Memory

by Harriet Harvey Wood, A.S. Byatt

This fascinating anthology introduces us to a wide range of arguments on the subject of memory, the thread that holds our lives, and our history, together. Arranged in themed sections, the book includes specially commissioned essays by the editors and by writers with expertise in different fields - from 'Memory and Evolution' by Patrick Bateson to 'Memory and Forgetting' by the biographer Richard Holmes, and an account of the chemistry of the brain by Steven Rose. Complementing the essays are a rich selection of extracts from writers and thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle, Montaigne and Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Proust, Jorge Luis Borges and Haruki Murakami. Stimulating, provocative, funny or profoundly moving, Memory is a book to treasure - and remember.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Essays

432 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 3, 2007

Reviews

[Paul]

I really loved this anthology, which mixes essays and excerpts covering real and false memory, individual and collective memory, learning and forgetting, from both fiction and nonfiction. It is this mixture of experience and observation that make it a fascinating overview of the subject.

As might be expected, not all the excerpts grabbed me, but in others I found some valuable insights and wisdom. There were some authors and theorists that I had read a lot about, but not previously read in the original - making it a great entry point for finding and following threads.

[Dominique]

DNF

I thought that this would help me with my thesis, but it didn't. So I didn't finish reading it. And I won't make comments, because I didn't finish reading it.