I stumbled upon a 2018 article from The Atlantic this morning that reminded me of exactly why I began Book Chase back in 2007. Even before I went public with my efforts, I had been writing very short "reviews" to myself for a while of the books I was reading because I realized how little I was retaining of them despite enjoying them so much while turning their pages.
The problem seemed to be getting worse, but I was not ready to call "aging" the culprit, especially since everyone I knew, despite their own ages, readily admitted to the same thing. I more readily blamed it all on the emergence of e-books and all the other reading all of us do on our computers (and now even on our phones). Nothing seemed to sink in the way it used to do, nor did it stick around as long.
In the article mentioned, Pamela Paul (who was the editor of The New York Times Book Review at the time) explains her own reading memories this way:
"I always remember where I was and I remember the book itself. I remember the physical object. I remember the edition; I remember the cover; I usually remember where I bought it, or who gave it to me; what I don't remember - and it's terrible - is everything else.
The article goes on to discuss why that is for so many people, but it so precisely described my own reading memories in 2007, that it surprised me to think that someone in Pamela Paul's position would have the same problem. Luckily, I've gotten relatively better at remembering what I read, and I attribute that to two things: "reviewing" to one extent or another everything that I read, and having learned to concentrate much, much more effectively on what I read electronically.
As a result, I think I love reading...and books...more today than I've ever loved them in my life. That's really saying something, because I've been a confirmed book-nerd since I was about four years old, and that was a long, long time ago. All of this tells me that even after Book Chase is no more, I'll be writing reviews on scraps of paper for a (hopefully) long time to come.
(Do read the article if you're interested in more of what Julie Beck has to say about her own experience. The Atlantic allowed me to read the full piece despite me not being a subscriber to the magazine.)
I started blogging about books to try and help me remember more about the books I read. It makes me stop and take some time to think and imprint a memory; otherwise I read so fast, and read so many books, they start to overwrite each other.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good way to put it, Lark. I think that people who read as many books as we all do don't stand a chance of remembering them well if we don't make a special effort to do so. Writing about the books seems to be the most effective solution to the problem.
DeleteThis is a great post, Sam. I started blogging for similar reasons, although I will admit one of my reasons was to have something to focus on when I retired. And then it took me another 8 years to retire. I like to know what I have read, and I do list every book every month, but I can no longer write reviews for every one.
ReplyDeleteTracy, "something to do in retirement" was something I thought about, too, never expecting to work another nine years at the time. I still manage to review all the ones I finish, but all the reviews are certainly not equal.
DeleteI loved this post Sam and think I take better notes reading physical books than on audio or eBooks. I was working and 13 years younger when I started my blog and look back at earlier reviews and have no recall of ever reading some of the books. YET, I can tell you all of the books that I've read on the beach in Aruba year after year if I see the titles on my lists from years gone by...weird how memory sometimes works.
ReplyDeleteI think that physical books are always going to be more memorable than e-books because it's impossible to picture any real differences in your mind between e-books. Even if the cover is a good one, without seeing it every time you pick up the book, an e-book cover more easily forgotten. And who can remember where they bought them when no physical bookstore was involved. Browsing a new bookstore and stumbling upon a completely unexpected find is memorable...having Amazon push a book on you...is not.
DeleteThe Kindle just started offering the cover as a choice, and I really like that.
DeleteI like that option, too, but they are still in black and white unless I read them on my phone or some device other than the Kindle. I keep expecting an in-color version of the Kindle, but I suppose that's what the Fire Tablet really is.
DeleteThe more you read, the more you are likely to forget. There are books from my childhood that I remember with perfect clarity, and books I finished yesterday that don't make much of an impression the next day. What amuses me is starting a book and realizing quickly that I read it five or ten years ago. The memory only surfaces when I recognize entire paragraphs of the writing. This happened yesterday when I started a book by an author I've read before, but didn't recognize the title.
ReplyDeleteCan't tell you how many times that has happened to me. I tend to keep books around for a long, long time and only realize I've read them before sometimes after going to my master-list to add them as new reads.
DeleteSame as many of you, one of the reasons I started blogging was to remember the books I've read. And I have had that experience of realizing partly in, that a book I thought was new to me, I'd already read before! (Usually it's one from before I wrote the blog). That article was really interesting- I especially liked the metaphor with the bathtub- and the part about how anciently writing itself was derided for how it would ruin memory! Just think how all memory used to be via oral tradition. So true- and yet I wouldn't want to give up the written word. Someday people will probably look back and feel similarly about the advent of computers or social media also.
ReplyDeleteThe oral tradition thing has always made me wonder how much ancient stories and histories changed over the generations. I know that a special effort was made to find the most talented keepers of the flame, those with the best memory, etc. but I can't imagine that drastic changes or differences didn't creep in over a number of decades or generations.
DeleteI tend to read one book after another with no real break in between and that sometimes leads to one plot eliding into another. I, too, find that doing the reviews helps me to remember. I did them for years on Goodreads even before I started publishing them on the blog and I often refer back to a review from months or years ago to refresh my memory. However, even if one doesn't remember the specifics of a particular book, the wisdom and clarity gained from the book remain.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the key point, Dorothy, and a great reminder of why we read so much fiction, in the first place. We are all gaining some new wisdom and clarity from what we read, even if we can't remember all the details of the stories that brought taught us those "lessons."
DeleteYears and years ago my late mother-in-law said exactly the same thing, that no matter how much she enjoyed a book she rarely retained any details of what it was about. At the time I didn't take much notice but years later I was thinking about that and realised it was true. To be honest I think it's like life, you don't remember every single little thing that happens to you and it's the same with books. Perhaps humans simply don't have the mental capacity to remember or are mentally too lazy to train our brains to do it?
ReplyDeleteI do think, Cath, that we can train our minds to do a better job at this kind of thing than we are doing, but there are definite limits. Seems like there is a condition where people do remember every single thing that ever happened to them...can't recall what it might be called. And I'm not sure if having that ability would be a good thing or a terrible thing.
DeleteMemory is so different between people. Tom remembers not much. I tend to remember most everything. I have two friends who are just like me and I love to be with them because I don't feel like a freak! haha. Also, there is the Irish Alzheimer's joke - "they forget everything but the grudge" That's kinda me, and those two friends. Though I do remember good stuff, too. The very best and memorable books to me are the ones I listened to on Books on Tape. Once tapes were gone, and they went to CDS, I couldn't control where I was enough to use them. And I've never wanted to listen on my phone. But, oh those tapes were glorious. Maybe that means I am an aural learner.
ReplyDeleteI really miss those original Books on Tapes. I remember how excited I used to get when that little box full of cassettes showed up in the mail. I used it on my long daily commutes and shared the tapes with two other commuters. We could just barely get them all done if we timed weekends right and each of us was diligent about passing them on to the next person in line. Just not the same with CDs, I agree.
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