H. M.'s Brain and the History of Memory

One of the things that informed S. J. Watson's first novel, Before I Go to Sleep, was reading the obituary of a man named Henry Molaison, known until his death only as H. M. Due to a surgical procedure to relieve his severe epiletic seizures when he was 27, Mr. Molaison also lost his ability to form new memories, much like the main character Christine in Watson's novel. After his surgery and until his death at age 82, Mr. Molaison became a case study participant at MIT and radically changed scientists' understanding of how our memory works.

This is a brief interview with Mr. Molaison and one of his researchers done by NPR. I found it quite fascinating and thought you might also enjoy reading it or listening to it.

Nicole Kidman in film version of Before I Go to Sleep

I ran across this brief blurb about our next book, Before I Go to Sleep. It is being made into a film right now in England and is starring Nicole Kidman.

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/10333645.Nicole_Kidman_films_Greenwich_Park_Before_I_Go_To_Sleep_scenes/?ref=nt

So as you're reading this book, you can try to guess which character Nicole Kidman will be playing.

One more note---we had such an excellent discussion last week of State of Wonder by Ann Patchett! I often can't believe that I'm paid for the "work" I do because most of it is so much fun! Thanks for being such a great group of readers and talkers! I truly look forward to our meetings! :-)

How Patchett Did Research for State of Wonder

In addition to visiting the Amazon for ten days ("five days too long"), Ann Patchett watched Fitzcarraldo,  a classic Werner Herzog film made in 1981 in the Peruvian jungle to get a sense for the setting for State of Wonder. The movie is about an opera fanatic whose dream it is to build an opera house in the jungle and it was filmed in Peru. Although the library doesn't own the DVD of this movie, I was able to find a clip of the preview on YouTube and thought you might find it of interest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F53yUsgVuL0

It's short---just about three minutes, but I found it helped me visualize the book's setting a little better.

The library does own a copy of another DVD Patchett watched repeatedly as she wrote this book, called Burden of Dreams. It is a documentary about the making of Fitzcarraldo, which was apparently quite a harrowing experience for Herzog and his entire crew.

 

Happy 111th Birthday, John Steinbeck!

 

 

National Steinbeck Center

Did you realize that there is a National Steinbeck Center---a museum dedicated to John Steinbeck and which celebrates "community and creativity"?

Here's a link---it looks like a pretty cool place to visit if you're ever in Oldtown Salinas, California!

http://www.steinbeck.org/


Oh, and by the way, Sunday, Feb. 24 is Mr. Steinbeck's 111th birthday! How appropriate that we read one of his books and discuss it this week! (I wish I could tell you that I had planned it this way, but alas, 'twould be a lie.)

Hope to see you this Wednesday at 7:30 to discuss Travels with Charley.

The Truth About Travels with Charley

In 2010, Bill Stiegerwald took a 11, 726 mile trip across America, using Travels with Charley as a guide and took pictures along the way. He also blogged about his trip for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and here is a link to that blog including his pictures.

I wonder what Oprah would say about his book and Steinbeck's stretching of the truth that has been pointed out by others, including this blogger:

http://truthaboutcharley.com/travels-with-charley-timeline/

But, I wonder, how much does the truth really matter in a book like this? Does it rise to the level of literary fraud, as this blogger contends?

Steinbeck's 'Travels with Charley' in NY Times

In 2011,  New York Times reporter tried to retrace the route John Steinbeck took in 1960 in Travels with Charley and here is what he wrote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/books/steinbecks-travels-with-charley-gets-a-fact-checking.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0