Since this is my first blog, I’d like to share what I think are the highlights of my reading of Proust’s “Combray”. I’d like to focus on two broad aspects of my reading of the story: the writing style and the central theme of the novel.
First of all, it is obvious that the story is telling from the perspective of the narrator, “I”, who sees, hears, thinks, and feels, and focuses on the real social life and human situation. It is because the story is told in the first-person perspective and describes the senses pretty much in details, it makes the readers more immersed in the plot; the readers can also feel the author’s self-seeking, self-reflection and inner experience from the author’s self-narrative, and giving more space to think, although it is often puzzling! It is also worth noting that the story timeline does not adhere to a clear linear narrative, but rather is intricate. This means that there is no central character, no complete story, only plot threads that run throughout the work. The story is generally centered on the narrator’s life experiences and inner activities, through which a large number of characters are depicted, such as mom, dad, aunt, grandparents, etc. I would like to compare this style of writing to a large tree with intertwined branches, the trunk of which can be extended in any direction. Of course, it’s also because of the disorganized storyline that it can somewhat increase the difficulty for the readers to interpret the story as a whole, as the readers need to piece together a seemingly complete story from the tiny fragments of the story. Secondly, Proust intentionally accentuates the narrator’s half-asleep, half-awake mental state. However, I personally feel that this can also be combined with the intermittent memory fragments, symbolizing the turbid and impenetrable nature of life. Proust also uses these fragmented memories to expose the complexity of social conflicts and human relationships, as well as to reflect deeply on the vicissitudes of the world and on life and death.
Question for discussion:
“Thus I would often lie until morning thinking back to the time at Combray, to my sad sleepless evenings, to the many days, too, whose image had been restored to me more recently by the taste-what they would have called at Combray the “fragrance”-of a cup of tea, and, by an association of memories, to what, many years after leaving that little town…”(Proust, 190)
Proust’s “Combray” specializes in sleepy memories. For instance, goodnight kisses from mom, little Madeleine cake from aunt, etc. pull the narrator into memories over and over again. I’m curious what memories symbolize to you? If you had to describe your memories in terms of an object, scent, or anything, what do you think it would be? and why?
You’re the first! Wow! 🙂
I like the point that these are *sleepy* memories… from the very first line, we are on the border between sleep and wakefulness, as though that were a special threshold for the creation and recovery of memories.
Hi Cici!
Thank you for your sharing! Your insightful about the novel was really unique and inspired me to think about the novel from a different perspective. Yes, as you said while the writing seemed to be fragmented and disorganized, this writing style in a way reflects how life is. We live in a world where relationships, events, and death occur suddenly, and things might just come to an end without signs.
In terms of your question, for me, music can really symbolize memory for me. Whenever I hear to songs from the past, I recall that piece of memory!
From Esther Zhou 🙂
Hey Cici!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! I do agree with your point that first person perspective allows for a more intimate portrayal of thoughts and emotions since it literally puts the reader into the head of the speaker. The author easily communicates how each moment feels with their constant usage of sensual vocabulary. Now regarding your question, I believe that memories are responsible for making people the way they are today – perhaps in a similar way to words or illustrations on a book. And with the absence of memories, we’re just a blank page waiting to be written or drawn on.
Hi Cici!
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this! I agree that the narrator telling the story in the first person gives the readers a much more immersive experience on his life and emotions. Your comparison of the storyline to the intertwined branches of a large tree is also very interesting to draw upon, the narrator took many different directions while telling his story. Because of that, the reading was often difficult to follow along as it can sometimes appear disorganized and discontinuous. As for your questions, memories are complex and multifaceted for me, it can be triggered by literally anything. Sometimes, it would be a familiar smell of a bakery good or the sound of windchimes ringing through the air. Other times, the memory will arise seemingly out of no where, like an anchor being dragged up to the surface.
Hi Cici! Thanks for your thoughts on the readings. I definitely agree that the disorganization of the storyline was a barrier to making this an enjoyable read for me. Especially without a “real” plot, and the time-jumps made it super confusing to keep track of what’s actually happening. My memories are mostly triggered by random thoughts – often when I’m daydreaming I somehow think about something I’ve done years ago, but I’d say they aren’t really triggered by scent (which was discussed by the text a lot) as growing up I wasn’t really super sensitive to smell!