Memory, Time

[Laura]

I really enjoyed the questions of memory and time brought up by this book: I felt that the snowball effect of his remembering was very similar to how I remember something, and I like that some parts were fuzzy and time wasn't completely logical/correct.
And I liked that so much of his remembering was felt through his 7 year old self: often memories are portrayed so objectively in books, and I liked how these felt more real because they were skewed and full of his thoughts and feelings, not from a 3rd person narrator.

***SORT OF SPOILERS AHEAD!***
Also, the fact that we realize at the end that the main guy has been to the farm many times throughout life and doesn't remember them, this casts doubt on the book and on his memory, which was a big contrast to the ring of truth that is felt as the story is told. I liked this effect, and that it's made me sort of wonder how much of his remembering was "true" and that there's really a blurred line of "truth" or "reality" as he perceives it.

[Kayla]

Yes! I loved the ending because of this. I think the Hempstocks talk about how boring or maybe overrated having true knowledge is at some point. I don't fully remember.

[Laura]

Well there's definitely talk of how 'knowing everything' would be boring, and Lettie says that you don't want this if you 'want to play'.

***SPOILER-ISH***
I enjoyed the passage where the little boy drops into the ocean: I've had a few epiphany moments in my life where I felt for just a second you are suddenly understanding what you're focusing on, and it's this huge resolution and contentment.
Those moments for me are few and far between, and sometimes I wake up from dreaming with something similar-there's this lingering feeling of utter rightness and it's so comfortable and easy. By the time I'm fully awake that's already faded and I'm just missing this misty recollection of perfection.
But this incomplete memory of these times was what I was feeling during the boy's ocean scene, and I just really liked that part.