How to Develop a Perfect Memory

by Dominic O'Brien

This manual explains Dominic O'Brien's system intended to help the reader remember names, faces, telephone numbers, pass exams, learn languages, win at Trivial Pursuit and clean up at the blackjack table. O'Brien is able to memorize the sequence of 36 shuffled packs of cards using his method.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Brain, Personal Development, Education

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Dominic O'Brien is a British mnemonist and an author of memory-related books. He is the eight time World Memory Champion.

He began developing his mnemonic techniques in 1987 when he saw Creighton Carvello memorize a pack of 52 playing cards in less than three minutes on the BBC television programme Record Breakers. In order to memorize numbers, O'Brien developed the mnemonic Dominic system, which is similar to the Major System.

He gives lectures, and has been seen on television programmes such as The Human Body.

Dominic O'Brien had an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for his 1 May 2002 feat of committing to memory a random sequence of 2808 playing cards (54 packs) after looking at each card only once. He was able to correctly recite their order, making only eight errors, four of which he immediately corrected when told he was wrong.

Reviews

[Anushka Aritri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gets the job done, but as a person who heavily dislikes repetition, only the first half of the book had any solid merit/advice to follow. After that, the examples all led to the same thing. Dominic System. Once you understand how that works, the rest is just him hammering it in.

After that, there were several anecdotes lumped together, and honestly, even speed-reading couldn't reduce how painful finishing the book was. Applying the techniques will no doubt be useful, but am starting to get the feeling I would much prefer to read more concise works than this. Word count isn't important, dear authors, as much as the reading experience is.

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book, unfortunately this book isn't for me. I really enjoyed the 2nd chapter and was able to use the method described. The rest of the chapters I struggled with and didn't get anywhere.

[Nola Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

O'Brien lays out his system in an easy-to-follow style, with plenty of examples to guide you. His system for numbers is also clearly detailed, though I'm presently using the Major system. He also focuses on the journey method, touching only slightly on the Roman room, or memory palace.

Unlike many of the books I've read on memory lately, O'Brien's provides more potential uses for memory techniques. Some of them I won't use, such as card counting and quiz machine memorization, but I'll keep them in mind next time someone is all, but you can't make money with these tricks! lol Similarly, as a child I would actually read the trivial pursuit cards while visiting my grandmother, partially in hopes of gaining SOME sort of advantage when playing against adults (didn't work). And I was interested in the brief memory biographies at the close. Especially touching/intriguing was the idea that the techniques helped keep some POWs sane while imprisoned.

Most memory books harp on the idea that your own images are the best, and O'Brien definitely repeats that mantra constantly (and it's true). What I've found, however, is that seeing how other people put these techniques to work gives me more, not less, inspiration for my own memory adventures. For instance, hearing that one mnemonist utilized the signs of the zodiac as a journey made me realize I could use them, along with other constellations, to do the same. And while I have no desire to memorize professional sports scores, these techniques make it easier to match the numbers to names on my kids' shorts team (my son's soccer team had five blond boys the same height running around; it was enough to drive me crazy!).

Overall, a good read.

[Bjorn Martensson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dominic describes his system of how to become a memory champion. The system seems very solid and mostly based on memory palace. As with any skill, learning it takes a lot of practice and I suspect most readers won't have the need or motivation to put the time in. But even if you don't utilize most of the techniques, it's an interesting view into the world of memory champions.

[Ayesh Perera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dominic's books are often straight forward and a pleasure to go through to practise.

[Mohamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books is easy to read and follow, and the techniques mentioned in the book work and are helpful in real life situations.
Using the journey technique from the book I was able to memorize any shopping list I was given without having to take the actual list with me, and I'm using the O`Brien system to memorize number related data, and I am able to successfully memorize a deck of cards.

So in summary the techniques mentioned in the book work, they are useful in real life, and they are not that complicated to use once you get the hang of it.

[Kenny Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few books out of the myriad claiming to boost your memory that actually will. The advice is ridiculously pragmatic so be prepared to buckle down and follow the advice bit for bit. You could skip this and check out his youtube videos instead but it's worthwhile to support the author and have it in a structured format on sections. My complaint is that the progression isn't clearly laid out and could really be improved.

[Đinh Thanh Bình · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuốn sách khá thú vị cho bản thân mình một cách nhìn mới về khả năng ghi nhớ thật đáng tiếc là mình không được đọc nó sớm hơn. Dominic o brien đã cho mình một cách nhìn khác về khả năng ghi nhớ bằng phương pháp hành trình và phương pháp dominic ( có thể hiểu là cách mã hóa con số thành kí tự chữ cái) giúp cho khả năng ghi nhớ được tốt hơn. sẽ cố gắng tập luyện những bài tập để giúp mình cải thiện khả năng ghi nhớ cho bản thân.

[Gautam Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like the title, this book is just perfect book to read. All interesting way to remember a variety of things. more reading this made it look like a engaging autobiography of dominic o'brien who was a born dyslexic. As usual, there is a little new things in memory books as most book features same techniques but interpreted in a different way. an breezy read for a memory enthusiast.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author’s credibility as a Guinness world record holder helps back up the methods and techniques he uses. But the book is overfluffed and he hammer-nails every aspect of life, even though there are some techniques that can complement memory training (e.g. spaced repetition or building mental models).

[Sergey Dudko]

imagination is key
practice is key
dominik system is key
create anchor scenes for each object
connect item with the previous and next in the palace
have shape for each number
PAO system
to remember dates: year, month, date
use city to learn language: separate locations by gender, noun, adjective, verb
associate each card with a person

[Ahmad Hossam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazingly fun to read, can be skimmed through in a couple of hours. Its most valuable insights are the Journey Method (chapter 2 ) and the Dominic System of memorizing numbers (chapter 4), both of which contain the gist of the whole thing.

[Rabbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed book contains what one want to improve his or her memory. Reading is not all the work to be done but you also need to practice what he says in the book even if you have finish reading the book.

Goodluck to anyone trying to read the book.

[barbs · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5/5) The book had me for about, say 20% of it. The rest I couldn’t care less about, counting decks or memorizing billions of dates is irrelevant to me. I found his method works, but I’m sure there must be a trillion books about the topic that are a bit more interesting and less step-by-step kind of read.

[Edi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to improve memory. With apt examples and experience this book is a treat for whoever seriously wants to improve their memory.

[Deku Midoriya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read books for every students. The tips in that book will make benefits for everyone read it.

[Soufiane Ragala]

Interesting, but only if you haven't read any other book by O'brien, because it is litteraly the same tips repeated.

[Gloriana EducationUK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful guide for strengthening one's memory!

[Nileshkumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best memory training book.

[Nickolay Moshkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Довольно интересная книга о развитии памяти. Что-то применимо, что-то, наверное, нет. Применение требует много времени и работы, но процесс интересен. 4 звезды.

[Libbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my early teens I caught the tail end of a demonstration, on "Pebble Mill", on memory techniques and was desperate to learn them, to help with exams. At that time you had to pay a lot of money for those sort of courses and so I had to content myself with the few things I learned from that brief demonstration. When I stumbled across this book in 2000, decades later, I was fascinated. Unfortunately it was a library book and copies of it now command quite high prices. He has published similar works but I don't think they go into as fascinating detail as this book. I have experimented with the "Major System" a very old technique made more accessible by Tony Buzan, but "The Dominic System" wins hands down for me.

[Owen Lindsell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short well explained book providing a complete system for using your memory. It works well, but as with all these sytems, it requires a lot of effort to become good at it. However, even though I read this book 9 years ago and I didn't become a master at the technique, I still find myself using it to remember shopping lists or pin numbers.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books, although very hard to find now! The techniques still hold up over time, even though it was written 18+ years ago. The "Quantum Memory Power" audio book is good as well, and is essentially this book in audio format. Much easier to find than the book version.

[Manuel A. Crespo-Rodríguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike most of the mnemonics/memory books out there, this one gives a broad view about mnemonics and its techniques; it is a great book for starters.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dominic System explained in detail (with examples) by its author + journey and link systems; A bit too many chapters on tricks.

[Matas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with wonderful and well explained techniques!

[Darius Cupsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read.

[Otabek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and useful mnemonic techniques.

[حاتم عرعار · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great book for anyone who wants to develop a perfect memory.

[Mohammad Khreasat]

memory