As a philosophy major, I really enjoyed the opening of the novel, however, this book very quickly turned into nonsense for me and I found myself uninterested to even try to follow along. I think this is probably my least favourite novel thus far, and what made it difficult to read personally was a lack of reward from following along with the narrator’s train of thought.

I did really appreciate the slow and contemplative style of the narration, though I think I preferred Combray as I found that I could relate to it more emotionally. The passion according to G.H didn’t really resonate with me as I couldn’t really relate to what she was saying. I understood the notion of trying to give form to the formless, and being afraid of what giving it form could reveal to a person about themselves, however, for me it dragged on too long.

I’m not sure what else to say about this novel. One thing that did strike out to me was the image of the cockroach. I’m incredibly scared of them so that added to my being unable to read the grotesque details, but I liked the use of the cockroach as a reflective symbol and as something the protagonist used to meditate on. Though I couldn’t really follow along, I thought that was very creative.

Maybe I could’ve appreciated the existential thoughts more if I was in the mood – I think you definitely have be in a certain mood to pay attention to the slow narrative and think like the narrator.

My question to you is: Did you like this novel? Could you relate to the probings of the narrator? Do you find any comparisons between this narration the one in Combray?