I just finished reading the first chapter of Proust’s Combray and felt that he had some interesting ideas on our memory and our understanding of reality, so I wanted to focus on that in this post. In terms of my experience reading it, I found it a bit difficult to focus on the text: the long […]
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Initially I found “Swann’s Way” by Marcel Proust to be a slow and confusing read. It felt as if the sentences were just random words that were put together without meaning because so much seemed to be happening in the story right from the beginning. Eventually I started to get more invested and gain a […]
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The novel, “Combray” by Marcel Proust was published over a hundred years ago, however, it features themes that are timelessly related to the human condition; mental illness, familial relationships, sexuality, love, betrayal. I find that a lot of literature focuses on, not necessarily these specific themes but similar things that are intimately linked to being […]
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Hello everyone. This blog entry is dedicated to Proust, Cambray part 1. I found this text hard, not extremely hard,…
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Proust’s Combray reads like an ever flowing stream of consciousness between the lines of sleep and wake. In true modernist fashion, Proust jumps from thought to thought often moving along before assuring the readers understanding. In this way I found it quite challenging to understand at first and felt as if the text dragged on … Continue reading “Thoughts on Proust “Combray””
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Hi everyone! My name is Pulkit Aggarwal, I am a 5th-year economics student in the Bachelor of International Economics (BIE)…
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Upon completing the “Combray” section of Proust’s groundbreaking story “In Search of Lost Time” I am struck with a feeling I would assume many modernist writings would have reveled, namely, the fact that Proust’s work elicits a feeling of both familiarity and confusion, an almost paradoxical joy and unease that in a way represent the […]
The major themes surrounding Part 1 in Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust have many applications in our daily lives. For instance, memory and re-visiting earlier happier and even sad memories predominate Combray. From the narrator’s memories of his inability to sleep without his mother’s kisses to his attempt to understand the adult’s conversation and even …
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.
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.
