jolee's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
m_anabel's review against another edition
Read some chapters here and there for art history. So boring that it was painful to read.
jenniferworrell's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
davidr's review against another edition
3.0
This intriguing book is mostly about the psychological aspects of memory. Charles Fernyhough makes it very clear that the mind does not retrieve stored memories, but instead it reconstructs them. It mentions the various components of the brain, but has little to do with the microscopic level of neurons, synapses, and the internal wiring of the brain. There is some discussion of brain scans, but mostly it deals with psychological studies of memory.
Much of the book is anecdotal, while other parts describe various psychology experiments. Fernybough describes how some very young children can recall events, and how these memories are later lost. He describes post-traumatic stress syndrome, and how it can affect memory. He describes, mostly anecdotally, how memories that are thought to be lost can later be retrieved by triggers of smell, language, and an odd assortment of other things. And, he relates how false memories can be constructed through the power of suggestion.
This is an easy-to-read book, but much of it is not science. It is a collection of fascinating anecdotes. The author admits as much; "‘I set out to write about some science, and I ended up by telling a lot of stories." Maybe the subtitle should be changed, to better fit the subject of the book.
Much of the book is anecdotal, while other parts describe various psychology experiments. Fernybough describes how some very young children can recall events, and how these memories are later lost. He describes post-traumatic stress syndrome, and how it can affect memory. He describes, mostly anecdotally, how memories that are thought to be lost can later be retrieved by triggers of smell, language, and an odd assortment of other things. And, he relates how false memories can be constructed through the power of suggestion.
This is an easy-to-read book, but much of it is not science. It is a collection of fascinating anecdotes. The author admits as much; "‘I set out to write about some science, and I ended up by telling a lot of stories." Maybe the subtitle should be changed, to better fit the subject of the book.
kaeli's review against another edition
5.0
wow. this was a fantastic book. i thought about my memories in a way i never had before, and it was at times disquieting and at times comforting. i was worried that the scientific approach to the way our brains hold onto our pasts would make me doubt my own stories, would remove the magical quality of remembering. but the sensitive, at times literary way fernyhough examines memory removes this trouble. our memories are valid, even if they are falsified. i especially liked learning about how children hang onto their memories, how soon they develop them. he reports noticing his few-week old baby develop memories that allowed her to predict what would happen-- every time after her bath, she knew she would be laid down near a pretty blue curtain, and would turn her head anticipating seeing it. he also reports interviews with a 2 year old who can remember details from a hospital stay when he was 5 months old, despite the fact that his parents had been instructed by the researchers not to talk to him about it and thus jog his memory. i thought this was pretty extraordinary. these are just a few of the fascinating case studies in the book; you can read about how trauma memories work, how memories work as we age, and how memories change over time... really, this review is messy, but the bottom line is that this book was so, so interesting.
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