Thoughts on Combray
Hey everyone!
The assigned reading for this week was “Combray” by Marcel Proust. Before I started reading, I didn’t think it would be as difficult as it was to get through this reading. I found it to be a bit hard to read because of the longer sentences I found myself struggling to stay focused while reading. I would also notice my mind wandering when I was reading it so I ended up having to read the same parts over again before moving forward. I also think that one of the reasons I may have struggled initially a bit more than usual on this reading was due to the fact that this was the first reading of the semester and it’s always difficult to get back into doing assigned readings.As I progressed through the reading, it became easier to read as it felt like a familiar feeling of going down memory lane. I became more interested to learn more about his childhood and meaningful moments that were being explained throughout the book.
Another part of this book that stuck out to me was the need for his mother’s kisses before going to sleep. He explained that he would always sleep better when his mother gave him a goodnight kiss and the need for these kisses continued despite knowing that she was reluctant to give them to him. Although at first, I thought it was kind of strange to have such a strong desire to have these kisses from his mother, I then thought more about how throughout your life and specifically childhood, everyone has unique sort of routine, whether intentional or unintentional that become so normal I It can be hard to completely change something like that without feeling a bit uneasy. So it makes more sense that not having a goodnight kiss that always helped him sleep would be difficult to no longer have. I think that as a result it often needs to be replaced with something else that can be calming, for example reading before falling asleep which is also done in this book to help him fall asleep.
I wanted to know if others also found this reading to be a bit difficult to get into at first. Also I think that my biggest question is if others think that his mother not wanting to give him a goodnight kiss made sense or not?
Lauren, I think that feeling of familiarity with Proust's prose is something that can be developed. In fact, we only read a small part of the entire narrative cycle, which covers several novels. In a way, Proust asks a lot of us to enter his world, his memories in his precise way. We will read a novel that seems most interesting to you and closest to your interests. Thanks for your blog this week.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! I also agree that it was very difficult to read, I wasn't expecting it to be like it was. Interesting point about the mother's kisses. That stuck out to me as well. I think it is purposely done to add to the theme of gender relations throughout the book and how the narrator views women impacting his life through both memories and present experiences.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren, I agree this text was a bit difficult to read and grasp at first and sometimes we can get lost. Although I feel this unique reading helped me learn a new way to read a text. I also started to become more interested when he started to explain his childhood more in depth.
ReplyDeleteHi, Lauren! Thanks for your sharing. When I was reading the novel, I was also puzzled about why the author is so insistent on receiving a kiss from his mother before bedtime. When I was very young, my mother used to read stories to me before sleep, but it wasn't a fixed routine every day. Sometimes, when my mother felt tired, she wouldn't read me a story. However, I didn't have trouble sleeping just because my mother didn't read to me. I would only feel a bit disappointed.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! I also found it difficult to get through this reading. This could be due to my short attention span but I agree that the longer sentences probably played a part. I too found myself constantly having to reread sections of the reading.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! I am not a huge reader to begin with so I also found it a bit difficult. I didn't know what to expect, but it surely wasn't that :) Overall, I did enjoy the book and just took what I could from it and didn't put too much pressure on myself to understand every single sentence.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren! I did find the reading difficult in the sense that at first grasp it wasn't clear what the author was trying to tell you or you didn't quite know what he meant, or maybe there was no connection to the sentence before. However, I agree that it has become easier. I'd say yes because it felt like going down memory lane like you said, but I'd also add that it was because we got more and more submerged or intrigued. If you read over a sentence, it motivates you to try harder to understand, and so when you move to the next sentence, you somehow understand quicker and more naturally what follows it, if that makes sense. So, Proust is interesting because he challenges the reader to stop thinking of time and space in the standard way, which I loved.
ReplyDeleteForgot to add my name: this comment was by Domenica Loor
DeleteHi Lauren!! I really enjoyed reading your points on Combray and how you found this weeks reading :) I wrote very similar things to you - I definitely agree that this reading tended to make many peoples minds wander. I found your perceptive about the mothers kiss scene very interesting. When I was reading it, I found it quite bizarre and even a little weird. But the way you put it makes a lot of sense, as a child you can definitely experience lots of anxiety when your routine changes. Thanks for sharing, I look forward to reading more of your blog posts :)
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention my name - Jivan Cheema :)
DeleteHi Lauren I loved your analysis of the book and relate to it quite a lot. I found this reading quite difficult as well! But I just tried to understand what I could and not read too much into it.
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