This week’s book really threw me for a loop. Throughout the story, I was trying to question what I was reading in hopes of understanding the story, and the meaning behind it all, but most times my thoughts came up blank. My understanding was that Argon’s goal was to emphasise the idea of surrealism, but I was unsure as to why he decided to not have a plot. I think that because there was no plot, I was having trouble following along with his messages of surrealism, therefore, his goal was not met in my opinion. I also found myself trying to pick up on background stories or information about some characters that made an appearance, but was unable to really do so. Does anyone else feel the same way? Also, another thing that made it difficult for me to read this book was his elevated word choice that I believe he used to help create a picture in the reader’s mind but for me, I was unable to create a picture of what he was describing. Trying to follow along to a story when you don’t understand a portion of it was quite frustrating at times. This could also be due to the fact that because this book was quite boring to me, I found myself becoming quite distracted and daydreaming about other things, which took my focus from the book. I was able to make some connections however with this book and Combray in the fact that their ideas were greatly detailed. For example this quote from Paris Peasant, “Blond resembles the stammerings of ecstasy, the piracies of lips, the tremors of limpi waters. Blond takes flight from definitions down a wayward path where flowers and seashells meet my eye.” (40) Had very descriptive words to describe the shade of blond. However, I found this word choice quite confusing as I was unable to create a picture of what he was attempting to portray. In Combray, Proust put great detail into his story that it was easy to picture in my head what his surroundings were like. The difference with this story is that even though there is lots of detail, due to my lack of understanding of the plot in general, I can’t seem to create a picture in my head of what this author is talking about. Overall, I think that to help me better understand the author’s ideas, I would have needed a storyline to follow along with, therefore I would be able to look further into the story to the message the author was trying to portray.
“I found myself becoming quite distracted and daydreaming about other things”
You know, I actually feel that Aragon would love this… This is after all a book that is in large part about distraction and daydreaming, which is perhaps one reason by it doesn’t have a conventional linear plot: Aragon simply follows his whims, wherever they take him.
And I mention this in my lecture, the importance of daydreaming in this book:
‘Surrealism is famously drawn to the logic of dreams, to the unconscious processes that both drive and undermine waking reality: “the omnipotence of dream” in Breton’s words. Hence Aragon renames the small corner of Paris that fascinates him the “Passage de l’Opéra Onirique” (“The Opera Dream Passage,” 89), conjuring up a placard of his own in the process. But this book’s dreams are daydreams, visions with eyes wide open: “Reverie imposes its presence, unaided. Here Surrealism resumes all its rights. They give you a glass inkwell with a champagne cork for a stopper, and you are away! Images flutter down like confetti. Images, images everywhere” (81). ‘