Like film, literature can be an exciting way to explore the intricacies of memory for the April 2018 A to Z Blog Challenge.
In the post on film, most of the most interesting ones started as books (e.g. Memento, Blade Runner). I won’t repeat myself here, but look at a couple key works and what they tell us about memory.
In Search of Lost Time aka Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust: This seven volume magnum opus traces the narrator’s journey from childhood into adulthood, reflecting on the loss of time and lack of meaning. It also introduced the concept of involuntary memory, which is when external stimuli from every day occurrences (a sight, smell, noise or simple act such as stirring a coffee cup) invokes snippets of memories without conscious effort. For me, the Kingston’s Trio song, Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley, always brings back images of my father singing that song off-key, while reading in the den.
A Moveable Feast, a memoir by Ernest Hemingway of his early life in Paris, which reads like a novel. This is a beautiful piece of nostalgia, packaged and published. It captures the essence of a moment in time–fragile yet very, very real. Since it was published posthumously, reading it after knowing the truth about Hemingway’s later life, it serves as a reminder of how our memories preserve elements of who we were.
It begs the question, when do we attribute meaning? At the time of an event or through our later reflections of it?
If you want more, Goodreads has an extensive list focused on amnesia and memory loss.
What’s your favorite book about memory and why?
I recently bought In Search of Lost Time. It seems a little daunting to begin (quite a commitl=ment of time to read) but your post has inspired me. For me, it’s the smell of a horse barn that floods my mind with memories of the past. It’s strange how wonderful something like that can be. It’s like something you want to grab and never let go of. There’s also a little regret connected to it. We don’t really appreciate those things until they are gone.
So true, Heather. I also find books have their time and place. I keep it on the bookshelf, and then one day, I pick it up, and its what I needed at that time.