tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5272063339278297404.post3817074598527931208..comments2024-02-20T00:17:29.357-08:00Comments on Through The Looking Glass: MemoryVikkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039838691449950827noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5272063339278297404.post-13049709853414203772012-04-03T13:31:30.735-07:002012-04-03T13:31:30.735-07:00Thanks for your interesting comment Joanna; I agre...Thanks for your interesting comment Joanna; I agree that smell is such an important sense for conjuring up memories of people...and places. I think it was amazing how Bauby managed to keep in such high spirits as I can't imagine anything worse!<br /><br />I'll give you a loan of the book, Mum. <br /><br />I found the White Darkness a bit strange too, Jean. I'll have to go back and read it and you're right about her holding onto good memories through the bleakness.Vikkihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08039838691449950827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5272063339278297404.post-1026979059732979922012-04-03T01:16:34.132-07:002012-04-03T01:16:34.132-07:00Very interesting ideas. I'm reading The White ...Very interesting ideas. I'm reading The White Darkness, the book that you said you'd never finished about Symone who has Captain Oates in her head. So far, it is a bit strange, but I can see a similar sort of theme in that in the bleakness of the South Pole, and beyond (!) she has to live on her memories of her mother, and Captain Oates, for that matter!Jean Bullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04805479454940218153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5272063339278297404.post-86173781174208308712012-04-03T00:45:42.812-07:002012-04-03T00:45:42.812-07:00Wonderful post, Vikki - it really made me think. I...Wonderful post, Vikki - it really made me think. I do agree with both you and Joanna about how much the senses evoke a memory. I've still to read that book!Rosemary Gemmellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09311840205603508422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5272063339278297404.post-42715119912413318622012-04-02T14:20:41.636-07:002012-04-02T14:20:41.636-07:00I so agree with you, Vikki. What a fantastic post....I so agree with you, Vikki. What a fantastic post. Sometimes I think online friendships can follow a smoother path than in-the-flesh relationships do. <br />But the senses are so important. My mother always worries that I might misinterpret some of the things she tells me in emails because there are no inflections, no subtle pauses or changes of pitch, no facial expressions or mannerisms. She's right. Even over the phone you can tell if someone's smiling as they speak or hanging on your every word, for example.<br /><br />Smell is a vital one. If I catch a whiff of a perfume I wore years ago, a torrent of memories rains down on me. I love that feeling that a single intake of breath can release so much of your own history and conjure up a person who perhaps is no longer a part of your life, but was once very important.<br />I read The Diving Bell And The Butterfly and couldn't put it down. It was so moving. I felt humble afterwards and wished I could always appreciate the senses more than I do. I tried to include a character with locked-in syndrome in a novel, but found it so hard to imagine how it must be. I'm sure I would lose my sense of humour along with all the other senses.Joannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10346863303904973315noreply@blogger.com