Comments on: Why Read If We Can’t Remember? http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3460 Reading, Writing, Movies and Mothering in Minneapolis, Mostly Mon, 11 May 2026 19:58:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: girldetective http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3460&cpage=1#comment-18711 girldetective Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:51:47 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3460#comment-18711 T, the article is short, and it is on the simplistic side, even with quoting a neurologist. But I agree with you. I usually remember something, even if it's just an impression, and certain details get recorded precisely. I have a theory (as I often do...) that the more present I am in a reading/watching situation, the more I'll retain it (as opposed to thinking about what to do next, what groceries we need, etc.). Then again, I bet the emotional connection to something also anchors it more or less. T, the article is short, and it is on the simplistic side, even with quoting a neurologist. But I agree with you. I usually remember something, even if it’s just an impression, and certain details get recorded precisely. I have a theory (as I often do…) that the more present I am in a reading/watching situation, the more I’ll retain it (as opposed to thinking about what to do next, what groceries we need, etc.). Then again, I bet the emotional connection to something also anchors it more or less.

]]> By: Amy http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3460&cpage=1#comment-18710 Amy Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:09:32 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3460#comment-18710 I thought it was only me. One thing I do remember is a line from a letter of Flannery O'Connor's, in which she says: "I have been blessed with the gift of nonretention." That's me in a nutshell. I can look at a book a couple of weeks later, tell you if I liked it or not and probably why or why not, but name the main character? Nope. Major plot points? Nope. I thought it was only me.

One thing I do remember is a line from a letter of Flannery O’Connor’s, in which she says: “I have been blessed with the gift of nonretention.” That’s me in a nutshell. I can look at a book a couple of weeks later, tell you if I liked it or not and probably why or why not, but name the main character? Nope. Major plot points? Nope.

]]> By: thalia http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3460&cpage=1#comment-18706 thalia Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:55:53 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=3460#comment-18706 I think it's perhaps more shades of grey than your quote (having not read the whole article) indicates. Some books I retain almost all of the detail, even beign able to remember where on a page a particular piece of the story was (the 1000 autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a recent one) and others I forget the detail of, although I remember the plot overall (much of the chick lit airplane reading I do). I rarely forget things completely, although the extent to which I remember the detail is definitely decreasing with age. But I will most certainly read on even if the decrease continues, the pleasure of entering another world for a while, or being challenged to think differently about a real world situation (Gillian Tett and Michael Lewis's recent stuff on the financial crisis), is worth it. I think it’s perhaps more shades of grey than your quote (having not read the whole article) indicates. Some books I retain almost all of the detail, even beign able to remember where on a page a particular piece of the story was (the 1000 autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a recent one) and others I forget the detail of, although I remember the plot overall (much of the chick lit airplane reading I do). I rarely forget things completely, although the extent to which I remember the detail is definitely decreasing with age. But I will most certainly read on even if the decrease continues, the pleasure of entering another world for a while, or being challenged to think differently about a real world situation (Gillian Tett and Michael Lewis’s recent stuff on the financial crisis), is worth it.

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