When going into these readings, I did not know what to think. But when only given the prelude, “It is nothing like you have ever read before”, this can be expected. My initial reaction to the writers experience was simply YES! There have been many of these instances in my life when I have had these sudden memories and when they end, all I want to do is find a way back to them. I cherish and can still remember all of these moments when I have ad these flashbacks in my life. They are unexpected gifts in life and, being the greedy individuals that we are, when we receive them we only want more. Reading about how the reader had the same reaction to these types of memories (let’s just use memory to describe them thought they are indescribable) reminded me of the joy I felt when I had the experiences and made me want to have another one.
I thought the narrative format of the reading made it much easier to read than other assignments we have had in class. I could understand what was trying to be said and the points that Proust was trying to get across because of the first person narrative format. Another element that made the reading different than the others was the time jumping between the past and the present. Because it was a narrative, the author could take us back to the past to give us the full affect of the impact on the present. This did get a bit confusing at times, but I felt it added to the reading enough that it was very readable and helped me relate more to the character in the book.