One of the most enjoyable aspects of this reading was the tone that the narrator told the story in. Proust used expressive and complex language. He uses involuntary memory as a method to capture his readers attention. It was interesting to see his opinions and beliefs play out within the characters of his story.
This week’s reading was interesting, however, I felt as though I did not understand some of the themes and only recognized a few constants. I found difficulty in following the plot as it did not seem there was much guidance for the readers.
One interesting theme was the way Proust described the setting of the story, specifically the church. It was very obvious that Proust adores the architecture of the church he imagined. He was fascinated with churches throughout France and Italy as depicted in his writings.
A very prominent theme in the novel was Marcel’s relationship with his mother and the effect that has on him. Marcel has anxiety surrounding his relationship with his mother as she seems to emotionally distress her son (also a little Oedipus seeming). Not only were there tensions between him and his mother, Marcel had a very manipulative relationship with his father (This poor guy cannot catch a break). There is a lot of exploration surrounding the theme of familial relationships and the impacts that they have on people.
Another theme that stuck out to me was that of escaping reality through literature. Marcel reads so much that his fantasy world begins to feel more real to him than the outside world in which he lives. He cannot leave his fantasy world as it protects him from his experiences in the real world. Marcel observes people from the outside and learns behaviours that way. In turn, this does not help him accurately gauge behaviour of people. He is able to fantasize about women and create imagined and idealized versions of them for his writings. This feels a bit gross to read considering Marcel places a lot of a woman’s worth on her appearance and will romanticize them until he deems them attractive.
Marcel’s imaginary women are very harmful to the way women are perceived by readers. Throughout history women were valued based on their appearance and Marcel only repeats this. Women written by men are often objectified and used only to advance the growth of a male lead.
Overall, I did not enjoy this reading that much but I am excited for future readings. I struggled while reading it but felt as though I was able to grasp a few main themes.
The first thing that came to mind when I read Proust’s ‘Combray’ was a sense of nostalgia. I grew up reading a lot of classics, especially from Victorian England writers and the language that the English translation of ‘Combray’ uses is very familiar to some of that used in those books I used to read. […]
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with narrative, reflections
After reading the first part of Swann’s Way, I have mixed feelings. I unfortunately found it more difficult to read than I had expected. It wasn’t the hardest text i’ve ever read, but I definitely found myself having to re-read sentences and even whole pages. The author uses extremely long sentences, as well as extensive imagery at which some points I had a hard time picking up on. I guess this just proves I need to spend more time with a book in my hand! Despite being a challenging read, I did enjoy the content of the novel. I believe in the first few pages of the book, the author is going in and out of sleep, and describes the dreams and memories that return to him while in this state. Marcel seems to cling to memories of his childhood, specifically his life in Combray. He speaks about family experiences, and the emotions he felt during those times.
One particular aspect of the novel really stood out to me, is the attachment Marcel has to his mother as a child. Throughout the novel, he refers to all of his family as “grandfather, grandmother, father” etc, while referring to his mother as “Mama”. This already proving the bond he had with her. Marcel speaks emotionally about how the only thing that would bring him comfort before bed, was a goodnight kiss from his mother. He would look forward to this soft moment with her so much that the thought of her returning downstairs afterward would fill him with sadness. He would even dread days when their family had company over because that meant his mother would not even bother to come upstairs to kiss him goodnight. On page 23, Marcel even expresses that Swann’s company brought him pain because of this. Though Marcel’s mother thought sharing this tender moment with her son was important, his father thought otherwise, suggesting it would inhibit him from being tough and independent. This result in resentment towards his father.
I think this really stood out to me because I find it somewhat relatable. When I was a young child I used to sleep in my mothers room because i was absolutely terrified of the dark. Some nights she would leave me in her room to watch TV in the living room. As silly as it sounds, I would be so scared sitting in the dark alone, that I used to count every single second until she would come back to check on me. When she finally would, i would be overwhelmed with a sense of comfort. That being said, to some degree I could truly feel the emotion that Marcel would when his mother came to his room for a kiss.
My question for the class: Do you think the affection a mother shares with her child would cause them to later lack initiative, individuality or confidence?
After reading the first part of Swann’s Way, I have mixed feelings. I unfortunately found it more difficult to read than I had expected. It wasn’t the hardest text i’ve ever read, but I definitely found myself having to re-read sentences and even whole pages. The author uses extremely long sentences, as well as extensive imagery at which some points I had a hard time picking up on. I guess this just proves I need to spend more time with a book in my hand! Despite being a challenging read, I did enjoy the content of the novel. I believe in the first few pages of the book, the author is going in and out of sleep, and describes the dreams and memories that return to him while in this state. Marcel seems to cling to memories of his childhood, specifically his life in Combray. He speaks about family experiences, and the emotions he felt during those times.
One particular aspect of the novel really stood out to me, is the attachment Marcel has to his mother as a child. Throughout the novel, he refers to all of his family as “grandfather, grandmother, father” etc, while referring to his mother as “Mama”. This already proving the bond he had with her. Marcel speaks emotionally about how the only thing that would bring him comfort before bed, was a goodnight kiss from his mother. He would look forward to this soft moment with her so much that the thought of her returning downstairs afterward would fill him with sadness. He would even dread days when their family had company over because that meant his mother would not even bother to come upstairs to kiss him goodnight. On page 23, Marcel even expresses that Swann’s company brought him pain because of this. Though Marcel’s mother thought sharing this tender moment with her son was important, his father thought otherwise, suggesting it would inhibit him from being tough and independent. This result in resentment towards his father.
I think this really stood out to me because I find it somewhat relatable. When I was a young child I used to sleep in my mothers room because i was absolutely terrified of the dark. Some nights she would leave me in her room to watch TV in the living room. As silly as it sounds, I would be so scared sitting in the dark alone, that I used to count every single second until she would come back to check on me. When she finally would, i would be overwhelmed with a sense of comfort. That being said, to some degree I could truly feel the emotion that Marcel would when his mother came to his room for a kiss.
My question for the class: Do you think the affection a mother shares with her child would cause them to later lack initiative, individuality or confidence?
My first attempt at reading Marcel Proust’s “Combray” was difficult, to say the least. I started off with the scanned pages posted to the course website, but between Proust’s long-winded sentences and my eyes feeling strained from staring at my laptop screen, I wasn’t able to immerse myself in the reading. Luckily, I was able […]
So, I have just finished reading Proust’s Combray. In my opinion, I would say that this is a compelling novel that is relatively complicated and dense at times. It was not one of my favourite books. Nevertheless, there were many different aspects to the novel in which I found interesting, thought-provoking, and allowed me to […]
When I read the first one to two pages about her sleeping, it gave me feelings that were very empathetic as it started by describing how sleeping was disturbed or got comfortable by some actions. Especially, for instance, the sentence, “[…] the thought that it was time to try to sleep would wake me […]”, […]
Hi Everyone! This week I am going to be reflecting on part one –Combray– of Marcel Proust’s novel Swann’s Way….
Marcel Proust’s “Combray” was a bit of a challenge to read. At first, there was a lot of jumping around from topic to topic, which was difficult to follow. Near the end, however, the writing seems to clear up, and focuses on a memory from childhood. The text concludes with the narrator remembering a taste … Continue reading Week 2: Proust’s “Combray” →
After reading part 1 of “Combray” I felt sympathy for the narrator and also worried about the way he processes his emotions. In the initial pages of the story, the narrator speaks in much detail of how in his sleep he becomes transported into different memories. It seems like he is being haunted by his past as he cannot escape these dreams. He would often go back to his childhood to relive bad memories.
Although it was only the one memory of his summers in “Combray”, the detail put into it made it so the reader could be shown the different family dynamics as well as the narrator’s distinct personality. When his father sends him to bed without a kiss from his mother, dismissing it as absurd, the boy becomes filled with sorrow. His mother’s kiss was described as “the concession she was making to [his] sadness and agitation,” (13) and without it he let those emotions consume him. He first sends a note down to his mother asking her to come up and say goodnight and after his request was denied, he made a second plan to wait for her to come to bed and catch her in the hall. He knew this would result in severe consequences but he did it anyway because he was dependent on these rituals. When his father came up and saw what was happening, the narrator braced himself for punishment but was surprised when his father showed him sympathy and let his mother stay the night in his room. This surprised me as well because of the father’s initial descriptions of being strict and against this ritual. His change of heart when seeing his son in distress gave me a new perspective on the father. At first, I thought he was cruel but then realized that he was just trying to better his son by setting boundaries and trying to teach independence.
I noticed the narrator is a very sensitive child who experiences life differently from those around him. He is often nervous and has an introverted personality. I’m wondering what connections this can be made to his family dynamics and if it had anything to do with his upbringing or if it was just the way he was wired.
Going back to the scene of the narrator refusing to go to sleep without a kiss from his mother. My question to the class is: Were the narrator’s parents in the right to set these boundaries for their child? Or is it more important to tend to the child’s emotional wellbeing?
