Reading Proust makes me travel back in time and recall my past.
Does this mean that it was similar to the main character’s memories in “In a Search of a Lost Time”? No. What it means is that the author describes the memories and reflections wonderfully. He does it so effectively that I often stop reading and dive into my own memories, influenced by the words I just read. In my opinion, this testifies to Proust’s genius. Reading Proust is a remarkable effort and pleasure for the mind. For example, I remember very long single sentences when I started reading “In a Search of a Lost Time” (it happened in the middle of August 2023; I wrote this text on the 31st of January 2024).
Sometimes, Proust’s phrases lasted for half of a page.
While reading it, I had to read it twice or even thrice because I could not follow the author’s writings. That was my first experience regarding reading Proust. Luckily, after constantly reading “In a Search of Lost Time,” I got used to long sentences. I believe it is reading shortened news on the Internet and scrolling social media sites that affected my inability to read long Proust’s sentences in his masterpiece. Still, one of the most remarkable influences Proust had on me was how reminiscences could come to my mind while reading the thoughts of the French author. I had this feeling several times while reading Proust.
During these moments, I stopped reading and started rocking in clouds, remembering happenings seemingly forgotten to me. They arose and reappeared in my mind thanks to Proust’s writings. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most crucial reasons I plan to finish all volumes of “In a Search of Lost Time.” The truth is that on the 14th of January, I started reading the third volume of Proust, “The Guermantes Way” (the second volume of the 1979 Polish edition).
