Month: January 2026

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Thoughts on The Shrouded Woman

I really liked this book. The Shrouded Woman was such a refreshing shift from the other texts we’ve read so far, and honestly, it felt like a bit of a relief. Not only was it the first book written by a woman that we’ve read in this course, but it was also the one I found the easiest to move through and the most emotionally engaging.

Compared to some of the earlier readings, which felt dense, meandering, or overly experimental, Bombal’s writing felt clear without being simplistic. The language is lyrical, but it never felt like it was trying to confuse the reader on purpose. I wasn’t constantly stopping to reread sentences or figure out what was happening. Instead, I could actually sink into the story and let the emotions guide me, which made the reading experience way more enjoyable overall.

What stood out to me most was how intimate the narrative felt. The entire novel unfolds through the consciousness of a woman who is reflecting on her life, her marriage, and her disappointments while lying on her deathbed. That perspective alone made the book feel deeply personal. Instead of focusing on big events or dramatic plot twists, Bombal focuses on the main character’s emotions, her loneliness, her desires, and how invisible she feels. It felt quiet, reflective, and almost haunting in the best way.

I also think the fact that this book is written by a woman really matters. The way marriage, love, and womanhood are portrayed feels distinctly different from the male-authored texts we’ve read so far. Instead of romanticizing relationships or framing women as accessories to male experience, Bombal shows how confining and isolating marriage can be for women, especially when emotional needs are ignored. There’s a sadness in the novel, but it’s paired with a strong sense of awareness and self-reflection that made it feel honest rather than depressing.

Overall, The Shrouded Woman felt emotional and surprisingly modern. It didn’t exhaust me the way some of the earlier readings did, and I found myself genuinely wanting to keep reading rather than pushing through out of obligation. This book makes me excited for the rest!

Question: Do you think The Shrouded Woman would feel as powerful if it were written from a male perspective, or is its emotional impact inseparable from Bombal writing as a woman?

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Nadja – André Breton

Okay, so going into Nadja, I really thought things would finally get easier after Proust. Like surely that was the hardest one, right? Wrong. While Nadja was technically easier to get through, I still spent most of the book feeling confused and slightly unwell in a “what am I even reading right now?” kind of way. The whole thing feels scattered, like Breton just dumped his thoughts onto the page and said “figure it out.” There’s barely a plot, time doesn’t seem to matter, and I kept waiting for something to fully click. It mostly didn’t.

The book starts with the classic “Who am I?” which immediately made me think, okay, this is going to be philosophical. Fair enough. But as I kept reading, it didn’t feel like he was actually trying to answer that question. Instead, it felt like we were just bouncing between random encounters, dreams, coincidences, and long reflections that may or may not mean something. At some point, I gave up trying to track a storyline and just accepted that confusion might be part of the experience. Not saying I loved that, but I survived.

I will say, one thing I genuinely liked was the images in the book. Nadja’s drawings were especially interesting and a little unsettling in a way that worked. Seeing them made the book feel more immersive and helped me understand the vibe of what Breton was describing, instead of just feeling confused all the time.

Now let’s talk about André and Nadja, because… yikes. Their relationship made me deeply uncomfortable. Nadja feels incredibly vulnerable and clearly not grounded in reality, while André seems fully aware of that and still keeps seeing her. On top of that, he’s married. The whole thing feels less romantic and more like he’s observing her as some sort of fascinating experiment. I mostly just felt bad for Nadja, especially when it becomes obvious how alone she really is.

Overall, Nadja was strange, uncomfortable, and confusing, but not completely uninteresting. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, and I definitely wouldn’t choose to read more surrealist literature for fun, but I can at least appreciate how different it was. Even if that difference mostly left me asking, “What did I just read?” It was for sure better than Proust in specific ways though.

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Reading “Combray” Without Pretending I Got It

I went into reading “Combray” fully prepared to be confused, and yet somehow, I was still caught off guard by just how confusing it was. This was not a light “oh, I’ll just read a few pages before bed” kind of text. This was a sit-up-straight, reread-the-same-sentence-four-times, question-your-intelligence kind of read. Proust’s sentences feel like they physically refuse to end, and more than once I found myself forgetting how a sentence even started by the time I reached the period.

At first, I thought I was reading it wrong. I kept stopping, rereading, and trying to piece together connections, assuming that if I just concentrated harder, everything would suddenly click. It didn’t. Eventually, I realized that maybe that sense of being lost is part of the experience. “Combray” doesn’t really care if you’re comfortable as a reader. It pulls you into the narrator’s mind, which is messy, obsessive, emotional, and constantly drifting, much like actual memory.

The famous madeleine scene is the clearest example of this. One small taste unleashes an overwhelming flood of memories, emotions, and images. I found this both fascinating and slightly unrealistic, mostly because I personally cannot remember what I ate yesterday, let alone have an entire childhood resurrected by a pastry. Still, the idea that memory can exist so powerfully beneath the surface, waiting to be unlocked by something mundane, felt strangely convincing.

Another part that stood out to me was the narrator’s intense fixation on the goodnight kiss from his mother. What could easily be dismissed as childish dramatics is treated with complete seriousness. The anxiety feels all-consuming, almost unbearable, and Proust never minimizes it. Instead, he seems to suggest that these early emotional patterns don’t disappear, they simply evolve and follow us into adulthood.

That said, there were moments where the level of detail felt excessive. Pages spent on rooms, paths, names, and minor characters sometimes made me wonder what I was supposed to hold onto and what I was allowed to forget. Still, maybe that’s the point. Memory isn’t efficient, linear, or selective in a neat way.

Ultimately, I didn’t enjoy reading “Combray” in a traditional sense, but I don’t think I was meant to. It’s frustrating, overwhelming, and oddly intimate, and maybe that discomfort is exactly what makes it work.

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Hi!

Hi!

My name is Asma, and I am a third-year student majoring in Political Science. It took me a little while to figure out how to create a blog, so thank you for your patience.

I have spent the majority of my life growing up in British Columbia, but I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and lived in Moscow for a few years during my early childhood. Because of this, I grew up navigating different cultures, languages, and ways of life from a young age, which has shaped how I understand the world and relate to others.

I am also the middle child of eight siblings, which has played a major role in shaping who I am. Growing up in a large family taught me independence, patience, and the importance of communication.

As a Political Science major, I am especially interested in how law, governance, and social systems affect individuals and communities, and how personal backgrounds intersect with broader political and social realities.

I am taking this course to fulfill my literature requirement, but also to push myself beyond my comfort zone and overcome my fear of reading more challenging writers. I love reading, but only modern pieces. Older literature pieces often make me feel stupid, but hopefully this course can stop that.

That’s a little bit about me! I look forward to this class.

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