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Recursion by Blake Crouch - (Spoilers Permitted) - September 2019
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Hello, since Recursion was my suggestion, I'm your discussion leader. Since I've never done it, I hope you'll help me. :)Good reading !
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I just finished reading it an am looking forward to the discussion.
Dawn wrote: "I just finished reading it an am looking forward to the discussion."Did you love it?
Yes Danielle, I did love it. I couldn’t put it down and I am still thinking about it. I won’t ever think of memories the same way. I am glad you recommended it. I read his book Dark Matter and was happy to see he had a new book out.
I loved the beginning. Immediately hooked by the first chapter. Great premise. Then... didn't quite meet my expectations but I still give it 3.5. It's smart, emotionally resonant and easy to read.
Finished it nice read. For a book about time travel the plot was careful about not having any logical inconsistencies (or at least I could not find one), that was a pleasant surprise usually they leave a lot of paradoxes. Just one thing did anyone else feel the ending was a bit too neat?
Yes I felt like the book left me hanging. I really wanted to know what he said and if Going back to his original memory changed the outcome of all the other timelines.
Dawn wrote: "Yes I felt like the book left me hanging. I really wanted to know what he said and if Going back to his original memory changed the outcome of all the other timelines."Interesting my take was that the timeline was reset and everything was fine at the end, that's why I thought the ending was a bit neat.
Aditya’ I agree My thoughts are the same. I felt as though the ending did not include world destruction and Helena would not remember him since it was his original timeline and if it worked no one would have any false memories and he was going to prevent Helena’s death (her original timeline). However it was also 2018 and There was still the possibility that chaos would still occur in April 2019 unless the chair was destroyed. I wondered why Helena didn’t decide not to make the chair when she went back in Rome since it was the reason for all the false memories and destruction.
Sorry typo not Rome I meant to say home in 1986
Dawn wrote: "There was still the possibility that chaos would still occur in April 2019 unless the chair was destroyed."My takeaway was the chair would not be made in the first place or if it has been made Helena will pull the plug on memory reactivation experiments once Barry informs her of everything. In this timeline, the very first one, the corporation that financed the chair basically looks at it as an entertainment device, so no one has any inkling to what it can do. Timely interference from Barry stops the inadvertent discovery of its time travel potential or at least that is what Crouch wanted to communicate IMO.
Dawn wrote: "Sorry typo not Rome I meant to say home in 1986"
I guess this was also explained. The blueprint was leaked in one of the previous timelines. So once the dead memories come back in 2019 (or whenever Helena went back to being 16 years of age) all the countries will have the wherewithal to make their own time machines/ chairs. With that knowledge the apocalypse will just be pushed back but not avoided. So Helena and Barry build their own time machine to ensure they can reset everything to a scratch in case things don't turn out right.
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Got it early somehow and was surprised that it's not too sci-fi for my liking. Really liked it.
I do have a question or two though. They tried reading a dead memory with Reed and it didn't work but then it did work with Barry. Did I miss the explanation for this?
Was a reason given as to why Slade didn't kill Barry when he broke in the hotel?
Barry thinking that he and Julia broke up because of Meghan's death is just like real life sometimes. We don't realize what the real issues are.
Dawn wrote: "Yes Danielle, I did love it. I couldn’t put it down and I am still thinking about it. I won’t ever think of memories the same way. I am glad you recommended it. I read his book Dark Matter and was ..."I'm glad you liked it. :)
You're much faster than I am at reading. I only have one or two hours once in a while to read. I hope I'll finish this book by the end of septembre. ;)
Is there someone who can answer Sheri's questions? I'm not far enough in the book to answer. The only thing I know is that's a weakness in Crouch's books: he doesn't always explain the what could look like discrepancies. But I hope I'm wrong this time.
Aditya..."Richard"
Dawn..."
Sheri "
Thank you all for sharing your point of view and your explanations!
I will think about Sheri’s questions and try to answer them
To answer one of Sheri’s questions I think that Slade didn’t kill Barry when he went the hotel because he knew what was about to happen to the world. I think he was still planning to kill him self and was tired of reliving all the dead memories.
Mod
thank you. Thinking back that does make sense.
Danielle, I took my dad to a doctors appointment at the VA yesterday and had waiting time to read.
@Sheri Your first question was glossed over by Crouch and ties into my complaint of the ending being too neat. In story logic is it takes much longer to reset to a dead memory and is very risky. When it was taking that long the researchers felt Reed was coding and got him out of the deprivation chamber. Plus Reed's mind was drug addled so that might have been an issue. But this is as I said before a bit too convenient.And Slade didn't kill Barry as he felt reuniting him with his daughter will be a more optimal solution. This makes sense, killing a cop might bring unwanted attention.
Mod
I'm 2/3 in it and I'm still not hooked. This book makes me think of another I read about 2 years ago. A woman was going in the past, making mistake after mistake, and in hope to correct the sh*t she's done, she want back in time before the previous time, just to make things worse.Not original at all. And the scientific blabla at the beginning didn't convince me. You can give false memories to anybody, no need to use a memory chair. But it won't bring you back in the past. You'll just look stupid when everybody tells you that your memory is wrong. lolll
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About spoilers
Please note: If you have not finished reading the book spoilers are permitted in this discussion from the start.
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Summary
That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.
That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.
As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.
But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them