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I found Marcel Proust’s “Combray” to be a great portrayal of his main ideas in the novel for many reasons, and I also found it to be quite enjoyable read. I specifically enjoyed the way in which he gets his … Continue reading → read full post >>

As the first text of the semester, it was definitely an interesting experience as it was, as I’m sure was the same for many, my first piece translated from a romance language. I can definitely agree with having difficulty reading through it, often going back through sentences and paragraphs to make sense of what I […] read full post >>

Combray - Proust 

Part 1 of Combray definitely left me confused. Although it was beautifully written and was clear on some aspects of the plot, I still found it very difficult to follow any kind of storyline. This may because, from my understanding, Marcel is going back and fourth from reality to dreams/memories. If that is the case then maybe I was not supposed to follow a direct plot and it was supposed to feel like it was jumping from one thing to another. I'm not sure which parts Marcel was awake and which were dreams. Since I do not feel like I understood the story a whole lot, I will speak on the few themes I did catch from my reading and some things I liked about it. 

The first thing I noticed within the first page was the use of imagery. Throughout the entire book I was able to visualize exactly what the author was trying to describe. One major example of this is when he was describing the stained - glass windows. I thought it was beautiful when he was speaking about how the light shining through the glass changed at all different times of day creating different shapes and colours, giving the illusion of a different room even though it was the same one, providing a sense of unfamiliarity as the glass changes. Giving Marcel relief from bad memories that took place in that place. 

Another part that I thought was very real and stood out to me was Marcels relationship with his mother. There is a sense of attachment to her and the goodnight kisses she would give to him before bed. He would listen for her and when she would leave he wished he could get another. When she took too long to come or the goodnight was not long enough, a major anxiety was caused. This showed insight into Marcels characters emotions and the relationship he has with his parents. He says that his father would not approve of this deep connection he has towards these goodnight kisses as it would hold him back from independence. When Swann would visit, his mother would not come give him a goodnight kiss resulting in sadness. I believe these types of experiences can easily be related to many peoples childhoods and positive or negative relationships with parents. 

Overall I thought this book used amazing description and imagery to bring each sentence to life. Although I didn't completely follow, it was still enjoyable to visualize the locations described and appreciate the moments of the book I did understand. 

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Combray - Proust 

Part 1 of Combray definitely left me confused. Although it was beautifully written and was clear on some aspects of the plot, I still found it very difficult to follow any kind of storyline. This may because, from my understanding, Marcel is going back and fourth from reality to dreams/memories. If that is the case then maybe I was not supposed to follow a direct plot and it was supposed to feel like it was jumping from one thing to another. I'm not sure which parts Marcel was awake and which were dreams. Since I do not feel like I understood the story a whole lot, I will speak on the few themes I did catch from my reading and some things I liked about it. 

The first thing I noticed within the first page was the use of imagery. Throughout the entire book I was able to visualize exactly what the author was trying to describe. One major example of this is when he was describing the stained - glass windows. I thought it was beautiful when he was speaking about how the light shining through the glass changed at all different times of day creating different shapes and colours, giving the illusion of a different room even though it was the same one, providing a sense of unfamiliarity as the glass changes. Giving Marcel relief from bad memories that took place in that place. 

Another part that I thought was very real and stood out to me was Marcels relationship with his mother. There is a sense of attachment to her and the goodnight kisses she would give to him before bed. He would listen for her and when she would leave he wished he could get another. When she took too long to come or the goodnight was not long enough, a major anxiety was caused. This showed insight into Marcels characters emotions and the relationship he has with his parents. He says that his father would not approve of this deep connection he has towards these goodnight kisses as it would hold him back from independence. When Swann would visit, his mother would not come give him a goodnight kiss resulting in sadness. I believe these types of experiences can easily be related to many peoples childhoods and positive or negative relationships with parents. 

Overall I thought this book used amazing description and imagery to bring each sentence to life. Although I didn't completely follow, it was still enjoyable to visualize the locations described and appreciate the moments of the book I did understand. 

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Hi again! Before explaining my thoughts and interpretations of Proust’s novel, I want to briefly talk about what the content of my posts will look like. Since the literary analyses I have written in the past have mostly focused on … Continue reading → read full post >>

 I enjoyed reading the first part of Proust's book. The intricate detail in every scenery and memory was breathtaking and truly brought me to experience those feelings. He described many feelings I have felt before and ones I never knew how to put into words. One that stuck with me was the feeling and the difference between sleeping in summer to sleeping in your bed in winter. The particular things we long for and how each feeling is connected to physical material. This could be as simple as the corner of the pillow or the window open. My favourite part of the text was the first couple of opening lines, where Proust describes falling asleep and being so tired that his candle was still lit. He described the feeling of your eyes closing so quickly that you don't have time to even think about it and say to yourself that you are falling asleep. I struggle with horrible insomnia, and specific material things help me sleep and comfort me. When Proust described all these feelings about sleep, it connected with me, and I felt a sense of relief to know that the feelings I think can be expressed into words because I have always struggled to explain them to others. Some parts confused me because Proust would go into outstanding detail about feelings from his childhood that did not make sense to me. Overall the story he told of his childhood home was fascinating because he brought into play the dynamics of his family and how each person affected how he felt. I was very intrigued by the story about him longing to kiss his mother. The anxiety and the rush of being afraid and taking a risk himself by interrupting her from something important made me feel like I was there in the room, feeling the same way he did. He described the longing for someone we love perfectly, and I can relate to it, which will make me hold this story at heart forever. Proust ties the first chapter in so nicely by describing how his tea and any taste or smell can trigger a memory. I have often had a particular food or smell that I haven't come across since I was a child that has triggered a memory. This memory almost feels unreal because it takes a little of your mind to dig deep and remember. His reflection on figuring out what memory the tea was brought up was authentic. Things don't just come in life, we have to find a meaning behind it; not everything is black and white. My favourite line from this chapter is comparing taste and smell to souls because they last forever. I highly recommend reading this piece of outstanding literature, and I am super excited to read the next part and dive deeper into Proust's mind and a cup of tea. 

My question is: Why is Proust so attached to his mother and why is this image of a child needed there mothers comfort so bashed on?

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 I enjoyed reading the first part of Proust's book. The intricate detail in every scenery and memory was breathtaking and truly brought me to experience those feelings. He described many feelings I have felt before and ones I never knew how to put into words. One that stuck with me was the feeling and the difference between sleeping in summer to sleeping in your bed in winter. The particular things we long for and how each feeling is connected to physical material. This could be as simple as the corner of the pillow or the window open. My favourite part of the text was the first couple of opening lines, where Proust describes falling asleep and being so tired that his candle was still lit. He described the feeling of your eyes closing so quickly that you don't have time to even think about it and say to yourself that you are falling asleep. I struggle with horrible insomnia, and specific material things help me sleep and comfort me. When Proust described all these feelings about sleep, it connected with me, and I felt a sense of relief to know that the feelings I think can be expressed into words because I have always struggled to explain them to others. Some parts confused me because Proust would go into outstanding detail about feelings from his childhood that did not make sense to me. Overall the story he told of his childhood home was fascinating because he brought into play the dynamics of his family and how each person affected how he felt. I was very intrigued by the story about him longing to kiss his mother. The anxiety and the rush of being afraid and taking a risk himself by interrupting her from something important made me feel like I was there in the room, feeling the same way he did. He described the longing for someone we love perfectly, and I can relate to it, which will make me hold this story at heart forever. Proust ties the first chapter in so nicely by describing how his tea and any taste or smell can trigger a memory. I have often had a particular food or smell that I haven't come across since I was a child that has triggered a memory. This memory almost feels unreal because it takes a little of your mind to dig deep and remember. His reflection on figuring out what memory the tea was brought up was authentic. Things don't just come in life, we have to find a meaning behind it; not everything is black and white. My favourite line from this chapter is comparing taste and smell to souls because they last forever. I highly recommend reading this piece of outstanding literature, and I am super excited to read the next part and dive deeper into Proust's mind and a cup of tea. 

My question is: Why is Proust so attached to his mother and why is this image of a child needed there mothers comfort so bashed on?

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After having read Proust’s combray, part 1, I was left feeling rather uneasy. As a whole, I found myself having to go over certain sections of this text multiple times in order to try and make sense of the paragraph that I had just read, and sometimes, never coming to a conclusion. The vocabulary used in this text could definitely be described as wordy and descriptive which for me, sometimes created incredible visuals of the environment in my head , and at other times, had me feeling confused with what I had just read. At some points throughout my read, I found myself sitting there reading, yet my mind was wondering and imagining the environments in which were being described. I would almost position myself in the book, and pretend that I was the one laying in bed or watching the light shift around my bedroom from morning to night. 

While starting this text off, reading the first few pages, there were beautiful descriptions as to where the story was taking place. This time of rest is usually one of relaxation, but it seems as though this is a time where Marcel explores his thoughts extensively recalling memories from his past, and more specifically his childhood. There is a constant shift between conscious and unconscious thoughts which at times become difficult to distinguish.

Mid way through, I began to notice the significant theme of relationships and more specifically how complex family dynamics begin to arise. It is quite evident that through childhood, there were issues amongst the family that are shown. There was a sincere need for the child to want to spend more time with his mother, however it seems as though the father would prevent that sort of thing from happening as it went against his beliefs. The child would only receive a small moment of affection on some nights, despite him wishing to have so much more. However, it isn't until later, with more knowledge of the world that they are able to understand these moments and how that affected them. 

Overall, this reading was quite complex for me to fully grasp and I definitely think that more time with these genres of texts will help… but for the meantime my question to you all's how do you think a child that receives so little affection that is also so inconsistent while growing up affects their development later on? Do they seek out more love in efforts to feel what they missed growing up… or is it so unfamiliar that the thought cant be imagined?

 

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After having read Proust’s combray, part 1, I was left feeling rather uneasy. As a whole, I found myself having to go over certain sections of this text multiple times in order to try and make sense of the paragraph that I had just read, and sometimes, never coming to a conclusion. The vocabulary used in this text could definitely be described as wordy and descriptive which for me, sometimes created incredible visuals of the environment in my head , and at other times, had me feeling confused with what I had just read. At some points throughout my read, I found myself sitting there reading, yet my mind was wondering and imagining the environments in which were being described. I would almost position myself in the book, and pretend that I was the one laying in bed or watching the light shift around my bedroom from morning to night. 

While starting this text off, reading the first few pages, there were beautiful descriptions as to where the story was taking place. This time of rest is usually one of relaxation, but it seems as though this is a time where Marcel explores his thoughts extensively recalling memories from his past, and more specifically his childhood. There is a constant shift between conscious and unconscious thoughts which at times become difficult to distinguish.

Mid way through, I began to notice the significant theme of relationships and more specifically how complex family dynamics begin to arise. It is quite evident that through childhood, there were issues amongst the family that are shown. There was a sincere need for the child to want to spend more time with his mother, however it seems as though the father would prevent that sort of thing from happening as it went against his beliefs. The child would only receive a small moment of affection on some nights, despite him wishing to have so much more. However, it isn't until later, with more knowledge of the world that they are able to understand these moments and how that affected them. 

Overall, this reading was quite complex for me to fully grasp and I definitely think that more time with these genres of texts will help… but for the meantime my question to you all's how do you think a child that receives so little affection that is also so inconsistent while growing up affects their development later on? Do they seek out more love in efforts to feel what they missed growing up… or is it so unfamiliar that the thought cant be imagined?

 

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    It may be due to my habit of trying to read Charles Dickens' books and then always giving up after a few pages but any fancy-seeming literature always makes me nervous because half the time it's written in a way that I have to re-read it five times before I can tell what's going on. Do not ask me what fancy-seeming entails, I have no idea but seeing the name Combray definitely made it fit into this category. As expected, I did find myself quite confused throughout reading and had difficulties following the plot. That said I found some things quite intriguing. 

    The story starts with Proust's first descriptions of his childhood struggle trying to sleep each night. I felt incredibly lost reading it, not sure what was memories and what was dreams but I realized this was likely the point. Having experienced living life in a dream-like state I must say that the way Proust described the feeling of coming in and out of sleep with memories and dreams seeming to overlap is very similar. While I found it difficult to read, the long sentences and the ample imagery, added to the feeling of confusion and drew me into reading further. 

    I am curious about the relationship he has with his parents. Why does his father, who apparently found his son's desire for a mother's love to be unacceptable usually, make an exception once and tell her to sleep in his room? What caused the narrator to be scared that he would be sent away if he was caught doing something so simple as asking for his mother to say goodnight to him? I feel as though I may have missed something or perhaps I am meant to speculate on these things. Then there is Swann, who he despised as a child for keeping his mother away on nights he visited. I really liked the addition of him later finding out that Swann had suffered through something similar to him. It made me remember that these are childhood memories, often filled with assumptions and odd associations between people or places with certain emotions. The puzzling timeline of the story also is similar to how I remember my own childhood, I don't really know what happened when either. I would love to know if Proust did this intentionally, or if it was just a side effect of me not understanding what was happening. 

    I really want to like this book. I find it genuinely interesting but it has taken me so long to read even this first part and I still honestly don't understand the plot of the story. If I have time in the future to read pages three times over, I will definitely be continuing this.

That's all I have to say for now bye! 😀 

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