Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

I only read long serials that are completed and I tend to burn through them very quickly. Some ive re-read multiple times. There are some stories like Intemperance, A True History of, Jack Pierce chronicles that i remember everything.

Lately ive been burning through so much that it's all kind of running together. Ive been on a do-over kick of late and im having a hard time recalling what belong to where.

For example: I recently read a book that I know i really enjoyed. One of the main issues when the person came back as a young kid and had a poor Relationship with his parents. He finds out they are swingers and hosting parties at their house. Later he takes his mom on a trip for a month where he completely cold turkeys her off drugs and the parents end up divorced.
I couldn't tell you what story it was, or who wrote but that I liked it.

For those who read a LOT, is this pretty common? Am I just getting older? I have a to read list. Perhaps I need to make a "i really enjoyed this list."
After thinking it through, im pretty sure it was the Hindsight series in this specific case, but the same question remains.

That story is https://storiesonline.net/series/1047/hindsight-20-20

I used to have an excellent, although not photographic memory. If I looked at the first page of a book I have already read I would remember the storyline and all of the high points. I had a 'minor' stroke and now I struggle to remember the last chapter I read. At least I've recovered from the aphasia. MCT oil (refined coconut oil) has helped. It's promoted as a ketone source for brain fuel. Prior to taking it I'd often forget the last paragraph I read or even which character was which in a conversation on the page. I've noticed that when I stop taking it I get more blank moments during the day. If you are having 'senior moments' then it may be worth researching as a supplement.

When I was an OTR truck driver, Walden Books loved to see me coming. It was common for me to leave carrying 10 - 15 paperbacks every month. I could read the cover blurb and know whether I had previously read a book. Now, not so much.

I've chosen to use Calibre to manage my ePubs. It offers you the opportunity to rate a story. I've added a category of 'Date last read'. So far is is the best solution I've found for ePubs. I do have a folder where I retain copies of the stories I've read using authors names for the folder id.

I usually have a problem with remembering the author/title of a story I read last week. Leaves me remembering scenes of stories but not knowing who wrote them or the title.

While in highschool I could recite the epic poem "Lāčuplēsis" in its entirety (it consists of about 19k words, 4200 verses in 6 cantos).

I can generally pull contextual citations without looking them up from just about any text I have read recently. However, regenerated excerpts of prose usually wouldn't be of guaranteed accuracy, not unlike the way LLMs do it: words can get substituted with synonyms and the like. Reading in foreign language I can generally comprehend texts that contain up to 15% of unknown words by simply inferring possible meaning of those words from context. I easily catch inconsistencies like drifting character names; at the same time such don't distract me much... and a few weeks later I may struggle to name the characters, sometimes even the main character. I remember structures not wording.

So yes, I'm not good at remembering titles and am outright terrible at remembering author names. Made somewhat even worse by me internally using Latvian phonetic alphabet to parse any Latin script texts including English. But if I had found of importance a fact two stories are of the same author, I may retain that fact far more easily than their name.

Dreamlike collusion of different stories? Oh, of course, such happens, quite easily. Human memory is malleable, and is rewritten every time you recall it, using current context clues to rebuild it in the most efficient manner. I wrote a diary throughout the dissolution of USSR (1987-1996, 11 to 20 years old) and given I had read Orvel and recognized I'm living the 1984, I didn't commit to paper anything I wouldn't publish and stand to it. Instead I included context clues, confident I will remember what I didn't write. Mostly I still do. I do often indulge in historical-political debates about the time, with the high confidence of eyewitness and survivor. Alas, I discovered I couldn't accurately date some things, so I made a review of my own notes crosscheck with newspaper excerpts... oh my! I had fallen for my own propaganda, big time. I wad propagating mythology. All despite I was acutely aware people do completely overhaul own past beliefs without noticing, uad seen that in people close to me on several occasions.

So, no, remembering ideas rather than exact quotes is normal. Cross-linking themes is normal. Severity of not remembering author may be or not at of concern depend on your memory model. If you used to recall tables of literals easily and find unable anymore, it may indicate a problem.

I guess no one watched Quantum Leap (1989–1993) with all the teasers at the end of each episode.

Writers where encourage to come up with the best tease with know end or sollution.

Too much, unfortunately.

(For those who have forgotten what this thread was about, it's how much we recall of what we've read in the past)

I have read stories here for years, mostly the ones with high ratings. And now it's hard to find anything that I can read more than the first few sentences without remembering how the story turns out, and most of the plot.

I used to while away hours reading a story, now it's "click" and "Oh, yeah, I remember how this turned out."

The thrill is gone - to quote the late, great B.B.King.

And the new AI stuff lacks the thrill from the get-go.

Unfortunately, the one thing I cannot remember is titles. I know of only 3 or 4 story titles.

So I seldom realize I've read this story 5 times already, until I read the first paragraph or two.

Then I can recall the plot and how it turns out. It's never as exciting if you know the ending.