(Particular to Part 1)
First things first, this text had me truly puzzled and even felt chaotic at times.
Specifically, it hopped from describing one thing to another so quickly, almost without transition. It was difficult for me to stay focused and keep a general idea of what was occurring throughout all of my reading, with Proust getting into specifics of every single possible detail. There was a point that seemed like he was describing unnecessary elements of the story, just to purposely throw you off trajectory of what he’s actually trying to convey. An example of this that comes to mind is on page 12, where we go so far into Bathilde and her husband’s drinking problem. Maybe I just don’t see the connection to the rest of the story, but these parts of the text directed me away from continuing. However, although I did not feel the need to have these extra details, I did enjoy the diction and imagery that Proust used in these sections. He really brought these parts of the text to life and allowed me to imagine it, to feel as if I was overlooking these moments as they happened.
Being honest, I’m still having a hard time piecing together what I read and how it comes together as a part of a larger story. The density of each page and constant divulging into semi off-topic anecdotes kept pushing me away from retaining the actual important information to understand what was taking place. At one point, I was trying to discern if this was a recollection of a not-so-disturbing but baffling fever dream.
Though I must say it was not all bad. Some areas, such as the speaker’s mother approaching Swann about his daughter, were interesting and had me invested in how the characters would respond. I also found some aspects relatable, such as having guests over while I’m in my room just waiting on them to leave.
Also, I feel as if it may be partially my own doing on why I found this text difficult to follow. I didn’t read the entire chapter all in one sitting, so as I sat down the following couple days to continue reading I may not have retained the points that were crucial to grasp the ideas Proust was laying down.
A question I had as I read this amazingly confusing chapter of Combray was “why does this text, or does Proust feel the need to, contain so many misleading features on the way to discovering the story at hand?” Maybe with all components of this entire text it makes more sense, or maybe it’s on purpose – as a challenge. I look forward to further discussion on this topic and how others feel in relation to reading Combray by Marcel Proust.
Hi Raymon! I completely agree with what you said in your blog post as I said very similar things in mine! I also found that the transitions and trajectory of the story were extremely confusing. I also found myself getting lost in the constant details and comprehensive anecdotes about seemingly unrelated things. Somehow, I still found this story to be compelling, did you? I also did not read the book in one sitting and am wondering if this may be why we found ourselves being utterly lost in the storyline. I think your question is very good, and I’d like to see what others have to say about it as I had similar questions after finishing the book.
Hi Raymon!
I agree with you a lot about the longwinded narration and seemingly unnecessary level of detail that Proust goes into. It challenged me to try to think about why, and it so happens that it is your question as well. While it is impossible to know what Proust himself was thinking, I think it has an effect of making things very personal between the narrator and the audience. There’s a part of the Introduction that mentions Proust’s writing as he would have spoken. Granted, there’s some other details about the disconnect between the spoken and written text, but perhaps it grants the audience an insight into the thought of the protagonist. We’re not just listening to him talking to us, we are in his head and following every little distraction and tangent that comes to his mind. I can’t imagine he was just trying to get a kick out of it, but who knows!
Hi Raymon,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post on Proust. I’d like to say that I share the EXACT same sentiments as you! While reading Part 1, I found myself zoning out on every page. I felt as though the reading was extremely ‘text heavy’ for lack of better words. Like you’ve said, there were constant anecdotes and excessive detail that had me thinking ‘WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT’. I had to reread pages over and over again to simply grasp what had just been said. At first, I felt defeated. I asked myself ‘why is this so hard for me to read’. Now that I have spent some time reflecting, I think it might have been a combination of Proust’s writing style as well as my horrible attention span.
As you’ve mentioned I did enjoy the details that I felt developed the storyline. For example, when Marcel described his nostalgia when drinking tea. At first, it was frustrating reading the number of times he sipped his tea. Once he described his core memories of drinking tea. For the first time while reading I said to myself ‘oh… well yea! that makes sense.’
Anyway, thank you for sharing!