The curse of reading and forgetting

I've had this happen a number of times. There are some books that I can remember vividly, from scene to scene. There are others where I remember certain snippets and others, that I can't remember at all. The flaming girl with a dragon & a tattoo series(the specific names elude me now) are a key example of this for me. I can't tell you what scene occurred where, just that the violence was cool and I liked them at the time, just not enough to be specific now.

The curse of reading and forgetting

SFG75 said:

I've had this happen a number of times. There are some books that I can remember vividly, from scene to scene. There are others where I remember certain snippets and others, that I can't remember at all. The flaming girl with a dragon & a tattoo series(the specific names elude me now) are a key example of this for me. I can't tell you what scene occurred where, just that the violence was cool and I liked them at the time, just not enough to be specific now.

The curse of reading and forgetting

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It doesn't improve as the years go on.

Do tell! I've been wracking my two remaining synapsis off and on for a few months now, trying to remember the title of a book I read a few years ago. I could remember some details of this nonfiction book, but not enough to help me locate it again. Just today, I asked my local librarians for help..Fred, the new kid(literally) spent about 10 minutes on his c0mputer, and found my book.(Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker) I'd spent about two hours searching on Amazon this morning... God bless librarians! And yes, I did take Fred a Snickers to show my appreciation..

Excellent result abec - I think the Snickers was well deserved.

Is it a good read?

canuck said:

Excellent result abec - I think the Snickers was well deserved.

Is it a good read?

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I enjoyed the book very much, and found myself remembering bits and pieces over the last couple of years, and wishing I could recall enough to share the book with friends. I really wish I'd had it in hand when my family watched The War(Ken Burns series, as Human Smoke challenges the 'gung ho, we're all behind The War' idea that many of us were taught in school. While I remember reading in history texts that there were a 'few concientious objectors to both wars', Human Smoke was the first time I'd actually ' heard' the voices of those objectors to hear what they had to say..many of them were not merely wide- eyed pacifists, but well-informed members of all walks of life, whose patriotism forced them to stand up to the propaganda machines prevalent in the US, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, and...Def worth reading again!

Thanks - sounds interesting. Will have a looksee at the library.

LOL the joy of it is that you can reread books and enjoy them as if it were the first time all over again.... and again .. and again .. and ... what was I talking about?

Earlier this year I was recovering from illness and did nothing but lay on the couch and read. In one week I read four novels and one non-fiction book.

A few weeks later I was going through my bookshelf and wondered how it was possible that I had a John Grisham novel that I had not read yet. After a few pages i realized that I did indeed read it, I had read it during that time frame when I was reading around the clock - but I had forgotten.

So when I read posts here of people reading 40+ books per year I have to wonder if they remember anything they read. I can scarcely remember a word of the books I read during that one week reading binge.

I remember material that resonates with me in some way but stuff that doesn't interest me tends not to stick as well although it is rare for me not to remember anything at all from a book

Meadow337 said:

I remember material that resonates with me in some way but stuff that doesn't interest me tends not to stick as well although it is rare for me not to remember anything at all from a book

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Same with me. Some books I remember vividly, some I only remember after reading the blurb, but I remember something about almost all the books I read.

I always appreciate it when Amazon reminds me that I have the Kindle book I just ordered already in my archives - quite often don't remember the titles but am always on the lookout for favourite authors. I'm not so fortunate when I see a paperback by a fav author, read the outline and think 'that doesn't look familiar' only to take it home get two or three pages in and then realize I've read it. Wasted dollars!

canuck said:

I always appreciate it when Amazon reminds me that I have the Kindle book I just ordered already in my archives - quite often don't remember the titles but am always on the lookout for favourite authors. I'm not so fortunate when I see a paperback by a fav author, read the outline and think 'that doesn't look familiar' only to take it home get two or three pages in and then realize I've read it. Wasted dollars!

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There is a variation of this one that irks me to no end. Different covers for new editions of older titles is bad enough, but sometimes they change the titles too...I'm looking directly at Andre Norton here. If it was confusing when I was a teen, the aging process does not help with this issue.

abecedarian said:

There is a variation of this one that irks me to no end. Different covers for new editions of older titles is bad enough, but sometimes they change the titles too...I'm looking directly at Andre Norton here. If it was confusing when I was a teen, the aging process does not help with this issue.

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yes must confess that annoys me too.