Proust Blog post

After having read Proust’s combray, part 1, I was left feeling rather uneasy. As a whole, I found myself having to go over certain sections of this text multiple times in order to try and make sense of the paragraph that I had just read, and sometimes, never coming to a conclusion. The vocabulary used in this text could definitely be described as wordy and descriptive which for me, sometimes created incredible visuals of the environment in my head , and at other times, had me feeling confused with what I had just read. At some points throughout my read, I found myself sitting there reading, yet my mind was wondering and imagining the environments in which were being described. I would almost position myself in the book, and pretend that I was the one laying in bed or watching the light shift around my bedroom from morning to night. 


While starting this text off, reading the first few pages, there were beautiful descriptions as to where the story was taking place. This time of rest is usually one of relaxation, but it seems as though this is a time where Marcel explores his thoughts extensively recalling memories from his past, and more specifically his childhood. There is a constant shift between conscious and unconscious thoughts which at times become difficult to distinguish.


Mid way through, I began to notice the significant theme of relationships and more specifically how complex family dynamics begin to arise. It is quite evident that through childhood, there were issues amongst the family that are shown. There was a sincere need for the child to want to spend more time with his mother, however it seems as though the father would prevent that sort of thing from happening as it went against his beliefs. The child would only receive a small moment of affection on some nights, despite him wishing to have so much more. However, it isn't until later, with more knowledge of the world that they are able to understand these moments and how that affected them. 



Overall, this reading was quite complex for me to fully grasp and I definitely think that more time with these genres of texts will help… but for the meantime my question to you all's how do you think a child that receives so little affection that is also so inconsistent while growing up affects their development later on? Do they seek out more love in efforts to feel what they missed growing up… or is it so unfamiliar that the thought cant be imagined?

 

Comments

  1. Sidney GriggJanuary 17, 2022 at 10:20 PM

    Hi! I completely agree with everything mentioned here! I also had difficulty making sense of the sentences I was reading, finding myself reading pages over and over again. The wordiness of the book also had me imagining it in depth and had my mind wandering all over the place! Although I was confused a lot of the time, I caught onto the same themes of relationships/family dynamics and had questions on how they affected Marcels childhood.

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  2. Jon Beasley-MurrayJanuary 17, 2022 at 11:04 PM

    Thanks for this. Perhaps you could explain a bit more what you mean by "wordy." I have a sense of what you mean, but on the other hand what else is a book but words, after all?

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  3. Alyssa AlmerlingJanuary 18, 2022 at 2:23 PM

    Hey! I loved reading your blog post! I agree with your points about how some scenes were overly detailed and it left me more confused. Some scenery and description I enjoyed a-lot, exactly like how you said, I pictured myself in the bed in the room, watching how the day turned to night. There were many family dynamics that affected the boy a-lot especially his longing for his mother that was so bashed upon. I definitely think that because of this inconsistent affection it will harm him in the future. I learnt in my family studies class last year that inconsistent affection and love or not enough can affect the child a-lot and cause behavioural problems and even affect their own idea of a relationship in the future which can lead to very unhealthy relationships and habits that are hard to break.

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  4. AquilaJanuary 18, 2022 at 10:41 PM

    Hello! I totally agree with your blog post to be honest. I struggled a lot with fully understanding what I was reading half the time and it felt like I was just reading a whole lot of descriptions while nothing really happened. I guess that's the point of literature like this but like you, I think I will definitely need more exposure to get more into books like this. You ask a really interesting question that I honestly have no answer to. I imagine that the little and inconsistent affection will affect the child (in the book or otherwise) greatly, as it is key to many children's developments. In saying this though, I think that, especially around the time of this novel, many children were raised like this. Of course that doesn't make it right but it's interesting to consider whether this was fairly normal for many kids in other generations where familial relationships were not seen as as important.

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  5. Shanshan ZhangJanuary 23, 2022 at 5:12 PM

    Hello, I had similar feelings as you mentioned "uneasy" and also I agree in order to understand the emotions the author wants you to understand through this book, you have to put yourself in the book while reading it. By doing this for my own thought I think, Marcel With meticulous carving techniques, he is like an architect who is responsible for creating the most beautiful church in the world. There is always a reason behind every seemingly complicated and long sentence, like the bluestone slab in front of the door, which is not the most eye-catching feature, but it is the only route to the solemn and holy church.

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  6. Marie AlemiMarch 1, 2022 at 11:47 AM

    Hi, I relate a lot to your post! Overall I also felt like I hadn't completely grasped what I had read. For the questions you asked, I feel as though the connections we make during the first few years of our primary socialization are crucial. The social networks and processes we make when we are young, determine how we interact and engage in the world in our later years. If a child doesn't receive a lot of affection or has an emotionally distant parent this can lead to 'people-pleasing' behaviour. At first, it's harmless and then it becomes detrimental to the person's wellbeing.

    Essentially, "we elicit from the world what we project into the world: but what you project is based upon what happened to you as a child". I took this quote from a book I'm currently reading on trauma resilience, and healing. I strongly recommend it if you're interested in neurological components of trauma formation!

    Book: What happened to you? by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey

    Thanks for sharing!

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