How Would You Describe Your Reading Retention/Memory? (11/19/23)

[Marc]

How much of a book do you tend to retain and for how long? Do you remember characters or endings years after having read a book? Does it feel like the amount you retain or the duration you retain it is consistent from book to book or does it vary widely?

[Greg]

I would say it definitely varies drastically. I don't have a photographic memory, that's for sure.

The better I like a book, the more I retain it . . . but I think that's because the things that make me like a book are the same things that make the memory of the book stick for me. Vibrant imagery, emotional resonance, and nuanced ideas. But even with books I love, I don't retain all the plot details. The things that stick most are my impression of the meaning, especially symbols and metahporic meanings as well as my emotional reactions to character predicaments at critical moments.

For instance, the final metaphor of A Single Man where (view spoiler)[at the point of his death, his little metaphorical tidepool is absorbed back into the ocean of the collective unconscious (hide spoiler)], or the moment in Chekhov's The Kiss when he stands over the river and realizes that he is never over the same water, or the narrator's devastating doubts and regrets at the end of The Remains of the Day, or the final reveal by the alien queen in Ender’s Game. Those sorts of things stick for decades.

I often read books more than once, and when I do re-read a book that I enjoyed, I will retain much more detail for much longer. That's one of the reasons why it is almost always worthwhile for me to re-read a complex book that I got a lot out of the first time.

The other thing that makes me retain more detail is discussing a book immediately after reading it (or even better, while reading it). I get so much more out of books when I can have lively discussions about them, when I can go back and forth and hash things out as I go.

[Hester]

Ditto . It's the emotional impact that always stays for me , less so the plot or images . Books I read when young , like music , had an enormous emotional impact as teenage is the time of emotions par excellence , so , like most of us retain a tremendous love of books that I read as a child or callow youth . Like songs and films . Some don't stand up to scrutiny on a reread , once I've understood the huge complexity of being human . I can still go into a second hand book shop and dance with glee when reunited with a tattered copy of a Puffin paperback .

[Hester]

Ditto . It's the emotional impact that always stays for me , less so the plot or images . Books I read when young , like music , had an enormous emotional impact as teenage is the time of emotions par excellence , so , like most of us retain a tremendous love of books that I read as a child or callow youth . Like songs and films . Some don't stand up to scrutiny on a reread , once I've understood the huge complexity of being human . I can still go into a second hand book shop and dance with glee when reunited with a tattered copy of a Puffin paperback .

[Robert]

My memory is very good so I'm able to recall a book many years after reading it. In fact people are surprised when I'm able to recall precisely.

But sometimes things do go through the cracks - when I reread Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, I completely forgot about the hair collector and he plays a huge part in the book!

I love rereading, not for things that have escaped me, rather for new interpretations of a scene or character.

[LindaJ^]

With the exception of a few books, I need a trigger to recall what a book was about, which is why I like reviews. When an audio book memory is triggered, I remember where I was walking when I read it (if I read it while walking) so it is like a double trigger - what was read and where. Sometimes the location is triggered with print books as well. It is not that I don't remember books, though, it is more that I do not remember titles. I often describe a book quite well but have no memory of the title. That is particularly true with Kindle books when I do not return to home and so do not see the title and cover every time I open the book.

Those I remember instantly are not always ones I liked, as it is the strong emotional reaction the book elicited that seems to have embedded them into my brain.

Some books linger in my mind (and my dreams) while others don't stick around for long.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I used to think that I didn't remember books well. But when I re-read books it feels like I know what is coming around each corner. And I very rarely change my opinion of a book when I re-read it. So maybe I remember better than I thought I did.

[Bretnie]

I've got a terrible memory in general, so I do struggle to remember books. Details and characters, but sometimes even if I read a book or not! Which is why I'm so dependent on Goodreads as an external memory. But you all are making me realize that some books DO stick for the reasons you mentioned, especially if I've had a good discussion in a group.

[Franky]

There have seldom been books where I have reread that my opinion of the book has changed, and as RJ said, sometimes it is like you see things and where things are headed and recall those points of the plot. But, there are some books with vivid scenes or characters that stay with you, especially if a book is in a 4 or 5 star read. Sometimes I will go back to a review I wrote years ago to see what I did or didn't like about a book though.

[Ruben]

Sorry, what was the question again?

[Lily]

I don't think I "remember" books so much as "ideas" -- which rub against and confirm or modify or revise what I may think I already "know." When I was younger, I said I often read to "prove myself wrong." And of course there are all the tidbits that add up to one's perception of the world, whether or not one remembers where they originated.

[Bretnie]

Ruben wrote: "Sorry, what was the question again?"

Ruben, I laughed :)

[Luke]

Save for the very rare occasion of an absolute favorite (and that isn't always a guarantee), my retention is utter trash. That's what writing reviews (1258 and counting) is for.

[Marc]

I seem to remember impressions/overall response to a book, in general, more than I remember any specific details, especially the longer it has been since I read the book. I notice that I've always had a bad tendency to speed up towards the end of a book (excited to find out how it ends and/or already looking forward to the next read)--it's sometimes bad enough so that even a couple days later I might be able to tell you a ton about particular scenes or characters, but not be able to remember how it ended... :o

I'm picturing Ruben just rereading the same book over and over again like the reader's version of Groundhog Day. ; )

[Lyn]

I've started to log all the books I've read on Goodreads, as I had a few times of beginning a book only to realize I'd already read it.

[Emmeline]

I have a pretty good memory, though when I read too many things at once it can get dicey.

Sometimes though, I convince myself that something is in a book when it isn't. There was a line from 1984...I went looking for it so many times and could never find it. I'm not so invested that I wanted to read the book again (I dislike Orwell), but it maddens me that I have a clear memory of this line and it's... not there.