Reading any books digitally always feels like a different unexplainable experience than having the physical copy in front of you. Proust’s “Combray” was the same too, I feel like perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I was able to have a physical copy of the book. However, I did still enjoy the story, as I liked the author’s descriptive language and use of metaphors. “I would rest my cheeks tenderly against the lovely cheeks of the pillow, which, full and fresh, are like the cheeks of our childhood.” (4). I find this quote especially interesting due to the narrator’s relationship with his parents. As the narrator seems to display some sort of obsession towards his mother, and also desiring his mother to kiss him before bed. While with the narrator’s father, it is rather the opposite, it seems that the narrator is afraid of his father. Thus, I find the quote rather interesting, as it seems that the narrator has perhaps always been lacking affection from his parents, which may imply that his parents may be distant from childhood, so his childhood may not be as “full” (4), in the quote mentioned. Along with how the quote is written with a sense of affection, which, unfortunately, the narrator did not seem to receive from his parents. As he “spend the greater part of the night remembering [his] life in the old days” (9), which feels sounds quite bittersweet in a way that it was relieving to know that he had some memorable times in the past, however, it seems that his way of recalling his memories of the past is a way for him to forget the reality.

I also find it rather interesting that a small lighting change is able to “destroy the familiarity which [his] bedroom had acquired for [him]” (9), however it may make sense as it further implies that the narrator is a nostalgic person and clings onto the good memories from the past and the things he is familiar with. Any sense of anything new or uncertainty tends to cause him to be uneasy, such as his anxiety whether his mother will give him a goodnight kiss.

I wonder if during the time and location the story took place if it was common that parents were not overly affectionate with their children, as when the mother gives the narrator a goodnight kiss, it would irritate the father. Why would the father be irritated by a simple goodnight kiss, especially when he keeps the narrator at home reading, instead of outside? As it may rule out the possibility that the father believes his son needs to be “manly” and should not receive physical affection, if he does not seem persistent on the narrator becoming “strong and active” (11).