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Paris Peasant, to me, was a story about everything, but also about nothing. I felt as though I was more reading a journal of a man as opposed to a story. There did not seem to be any concrete plot, nor did it feel as though there was one specific theme the writing was grounded […] read full post >>

 This week I read Parispeasant by Louis Aragon, and here are some of my readings.

The author begins with his reflections on philosophical theories' development and then returns to himself. The errors and sophistry of the philosophical development put forward by the author of the first part made it difficult for me to understand what the author was trying to express (probably because English is not a native language). And the descriptions of the weather and climate that followed turned out to be something I felt relatively better understood. The author sees that anything material is connected to emotional thinking while at the same time relying on rational insights to correct mistakes and find the way to truth. This mixed life of rationality and sensibility has a more psychedelic colour. The combination of reality and illusion makes the author's existence blurred, leaving only a thinking person who is good at thinking. Consciousness. The author tries to get out of this life but doesn't know how to take concrete action.

The author then describes the scenes on the street and the impressions and life experiences left by the different types of shops. It can be said that most of the objects and scenes described by the author are detailed in detail and often use some romantic colour adjective. And he covers the spatial relationship between different shops in it so that people can also outline the general layout of the street and the general colour in the author's impression in their minds. Among them, he described an old couple that made me very emotional to read: "For years now these two old people have been ineluctably moulded to the shape of this absurd place fringing the arcades, visibly consuming their lives, he smoking it away, she sewing, eternally sewing as though the fate of the universe hinged upon her needlework (23)." The sentence seems to combine the fate of the two old couples with the arcade and the act of knitting the older woman's sweater. Endowed with a sense of eternal mission, let me feel the unchanging and dull life of this old couple.

The way the author attaches little notices to the article is also exciting; these little ones put us in the environment. Like a bystander are reading the content of these notices to understand how things are going. This vivid narration makes it unnecessary for the author to describe the development stage of the event in the article again. And these short notices posted in the paper changed the typesetting usually used in books, making the work more lively and more interested in reading the following content.

I incorporate his memories of this street from the author's perspective when reading this article. At the same time, as a reader, I can feel the author's sense of A dashing, lighthearted personality. The author Marcel Proust, whom we've previously known through Combray, clearly has a very different character. It made me realize that even though two authors use similar writing techniques, their experiences in the world are very different because of their perceptions of the world. The writing technique of stream of consciousness does have a unique advantage in allowing readers to experience the author's emotions.

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 This week I read Parispeasant by Louis Aragon, and here are some of my readings.

The author begins with his reflections on philosophical theories' development and then returns to himself. The errors and sophistry of the philosophical development put forward by the author of the first part made it difficult for me to understand what the author was trying to express (probably because English is not a native language). And the descriptions of the weather and climate that followed turned out to be something I felt relatively better understood. The author sees that anything material is connected to emotional thinking while at the same time relying on rational insights to correct mistakes and find the way to truth. This mixed life of rationality and sensibility has a more psychedelic colour. The combination of reality and illusion makes the author's existence blurred, leaving only a thinking person who is good at thinking. Consciousness. The author tries to get out of this life but doesn't know how to take concrete action.

The author then describes the scenes on the street and the impressions and life experiences left by the different types of shops. It can be said that most of the objects and scenes described by the author are detailed in detail and often use some romantic colour adjective. And he covers the spatial relationship between different shops in it so that people can also outline the general layout of the street and the general colour in the author's impression in their minds. Among them, he described an old couple that made me very emotional to read: "For years now these two old people have been ineluctably moulded to the shape of this absurd place fringing the arcades, visibly consuming their lives, he smoking it away, she sewing, eternally sewing as though the fate of the universe hinged upon her needlework (23)." The sentence seems to combine the fate of the two old couples with the arcade and the act of knitting the older woman's sweater. Endowed with a sense of eternal mission, let me feel the unchanging and dull life of this old couple.

The way the author attaches little notices to the article is also exciting; these little ones put us in the environment. Like a bystander are reading the content of these notices to understand how things are going. This vivid narration makes it unnecessary for the author to describe the development stage of the event in the article again. And these short notices posted in the paper changed the typesetting usually used in books, making the work more lively and more interested in reading the following content.

I incorporate his memories of this street from the author's perspective when reading this article. At the same time, as a reader, I can feel the author's sense of A dashing, lighthearted personality. The author Marcel Proust, whom we've previously known through Combray, clearly has a very different character. It made me realize that even though two authors use similar writing techniques, their experiences in the world are very different because of their perceptions of the world. The writing technique of stream of consciousness does have a unique advantage in allowing readers to experience the author's emotions.

read full post >>

Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon I found to be very creative and abstract. It was difficult for me to logistically understand the plot and justify/recognize what and why things were happening in the book. That said, I thought it was a fun read because of the visuals given by Aragon. It was also fairly descriptive […] read full post >>

Reading Louis Aragon’s “Paris Peasant” is like therapy for me and I start to see how surrealism becomes the main theme of the text. It plays with the lightness and darkness of many situations which shows the illogicality of the narrative. Surrealism is described as “the offspring of frenzy and darkness” (65). Because there is […] read full post >>

In all honesty, I have no idea what happened in this story, plot-wise, but I think that was the point? Nevertheless, I found this to be a very thought-provoking read, with several lines sticking out as significant to me.  Aragon’s engagement within the surrealist movement is made apparently evident through this nonconforming novel that heavily […] read full post >>

Marcel Proust hopes to tell us, through this work, the story of his own life, but he does so in a very unique way. At the end of a person’s life, when he is getting old, at the end of his life, he will find that the prosperous and picturesque life he has lived is […] read full post >>

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging! read full post >>

Louis Aragon’s Paris Peasant is a masterful work reflecting the concept of surrealism. I frequently feel illusionary while reading the text. The narrator provokes surreal geographies by imagining and constructing the idea of “Paris”, primarily through describing two locations in the city — The Passage de L’Opéra and Buttes-Chaumont. In my opinion, this book is relatively similar […] read full post >>

Whilst reading part 1 of Combray, I found myself re-reading lines and passages over and over again. I’m not too sure if this is because I wasn’t paying attention the first time round or if what I was reading was so engaging I wanted to read it again. At times I could recognise my passive […] read full post >>

As a first-time reader of Proust, I did not know what to expect from Combray. As I started reading, I... read full post >>

Louis Aragon's Paris Peasant was certainly an easier read for me than Proust's Swann's Way was. I imagine it is to do with the translation, though of course the writing style of the original author. In fact, I found myself thinking about translation a lot while reading this book. There were parts that had very interesting metaphors and jokes that I would love to see in the original language. I especially noticed this in the F.M.R. section where even the translator made a note that the original pun worked so much better. I suppose this is one of the weaknesses of translation; you can never conserve all the layers of meaning within a word or a phrase because you always have to choose one. If you can find a way to make it work with more than one meaning then you're lucky. read full post >>

Louis Aragon's Paris Peasant was certainly an easier read for me than Proust's Swann's Way was. I imagine it is to do with the translation, though of course the writing style of the original author. In fact, I found myself thinking about translation a lot while reading this book. There were parts that had very interesting metaphors and jokes that I would love to see in the original language. I especially noticed this in the F.M.R. section where even the translator made a note that the original pun worked so much better. I suppose this is one of the weaknesses of translation; you can never conserve all the layers of meaning within a word or a phrase because you always have to choose one. If you can find a way to make it work with more than one meaning then you're lucky. read full post >>

Going into this novel, all I knew of it was that it is considered one of the major works of surrealism. Knowing very little about this concept, I searched it up in the context of literature. I primarily found it to refer to the attempt of an author to merge reality and imagination. If this […] read full post >>

At first glance this book took me completely by surprise. The name and mention of Paris intrigued me and the notion I have of the word “peasant” drew images within my mind. Then, to read that this book is not traditional and breaking all rules in regard to narrative, plot, and character really caught me […] read full post >>