Impressions
My first impression upon reading Combray was that it is one perplexing piece of literature, especially given that it is the first one we are reading. Not only was I met with a spiral of confusion, but also I would feel lost with the more pages I frantically read, although there were some parts that made sense when I reread it. The expression of the text is not a conventional style of writing or at least a style I have previously seen. For example on page 8, there was plenty of detail in writing, but sentences felt like they were eternally descriptive and verbose. This was not the case throughout the texts, but was head scratching to try and understand all at once.
Aside from my initial impressions of the readings, I had interestingly thought about the narrator’s Mama and their relationship growing up. As someone who is from a psychology background and has taken some family studies courses for my minor, I’d thought to myself what kind of attachment style would best describe their relationship? There were drops of hints throughout the first section of the literature where I had sensed the bond between the mother and the narrator leaning towards being secured. One example is that the narrator describes that mama is the one who would say goodnight to them (page 29). Other examples such as mama being the one to read books aloud to him or when Francoise sees that mama is holding his hand while he’s crying, yet seem to remain a tranquil composure as mama seems to provide comfort through being present (page 38). Mama also demonstrated as being a protective figure and somewhat stoic to possibly shield her genuine emotions, as she holds back herself from crying when seeing the narrator cry. All of these examples and the general responsiveness of mama indicate that there is likely a secure attachment style between the two.
Overall thought
Despite the reading for this week being complex, I look forward to seeing what other readings have in store. If I had not frantically tried speed reading in an attempt to get the reading over with, I’d think I would find myself indulging more of this sort of reading and being able to be more meticulous with my analysis. I will say that it’s very compelling and to such an extent helpful to see if you can relate or connect the literature to other things that pertain to you such as your own experience, in order to be better perceptive to what you’re reading.
Question:
Not necessarily related to the reading itself, but how did everyone here find themselves taking a note of what was going on? Were you just as lost as me?
Sally, I think one of Proust’s intentions is to make us feel lost. These questions about the world in which the child lives may be, perhaps, the same ones we ask ourselves when we walk down memory lane with the narrator. I think you’re a pretty insightful reader, and over the next few weeks you’ll discover what kinds of novels are most compatible with your way of reading. Thanks for your blog post.
Hi Sally, I’m happy to note that I too was struggling greatly with this text. I felt like I was trapped in Proust’s mind prison of never ending thoughts, so full of detail yet none that would help me piece together a story. I also found the relationship between the narrator and his mom very interesting, and I think that it is really cool that you used your psychology background to recognize an attachment style to their relationship. In my notes after reading the first chapter, I wrote ‘Freud would love this guy’, so I found that quite funny. I do hope the future readings are a little bit easier to digest, and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on different texts.
Hi Sally, I was also often confused by some of the descriptive and lengthy plots in between. To minimize this, I often bring myself into these described events., and combine this with some imagery in the form of images to replay in my mind.
Hi Sally! I too found the style of writing to be something I was not used to, and had to adopt ways to figure it out, such as re reading. I agree that if I was not thinking about this reading for school, and just trying to get through it, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.