"Before I Go To Sleep" Book Discussion

[Brandi]

I believe memory is very important to who we are and are to become later in life. I think that our past defines who we are today. Each day we learn a little more about life and ourselves, of course we have to choose to apply what we have learned and keep the memories.
Waking up each day with no memory of the previous day and trying to make sense of what is going on. What do you think this must be like?

[Morgen]

Unfortunately, I think fear would tie you down. There is so much of the world that you wouldn't know or understand. In just a few years technology grows and changes. People grow and move on. I think the feeling of liberation would depen upon who the type of person you were before the memory loss. (glass half full, glass half empty, adventurous, timid, etc.)

[Morgen]

I think our memories do shape who we are. Each experience we have shapes our response to emotional situations. If you couldn't remember having a baby, you wouldn't remember the joy you felt eAch time it kicked, the first time you heard the heartbeat, etc. When I hear another moms story about when they had their baby or when I hear someone is pregnant, it takes me back to my experiences. If you couldn't remember those things, I think you would lack any emotional response to situations you never remember having.

[Kimberly Ann]

I really agree with Morgen. We are what we have experienced.
I thought this story was such an expression of vulnerability. Even in a time when people are proud of being independent, we are each dependent on others in so many ways. What about trust - how do we decide whom to trust, what can build and destroy our trust in people and things.
This book gripped me and wouldn't let go. I felt her daily fear so profoundly as I was reading it.

[Brandi]

Kimberly Ann - I enjoyed the book, and it gripped me from the moment I started reading it, too. I am not sure if it was because I was trying desperately to understand her plight of no memory or figure out why there where no memories around her about the past, other than what was on the bathroom mirror.
Morgen - I agree, experience shapes us into who we are.
I also wondered why her husband would do this everyday with her and not seek some type of help from a professional doctor or institution.
How do you feel about the ending of the book? I don't know if there was any closure for me. What about Christine? Do you think she will remember what happened when she wakes up?