"He walked past chestnut-lined gardens...and flower beds, past regal arches and towering spires...How he arrived at the particular street...he didn't know. His body had taken him, and it was the sudden slope that alerted him. Memory triggered by his legs along ancient pathways to the cerebellum. He was staring..past decorated stonework at a second-floor window...And then there was a kick and thud at the back of his knees...He started to shout, shouted louder, but the shouting didn't reach his mouth that had gone bone-dry. The screams exploded in his head instead, one explosion with each kick and thump...Each punch came with the punctuation of vile curses...All of them ending in the word 'Jude' - 'Jew' until the taste of blood was the taste of that word, and the world ended."
Bruno Lind, an internationally reknowned neuroscientist, comes back to his birthplace of Vienna after so many years to speak at a scientific conference on memory. At the hotel reception, he overhears a name from his past, a name that makes him uneasy. Later finding himself in his old neghbourhood, a skateboarder slams into him, knocks him down, results in him banging his head on the pavement and he ends up in a hospital. Forgotten memories suddenly come back to him. The witness to the accident, Irena Davies, a science journalist, is after the man whose name Bruno previously overhears. The man is a Polish memory doctor and Irena wants to confront him about a deep secret her mother holds, but she pretends she wants to consult with him about her mother's condition - her mother suffers from Alzheimer's.
Dave Hallsworth of culturewars.org.uk states in his review of the book, "The Memory Man is a powerful book that opens a window on a time, and peoples, few today remember."
-o0o-
it is a riveting book, and i remember reading this in two days (it was a work week, non?). one or two friends complained there was a lot of scientific blabber which if you are not so inclined you may skip, but you'd go back to it anyways. there is a surprise ending. whenever i read a book, i normally would have an idea towards the middle how it would end. this book's ending was, for me, totally unexpected.
wonderful weather in toronto today, which motivated me at lunchtime to take a taxi from work to our distillery district and take some pictures. i also found a quiet place to sit and read a book and there were a few bistros serving gourmet sandwiches at a fairly reasonable price. lots of tourists in the main thoroughfare, though, but exploring the whole compound of old buildings, i found a neat place to hang out.
sooc except for the name tag and framing from picnik.
You have me hooked -- I want to read that book!!!!! And I love your photo -- which feels perfect for this part of the book you quoted! You are so gifted at putting photos with stories and books -- !
I just love that window shot! I have been meaning to go down to the Distillery District and have a look around, I've never been there before, the book sounds very interesting also.
fabulous shot! and I really want to read this book! sounds great. I've started writing them down. love new reads! sounds like you had a lovely lunch time...
what a beautiful photo! oh, my reading list is getting sooooo long! this, of course, is one i HAVE to read, because it is all about mind and memory. how can i NOT read it? my father, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and i would talk about how our thoughts would slip away when he was in the nursing home. his eyes would go from gray to bright blue, which was his normal color - when they were gray he was in a fog; blue he was clear as a bell. the moment of his death, his eyes turned clear again. i think that is amazing.
@cscecil - you will enjoy it, for sure. thanks, CS. @roth - you will have a grand time taking pics there. thanks, sue. @pamfromcalgary - thanks, pam. i try my best to keep up with everyone here. @bkbinthecity@sunnygreenwood - thank you.
@altadc - spell-binding? really? oh my, thanks, alta! @danig - a list eh? that's a good idea. some people are also doing books for august and the ones i've seen are quite interesting. so yeah, a list i should have. thanks, DG. @steeler - i need to keep up with the likes of you, you know. thanks, howard. @jannkc - thanks, jann. @catsmeowb - this book is one of those books that will sit on your mind's recesses for a long time. i thought i won't include this but once i've chosen the passage, the photo came naturally. amazing story, indeed, about your dad. thank you, camille.
@pamfromcalgary
@roth - you will have a grand time taking pics there. thanks, sue.
@pamfromcalgary - thanks, pam. i try my best to keep up with everyone here.
@bkbinthecity @sunnygreenwood - thank you.
@danig - a list eh? that's a good idea. some people are also doing books for august and the ones i've seen are quite interesting. so yeah, a list i should have. thanks, DG.
@steeler - i need to keep up with the likes of you, you know. thanks, howard.
@jannkc - thanks, jann.
@catsmeowb - this book is one of those books that will sit on your mind's recesses for a long time. i thought i won't include this but once i've chosen the passage, the photo came naturally. amazing story, indeed, about your dad. thank you, camille.