finished reading the novel 'before i go to sleep' by s.j. watson a little while ago. another book recommended and given to me by my mom (i'm starting to sound like the lamest human alive). and though it was a strange story, it was capturing. the story is essentially that of a woman who wakes up every morning without memory - she has short term amnesia, and has to rewrite her memories every morning with a journal.
the book is written not particularly articulately, but in a way that allows you to discover things as the main character is.... and that is one of the things that makes this book good. the story is pretty good, the writing is moderately good, but you are engaged the whole time, because you feel as though you're walking through each step of each day with her.
and. when you approach the end (or at least when i did), i realized, 'hmm. this is why people read the backs of books'. apparently this is a THRILLER?! surprise surprise jamie. you dummy. so some crazy stuff happens... which is likely why it becomes so gripping (dun dun DUNNNN.....). suspense - what a literary tool.
photo from kelsey rolfe's blog
the book is written not particularly articulately, but in a way that allows you to discover things as the main character is.... and that is one of the things that makes this book good. the story is pretty good, the writing is moderately good, but you are engaged the whole time, because you feel as though you're walking through each step of each day with her.
and. when you approach the end (or at least when i did), i realized, 'hmm. this is why people read the backs of books'. apparently this is a THRILLER?! surprise surprise jamie. you dummy. so some crazy stuff happens... which is likely why it becomes so gripping (dun dun DUNNNN.....). suspense - what a literary tool.
anyways. not much else to say about the story itself - the characters, the plot - as there are too many things that could be said to give away the story. i will say this - if you like mystery stories, you will likely like this. it's fascinating, and a little bit of a memory tester. entertaining, to say the least.
BUT. the one thing that i could not shake after this book? the journey that the main character goes through... if we do not have our memories, who do we become? we create ourselves, based on events, experiences and our reactions and emotions at those times. so, if we lack those reminders of all that has occurred before, who are we? we are creations of ourselves.
BUT. the one thing that i could not shake after this book? the journey that the main character goes through... if we do not have our memories, who do we become? we create ourselves, based on events, experiences and our reactions and emotions at those times. so, if we lack those reminders of all that has occurred before, who are we? we are creations of ourselves.
“We’re constantly changing facts, rewriting history to make things easier, to make them fit in with our preferred version of events. We do it automatically. We invent memories. Without thinking. If we tell ourselves something happened often enough we start to believe it, and then we can actually remember it.”
something to think about... as we navigate through life.