Electronic reading

In thinking about the reading I have done in Proust, I far and away enjoy the electronic time I have spent reading. I have purchased more electronic books and plan to continue to build my electronic library. To the point of getting a separate hard disc to function like a bookcase for ebooks.

Taking a break

I have been taking a break from Proust for the last week or so. My reasons involve being stressed and tired, not wanting the book to end, and my writing project. I have been analyzing R.B.P. and D.F. toward writing style, in particular conversation, as that is hard to get from Proust and is not modern enough.

Pushing and waiting

Now that I approach the end of the book cycle I find myself reluctant to finish as I do not want these books to end. After all of the words and distractions that come from life and interrupt reading I still want more of this beautiful story.

Quotes and stuff

I have been marking pages to post quotes. The book is getting quite introspective after the momentous occurrences. I know that I will need to read all of these books again.

Serious

The fact of the matter is that we as readers do not know who is speaking in the books. There is a brief comment to this end at one point but we are left not really knowing who this is who is speaking to us. Is this an imaginary character or is it the author? Are we being told a fictional story or is this based in fact? Do we clearly see the ambiguity or is the intent to leave us set in the quagmire that is unknowing? I am not sure that any of these questions will be answered.

The final half

Now I am almost exactly halfway through the final volume. Proust is really running hard to wrap up the ideas and expressions. I don't want to spoil the book so I will only comment on themes outside of saying I was stunned by his choices, well worth the push to the end.

He, Proust, has a particular vision that involves how time affects memory and what that means for choices in life. He continues to examine the functions of memory, to a degree that leaves you wondering if in fact he is describing real events or, if in the process of creating the story, and these books are fictional literature, he had such a clear line through the story that he could tell it as a remembrance from a present tense stance. That may sound confusing, it is true that in the story, and throughout the books, he weaves the past present and future indiscriminately and thus you find yourself shifting back and forth, as you have revealed to you the thinking or actions, as if time did not exist, and you never left the room of that invalid, who watched light fade, and struggled in suffering and pain until morning.