A soldier’s aiming reverie through a gun-sight becomes an absorbing, trance-like experience

Evidence

Grange realized he had been holding his breath for a moment and quickly stood up, shrugging his shoulders. — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 61

corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 61
XREF: connects to: A militarized frontier can feel enchanted and alive rather than threatening — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 195; Soldiers found reassurance in ritualized activity rather than actual danger — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 194; The soldier becomes a measurable spatial segment rather than a reservoir of courage — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 248