Dell’s answer to “I haven't read the book yet - I'm waiting for it to come in at the library. She says in the book th…” > Likes and Comments
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Thanks, Dell. I wish I could delete the comment I wrote. I have since read the book and found it very authentic and engaging. No doubt in my mind. The book was very good and the previews for the movie look equally good. Looking forward to the movie!
I read the article. I don't doubt that memory changed some details, or that some details aren't embellished, but overall I think she's authentic. She had an experience that many of us can relate to.
I'm the one who wrote the blog post Dell linked to, and I do not think that what I wrote casts any doubt on her integrity. Memory is imperfect. We change events as we remember and re-remember them. As I said in a later post about Brian Williams, we like to think that memory is a camcorder, but it's more like an editing program, and a memory goes through revision each time we call it up. An article in the science section of today's NY Times (here) makes much the same point. I had a brief exchange of messages with Stayed about this. She said, ", I'm utterly willing to believe I conflated the two in my memory over time."
Thanks for your reply, Jay. I thought your article was well-written and I agree with what you're saying.
The interesting thing about writing a memoir (and I'm currently writing mine) is how tricky, slippery, curious and creative our memories really are. We remember things in different ways, at different times. Even key events that we shared with others shift and change over the years as we re-remember and assess them. At age 65 I am finding this to be more and more the case, and it's an intriguing part of how our brains work. It doesn't mean we are being dishonest or disingenuous or just making things up - it's simply how we remember and process the many many things that happen to us over the course of our lifetimes.
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Lora
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Feb 07, 2015 06:06AM
Thanks, Dell. I wish I could delete the comment I wrote. I have since read the book and found it very authentic and engaging. No doubt in my mind. The book was very good and the previews for the movie look equally good. Looking forward to the movie!
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I read the article. I don't doubt that memory changed some details, or that some details aren't embellished, but overall I think she's authentic. She had an experience that many of us can relate to.
I'm the one who wrote the blog post Dell linked to, and I do not think that what I wrote casts any doubt on her integrity. Memory is imperfect. We change events as we remember and re-remember them. As I said in a later post about Brian Williams, we like to think that memory is a camcorder, but it's more like an editing program, and a memory goes through revision each time we call it up. An article in the science section of today's NY Times (here) makes much the same point. I had a brief exchange of messages with Stayed about this. She said, ", I'm utterly willing to believe I conflated the two in my memory over time."
Thanks for your reply, Jay. I thought your article was well-written and I agree with what you're saying.
The interesting thing about writing a memoir (and I'm currently writing mine) is how tricky, slippery, curious and creative our memories really are. We remember things in different ways, at different times. Even key events that we shared with others shift and change over the years as we re-remember and assess them. At age 65 I am finding this to be more and more the case, and it's an intriguing part of how our brains work. It doesn't mean we are being dishonest or disingenuous or just making things up - it's simply how we remember and process the many many things that happen to us over the course of our lifetimes.
