Scott Brons

Dr. Harris

Advanced Composition and Rhetoric

23 September 2018

Proust demands original, exemplary living from his readers. His words reveal

how frequently blind people are to the seemingly “little details”- the sound of gravel

crunching beneath their feet, a bird walking on its two legs rather than flying, or the tinge

of pain upon seeing the sun gleaming off a newly cleaned car. After reading Proust, life

reflects the light it was once too dim to reflect. Alain de Botton crafts his book on Proust

around these very ideas. In another chapter, de Botton attaches the power of language

to our perception- using Proust’s own words to then dethrone the cliché. This chapter

bothers me. I am now aware of each word I say- if any phrase or saying is unoriginal, I

begin to think about how I could express the sentiment ​in my own words​. This attention

to the words said seems to parallel Proust’s ideas about taking time and noticing little

pleasures. ​How Proust Can Change Your Life ​reminds the reader “how vulnerable much

of human experience is to abbreviation” (40). In words or actions, life is shortened, and

Proust imagines that life deserves better.

Proust’s belief in the power of words to affect perception requires careful choices

in each word used. de Botton writes, “Clichés are detrimental insofar as they inspire us

to believe that they adequately describe a situation while merely grazing its surface.

And if this matters, it is because the way we speak is ultimately linked to the way we
feel” (88). This realization holds many implications for the way life is to be lived. I

immediately tied a connection to each time I indifferently said something as diminutive

as “ah, he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Instead of processing my

experiences for myself, using the context I have available, little idioms like this allowed

me to throw-away an entire interaction. If the people in my life are assumedly as

complex as myself, then I missed an opportunity to further understand another human

being. The thought that these sayings can merely graze the surface of a situation is fully

realised later in the book when de Botton interjects “we are obliged to create our own

language, it is because there are dimensions to ourselves absent from clichés” (95).

Dimensions absent- layers removed- a situation without its saying. Upon reading this

statement, I internalized that clichés hinder language and our world perception. The

question arose: how can I experience life for myself if I can only see it through someone

else’s words? I cannot. This abbreviation of language (and thereby impression of life)

cripples me.

A cliché is a verbal way of abbreviating experiences and situations. Similarly,

Proust writes about the brevity in everyday life. A flower beside the path walked, the

confusing drop of rain from a clear sky, or the static character of the deep darkness in a

bedroom all deserve our attention and due time to understand and cherish their poetic

nature. Proust used the slogan “n’allez pas trop vite” (don’t go too fast) to inform this

area of his philosophy. While reading de Botton’s book, I also began reading the first

volume of Proust’s novel​ ​À la recherche du temps perdu.​ His descriptions of the

simplest objects strip away the ordinary thoughts and expose deeper truths hidden in
plain sight. The level of observation and further understanding needs time to mature as

a skill; however, once this skill is developed, the ability to dismiss notions creates a

broader understanding and appreciation for each person, place, and thing. I began to

comprehend that not going too fast also applied to the use of language. Each cliché

steals meaning from the experience I manifest. Each moment skipped over steals a

truth I could derive. Proust’s ideas primarily tie to the belief that life demands time and

thought from those who live it.

The life Proust encourages his readers to live is a thoughtful and engaging one.

In his writings, he creates arguments by simply presenting how beautiful and meaningful

life was for him. de Botton then takes Proust’s brilliant ideas and helps the readers of

How Proust Can Change Your Life​ apply them in the specific areas of their lives.

The way our experiences are perceived-

by the words used or every deed-

determine how we sleep at night:

in darkness fraught or knowledge’s light.