How Memory Shapes Our Past
Is it true, as the novelist Cees Nooteboom once wrote, that 'Memory is like a dog that lies down where it pleases'?
Where do the long, lazy summers of our childhood go?
Why is it that as we grow older time seem to condense, speed up, elude us, while in old age, significant events from our distant past can seem as vivid and real as what happened yesterday?
In this enchanting and thoughtful book, Douwe Draaisma, author of the internationally acclaimed Metaphors of Memory, explores the nature of autobiographical memory.
Applying a unique blend of scholarship, poetic sensibility, and keen observation, he tackles such extraordinary phenomena as deja-vu, near-death experiences, the memory feats of idiot savants, and the effects of extreme trauma on memory recall.
Raising almost as many questions as it answers, this fascinating book will not fail to affect you at the same time as it educates and entertains.
[The above book description is as per the one on the book cover]
Goodreads Rating - 3.70 out of 5 (124 Ratings; 7 Reviews)
My Comments:
Certainly this book has essays on lots of interesting topics on memory. And that's the reason I picked up this book from the library after reading the above description on the book cover.
Is it true, as the novelist Cees Nooteboom once wrote, that 'Memory is like a dog that lies down where it pleases'?
Where do the long, lazy summers of our childhood go?
Why is it that as we grow older time seem to condense, speed up, elude us, while in old age, significant events from our distant past can seem as vivid and real as what happened yesterday?
In this enchanting and thoughtful book, Douwe Draaisma, author of the internationally acclaimed Metaphors of Memory, explores the nature of autobiographical memory.
Applying a unique blend of scholarship, poetic sensibility, and keen observation, he tackles such extraordinary phenomena as deja-vu, near-death experiences, the memory feats of idiot savants, and the effects of extreme trauma on memory recall.
Raising almost as many questions as it answers, this fascinating book will not fail to affect you at the same time as it educates and entertains.
[The above book description is as per the one on the book cover]
Goodreads Rating - 3.70 out of 5 (124 Ratings; 7 Reviews)
My Comments:
Certainly this book has essays on lots of interesting topics on memory. And that's the reason I picked up this book from the library after reading the above description on the book cover.
While the content is good , the book did not meet my expectation probably because the translation from the original book in Dutch language was not up to the mark.
There may be better books than this on this subject.Need to hunt around.
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