Madeleine

I've been making my way through "Swann's Way" by Proust over break. His descriptions of childhood and memories are lovely but no matter how carefully I read through his passages I can't help but feel I'm always oblivious to something else he's trying to say. I'm about 100 pages into the 600 page book and my favorite part so far has been his recollection of something that is now termed "Proust's Madeleine", in literature.

Basically, his mother gives him tea with some madeleine (a kind of cookie I think may be common in France) and once he drinks it he is overwhelmed with involuntary memories of his childhood in Combray with his grandmother who once gave him the same tea and madeleine combination. It got me thinking, "has this ever happened to me?"

Of course it must have at some point but it obviously passed by unexamined. It's generally associated with tastes but I can't see why the concept couldn't apply to any or all of the sense's. This part of the book particularly got me because I am home for the holiday and I always feel distinctly different and overwhelmed by the changes I go through when going back and forth between Ohio and Tennessee. The difference in the air, the trees, the sounds, the smells; it all creates two entirely different feelings within me. On an elementary level it's like how the taste of black coffee reminds me of the engineering building on campus. I can't recall any tastes from my childhood that evoke strong memories, but I suppose now that I am aware of the effect that once it happens it won't pass by unnoticed. Can't wait :)

Photo by: Spoon and Chair