Upon the first reading of the text, I did find Proust’s book to be confusing to read at first. It took me a while to do a few rereads before getting a general understanding of what is going on since I found the prose to be quite complex.
Whenever I’m reading a work of fiction, I know that I want to be immersed in the world. I want the author to completely distract me from the reality of incoming deadlines from other classes and horrible weather for the next few weeks with the protagonist’s thoughts and actions as they interact with the world around them.
The protagonist of Marcel Proust’s “Combray” definitely understands that well, saying that the action of reading enables him to be “invisible” to the rest of the outside world within his garden – and discover “the secret of truth and beauty” where their appearance in books can be felt a lot stronger than in real life (p. 116).
But what exactly is the concept of “beauty?”
I’d like to say that beauty is a combination of qualities that is pleasing to the aesthetic senses, especially to the eyes.
Anything can be beautiful, and the mere sight of beauty can instantly steal your breath away.
It is exciting. Calming. Awe-inspiring. Even heartbreaking.
I believe that we find them beautiful because as human beings, we are capable of abstract thought. Finding things beautiful just because we do is a reward in itself.
The protagonist clearly does so in his fascination for art, as well as how he perceives characters in a book. Since characters in a book are a writer’s creation, their thoughts and feelings are much more condensed and easier to follow – especially when they are transcribed on paper. As a result, that could be why Marcel feels that he has learned more about people in books than in his personal environment.
And speaking of thoughts and feelings, it was also interesting to note that Marcel tends to read the same way I do: by trying to understand the mindset of the characters. I do have a tendency to apply psychological theories (especially Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis) to the text to try to figure out any issues within them (with an example being his aunt Léonie’s case of illness anxiety disorder when her husband died).
Whenever you are given a new piece of literature, what is the first thing you do when trying to read the text or understanding the messages the author may have implied within it? Do you try to get into the mindset of the character? To immerse yourself in the environmental surroundings of the character? Has it helped you understand the text better? Why do you think that is the case?