style of […] read full post >>

So.., this was very confusing at first and very different than what i am used to reading. In the beginning the reading felt dense and really challenging to navigate. The sentences were long and they were kinda non-linear, alot of the times i just didn’t know where Proust was going with his thoughts especially when […] read full post >>

Reading ‘Combray’ has left me confused but quite intrigued. I’ve only read up to the first part (page 48), and it took me a bit to figure out what was even going on. The narrator (whom I assume is Proust himself) keeps switching between past and present, and sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s […] read full post >>

Hi Everyone! For this week’s reading I will be making a blog post on Proust’s Swann’s Way. To be completely honest, I have only read the first fifteen pages so far and I keep putting it off because of the difficulty. I have stopped reading and had to come back to it several times. I […] read full post >>

First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever had to babysit a thought for more than a sentence, cause holy shit I think a sentence in Combray ran for a whole paragraph. I’ve never seen so many run-off sentences in one place without questioning if grammar was a suggestion at that point. HOWEVER, it lowkey […] read full post >>

Reading this was not as easy as I thought it’d be, I felt as though I was fighting to get through sentences at some points. There are so many details in the writing I was becoming overloaded with information, so much so I’d often re-read and find myself dreaming of a cup of coffee or … read full post >>

HITHERTO, I had not a complicated novel in a single day. read full post >>

Before I begin this post, I want to preface that I enrolled in this class late and read up to the end of the first chapter (like the syllabus suggested). As a result, the thoughts I will be sharing are preliminary (until I finish the entire work by the Wednesday discussion). Upon reading, a number […] read full post >>

Reading Combray felt less like reading a traditional story and more like slipping into someone else’s consciousness. What struck me most is how little actually “happens” on the surface, and yet how emotionally dense the book feels. Proust lingers on moments that most novels would rush past such as falling asleep, waking up confused, or […] read full post >>

Hi all! To be honest, reading Proust, I definitely got lost sometimes due so I’d re-read the sentences quite often. Again, that might be just because I haven’t read something like this in a while. One thing that stood out to me is the way the narrator describes the character’s fascination with the architecture and […] read full post >>