If You Give Proust a Cookie...

In this blog post I am going to attempt to delve into the life of Marcel Proust. I found the story of The Cookie from “Remembrance of Things Past” to be not just engaging, but intriguing from a literary standpoint. I found it easy to tell that Proust was talking more than about the memory of the “petite madeleines”, which he slowly recalls throughout the section. The most obvious message is that the cookie itself rekindled a sense of joy in Proust. It is clear that when Proust initially sits down at the table, he is in a sour mood. He begins the section stating that “many years had elapsed during which nothing of Combray…had any existence for me.” To say that he feels like the place in which he resides hardly is even real, scream disconnection and unhappiness, perhaps even depression. Then, upon eating the medaleine that his mother gave him, his mood is vastly changed. He compares the experience to the “effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence.” Love is inarguably one of the most powerful emotions and experiences in both the real world and the literary world, so to make such a comparison in regards to eating a cookie with some tea, must have a stronger meaning than simply that he was happy. No, Proust is telling us something more here. I have an idea of what it is, but let’s delve further first.

            As he attempts to discover what exactly the sensation is that he had just experienced, Proust takes a second and then a third drink of his tea and states “the potion is losing its magic.” This reference to what is no doubt a love potion, suggests that perhaps there is something going on with Proust that is greater than disconnection. Love is a powerful force, and the word “magic” itself implies that it is a hard force to combat. The fact that it is dwindling suggests that whatever Proust’s internal battle is, it is one of great magnitude. And, within the next few lines, Proust even states that “the truth I am seeking lies not in the cup by in myself.” He is aware of this internal struggle, which makes it all the worse. Denial is commonly the hardest thing to overcome when one suffers from feelings of depression, and being aware of the depression can have a self-inducing effect. This is, in fact, supported by many of the things Proust says about himself throughout the novel.

            I’d like to take a moment to step aside and address the paper by Jonah Lerer, “Proust: The Method of Memory”, which analyzes many literary aspects of Proust’s writing, including specifically that of “Remembrance of Things Past.” It is clear that Lerer sees Proust as a little self-involved and, for lack of better words, stuck-up. He makes the comment that “the cookie is merely a convenient excuse for Proust to explore his favorite subject: himself” (p. 79). Lerer’s critical attitude toward this aspect of Proust’s writing is clear, and supported later by his sarcastic comment, “luckily for literature, Proust decided to put the cookie in his mouth” (p.81). Albeit his slightly cynical attitude, Lerer also admits that Proust was on to something. At first it does indeed seem like Proust is simply going on and on about how delicious this tea is…or at least he thinks it was the tea. Toward the end of the story Proust realizes that this equal-to-the-essence-of-love experience was actually evoked by the cookie. This can be guessed by the reader before Proust reaches this realization, from the title of the section, The Cookie. The point is, he seems so in to this tasty experience that the story seems to serve no purpose really, to the casual reader. Why does Proust focus so much of his attention on this cookie? He even admits that his mind was “tiring itself without any success to report”, and over a simple cookie! No, there must be more to the story. And, in fact, there is. Lerer points out that during the same year of the Madeleine, 1911, “psychologists had no idea how the senses connected inside the skull” (p. 79-80). But Proust, a boy who grew up in a rich family as a shy and sheepish boy, who was eventually forced to stay in his room for days due to the extremity of his asthma, had stumbled upon a notable neuroscience breakthrough! He had found the connection between the senses of smell and taste and a person’s memory. In fact, the area of the brain in charge of these things has been found, in more recent years, to be connected. You may have had a similar sensory experience in your life. I personally cannot each pot pies anymore, because when I was very little I had one right before getting the flu and, well, we all know what happens when you get a bad case of the flu. Proust was a neurological genius! However, let’s not celebrate too quickly. Proust’s achievement was much greater than I am sure he realized. But there is more to discuss than his extraordinary revelations about the mind and memory. I am still curious about Proust’s background and what else may be going on, so let’s find our way back to the previous story.

            Anyway, so Proust was clearly in a sour mood, and it seems like this wasn’t just a “bad day” or even a “bad week”. There was definitely an emotional battle going on within. Proust makes references to a darkness within himself, mentioning things such as the fact that the memory was “palpitating in the depths of my being”, or that it had “sunk back into its darkness”. He even makes the comment that he must “lean down over the abyss.” These comments are very disturbing because it is very evident that Proust is very aware of his problem, and up until now, has done nothing to remedy it. What a sad, dismal life to lead.

            After a little bit of research, I discovered something very interesting. Proust’s parents passed away within two years of each other. His father passed in 1903, followed by his mother two years later. This actually ended up sending him to a sanatorium, where he resided for two months. Then, a few years later, “A Remembrance of Things Past” was published. If you recall, the cookie that Proust was so stimulated by was given to him by his mother. He is clearly portraying her as not only loving, but also the source essentially of his happiness, and love. Furthermore, when he finally is able to retrieve the long-lost memory of the Madeleine, he remembers that it came from his Aunt Leonie, whom he used to visit every Sunday morning. It is implied that he had a somewhat significant relationship with this family member. His comment soon after retrieving the memory states that “when from a long-distant path nothing subsists, after the people are dead, after the things are broken and scattered, taste and smell along…remain poised a long time.” Proust is remembering more than the fact that his aunt used to give him cookies when he was younger. This memory is representative for him of the familial love he has lost in the past. From the sounds of things, Proust at this point is a very lonely human being, speaking of himself as being filled with darkness and depth. And yet, he is writing it all down. He is disguising it, but I believe he was actually coming to terms with many of the losses he has had to experience, in this way.

What seemed to be a sad, unresolved story, may not actually be so. It is hard to tell. Proust is not a man of many joys, that is for certain. However, in The Cookie I believe that he was expressing how he was finally able to come to terms with what he had lost: through the memory of a sweet treat. Memories are curious in that way, often connected to the littlest, most insignificant of things. And what a feat it is, to portray this through a simple memory of tea and a cookie. Yet, that is why we write, isn’t it? To tell stories. And to tell them the way we want to tell them. I may not be right in all of this. But that’s the fun of the game. 

The Art of Attention

I cannot help but find Tristam Shandy to be one of the most interesting people I have ever “met” in my life. And from reading his autobiography, I can say that I feel like I have met him. He has a very unique take on writing, and I can imagine that his speaking voice is very similar to that which seems to be conveyed through the words on the pages of both Volumes I and Volume II. While it is clearly not meant to be an easy read by any means, careful reading allows the reader to understand this character much better than in a “normal” autobiography. While life events are more difficult to grasp with this style of writing, his personality is much more vibrant. Take, for example, Uncle Toby. Tristam diverges midway through Volume I from the story of his birth to the story of his uncle, whom he learned the details of his birth from. But instead of finishing one story, before beginning another, Tristam chooses to continue his stories of his uncle well into Volume II of the book before finally returning to his birth story. He even acknowledges this in the first words of Volume II, where he states “I have begun a new book, on purpose that I might have room enough to explain the nature of the perplexities in which my uncle Toby was involved, from the many discourses and interrogations about the siege of Namur, where he received his wound” (p. 58). Tristam then proceeds to tell of his uncle’s history in the war, hardly acknowledging the fact that he has yet to finish the story of his birth. Eventually he does return to the matter.

            Tristam Shandy’s story is loved and hated for its complexity and intrigue. I know I mentioned this in class, but I would just like to stress again how truly fascinating it is that Tristam was able to write in a way that was complex enough to have the overwhelming effect that the autobiography is known for, but also maintain a casualness in his tone that conveys his confident personality. The entirety of his complex style relies on the mind of the reader to perceive the story a certain way. He targets the audience’s attention by alternating between stories such as that of his birth and of his Uncle Toby. This is crucial. The entire idea of writing relies on the attention of the reader. And the art of writing is focused on manipulating and controlling that attention. Tristam Shandy is a master of attention. Many readers, on first thought, may say they think the author loses their attention. But what I believe he, in fact, does, is strengthen it. By diverging from the original story of his birth, Tristam keeps the reader on their toes, waiting for the story to find its way back. Over time, I found myself actually understanding more of the novel and not having to re-read as much material. I believe that Tristam was able to write such a successful collection of events based on his exceeding ability to manipulate attention.

            In fact, the secondary reading from this week, Attention: Theory and Practice, by Proctor and Johnson, focuses on the importance of attention. This reading explains not only some basic principles of attention, but also some interesting research that has been done, as well as some interesting effects of attention. According to the paper, Wundt concluded in his early research that attention is “an inner activity that causes ideas to be present to different degrees of consciousness” (p.10). In later years, he described his research as a study of “conscious decision and choice” and he claimed that attention is a process of “active synthesis” (p. 10). I couldn’t agree more. Attention is based on the person’s motivation to allocate their concentration or thought to a specific object or idea. Wundt was obviously understanding the fact that people can choose what they pay attention to. This relates to the cocktail party effect, which demonstrates this allocation of attention. I believe that Tristam’s style of writing works to counteract this. He steers the direction of the reader’s attention with his shifts in plot and storyline, and this allows him to maintain the reader’s attention, even though his story is somewhat confusing. He strengthens this effect with his direct, matter-of-fact tone and confident persona.

            Attention is just one more aspect of the writing game. I still think that writing is all about manipulation and presentation of ideas; it isn’t what you write, it’s how you write it. Tristam Shandy is the epitome of this fact. If you can manipulate the attention of the reader, you can make them follow any argument you choose to make or any story you choose to tell. 

Thoughts on "Keats and the Glories of the Brain"

            First off, I would like to start out by emphasizing how fascinating I believe it is to look at things through a different light, and in the case of British Romanticism and the Science of the Mind, this is a very outdated light. Many would not see the point in this, but I enjoy thinking about how people used to view things. Think about the first time someone saw a brain. As it is described in “Keats and the Glories of the Brain”, early anatomists originally viewed it as simply a “spongy, inorganized, pulpy substance” (p. 118). Today, that sounds foolish to even a child. It makes you wonder how we were able to make discoveries such as neurons or synapses or activation potentials, and it opens the mind to numerous possibilities. What things do we view today as “spongy, inorganized, pulpy” things? If knowledge truly has no limit, what will we discover in the next 20 years? 50 years? This mentality is what I was overcome with when I read “Keats and the Glories of the Brain”. Even the brain itself is still somewhat of a mystery, and it makes you wonder what things we have yet to learn about the organ that controls us.

            “Keats and the Glories of the Brain” offers a brief description of the scientific research that was undergone during the 18^th century regarding the brain, and how knowledge about the true purpose of the brain was finally brought to light. During this period of discovery, scientists when from viewing the brain as a mound of grey mush to a bundle of hollow tubes to finally a network of nerves that were able to communicate with one another. More interestingly, the chapter also weaves in the ties of a poet of the time, John Keats, who actually had an interest in these scientific discoveries and attended several lectures by the leading anatomists of the time, taking detailed notes.

            After reading three of Keats’ poems, I can’t help but wonder why he had such an interest in science. He stepped outside his literary comfort zone into the science realm, and not only did he immerse himself in it, but he seemed to have a firm grasp on the new discoveries relating to the brain. In “Keats and the Glories of the Brain”, it is mention that Keats wrote in his notes that “a fluid, like that of the electric is secreted in the brain which is thence communicated along the nerves” (p. 122). We know from the scientific discoveries that have taken place since then that Keats is referring to the actions of neurons and neurotransmitters that send messages throughout the body. It is peculiar that a poet from the 18^th century was so fascinated by this idea. What was a poet doing attending lectures about anatomy?

I have an idea of exactly what was going through Keats mind. I love to write for fun. Usually when I write, I make it a game, where I try to convey an idea without explicitly describing it. Writing is a mind game. It is all about how you word things and how you can convey a message to your audience. This conveyance takes a certain amount of manipulation or persuasion. If this is accepted, then it is logical to say that Keats was interested in how people think. In fact, it makes perfect sense that Keats was interested in the scientific discoveries regarding the brain; it controls how people think.

            Keats’ curiosity suggests that he was one of the first people to consider the idea of cognitive science. When you read his poetry, he takes an idea and plants it in your mind. He takes his literary shovel, digs a hole that initially is filled with curiosity, and then fills it with an idea. He clearly understands the connection between the words on the paper and how they are related to the audience’s thinking process. His interest in science as well as his clear skill with words suggests that he was at least aware of the idea of cognition, and this is interesting in terms of the origins of cognitive science as both an idea and a studied subject.