As the first text of the semester, it was definitely an interesting experience as it was, as I’m sure was the same for many, my first piece translated from a romance language. I can definitely agree with having difficulty reading through it, often going back through sentences and paragraphs to make sense of what I just read. Often times because of some words not usually being used (definitely had to pull up the google dictionary a few times), or the flow of the sentences wasn’t very smooth. I would probably attribute that difficulty to it being translated, as translated works often don’t have the exact words or descriptors between both languages to make it flow as easily as it did in the original language.
That being said, it was still quite an interesting read on memory, childhood, and one’s growth through the relationships they experience. Because it was a bit of a difficult read I may have misunderstood some of the points made in the text, but this is what I got out of it!
The narrator starts the story talking about his past memories and how they make their way into his dreams as he sleeps. Because of these dreams, he reminisces through some of his memories, especially of his memories living in Combray. He then talks about how a kiss goodnight from his mother would always soothe him as a child when he couldn’t sleep. As he grew, that became his norm. Until it was about time he outgrew it, he continued to rely on that goodbye kiss from his mother to be able to have a goodnight’s sleep. Even though his father disproved and his mother was reluctant, he continued to ask his mother to kiss him good night through delivering her letters through Francoise and asking her to come when his father was away. He also grows a dislike for Swann, because his presence meant his mother would not kiss him goodnight, though he later learns that Swann probably also shares a similar pain as his wife left him for another man. At the end of the story, his mother does come to help him sleep, but he feels so guilty he sobs, so his mother tries to read him a book.
Having a little bit of knowledge on childhood attachments, it’s no wonder the narrator constantly confided in his mother’s affections to help him sleep even as he grew older. Having that goodnight kiss as something so reliable and helpful and constant in his childhood, it was probably difficult for him to let go of it. However after he came to that realization and guilt at the end of part 1, he seemed to find a new way to help him sleep– and that is through books and reading. It kind of brings the whole part full circle, as he starts the story talking about how he falls asleep really early with a book in his hand, not even having time to blow out his candle.
Question: what was the initial cause of the narrator’s struggle to fall asleep?
Hi. I’m not entirely sure that the problems you may have encountered will have been a result of the translation. This is a relatively new translation, and the translator (Lydia Davis) is herself a renowned writer. It would be good to try to pinpoint where specifically you have difficulties… There are some long sentences, and on a broad level the text may seem to meander (the meandering is part of the point, however), but I’d argue that sentence-by-sentence it’s quite comprehensible.
But if the first section starts with books and reading in bed, it ends with the famous madeleine scene, which leads to a whole new start. In fact, in some ways the book only really gets going on page 48/49. So I’m not sure how circular the narrative is here.
Hi Katrina!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Proust. I understand how it could’ve been difficult at first to understand what Proust was describing, but I’m not sure if this is attributable to the translator. Also, based on your summary of what happened in the story, it seems like you understood very well! I’ve encountered writing styles similar to Proust’s before (long, drawn out sentences, lack of detailed plot), and I find sometimes the best way to understand it is to just keep reading. Re-reading over and over again can easily disrupt your understanding of the prose, especially when it’s a long sentence. If you just focus in on the greater meaning being written it might be more enjoyable and less difficult!
Just wanted to clarify that what I meant by having trouble with the possible translation was not that the translator did a poor job! Maybe I was basing it on my experiences with more modern translations on movies that I knew the spoken language to, and reading the subtitles that go with it.
Translators can go different routes, one that stays faithful to the original language (but often requires some added context to have full comprehension of the translation since two languages aren’t usually overlapped in word-for-word/syntax translations), and one that translates it in a way that makes it easier for the second language readers– in this case English– to understand what’s being said (but is often not as accurate a translation as it focuses on ease of reading, rather than staying faithful to the original language).
Since I don’t know the original language or the process that the translator went through while translating, you’re both correct that it was wrong for me to attribute it to the translation. I’ll definitely keep this in mind as I read on in future texts!