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Remember
In a city of glass towers and back-alley shadows, where love is just another currency and hearts are mortgaged to the highest bidder, Remember peels back the slick veneer of modern relationships to expose the raw, chaotic mess beneath.
Liam, a washed-up boxer haunted by the echo of fists and failures. Elena, a painter desperate to fill the empty canvas of her life with something real. Rachel, a woman clawing at the cracks of a marriage crumbling around her. Their lives collide in a storm of desire, betrayal, and the kind of truths no one wants to face.
Through diary entries meant to heal but only reveal, their stories unravel like a slow-motion train wreck—beautiful, brutal, impossible to look away from.
Remember is an unflinching exploration of love and its darker twin, obsession. It’s a portrait of the lies we tell ourselves to feel whole, the chaos we embrace to feel alive, and the destruction we leave in our wake.
Liam, a washed-up boxer haunted by the echo of fists and failures. Elena, a painter desperate to fill the empty canvas of her life with something real. Rachel, a woman clawing at the cracks of a marriage crumbling around her. Their lives collide in a storm of desire, betrayal, and the kind of truths no one wants to face.
Through diary entries meant to heal but only reveal, their stories unravel like a slow-motion train wreck—beautiful, brutal, impossible to look away from.
Remember is an unflinching exploration of love and its darker twin, obsession. It’s a portrait of the lies we tell ourselves to feel whole, the chaos we embrace to feel alive, and the destruction we leave in our wake.
20 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 23, 2012
1 person is currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Cristian Mihai
32 books62 followersCristian Mihai was born in Constanța, Romania, a port city on the Black Sea where cargo ships come and go and nothing stays for long. He started writing fiction at fourteen. He never stopped.
His novels include Jazz, High Stakes, The Perfect Match, King of Kings, 2:22 AM, and the collection Dream City and Other Stories. The fiction tends toward transgressive territory: unrequited love that stays unrequited, moral compromise without redemption, endings that refuse to comfort. His characters make choices and live with them. No one gets saved at the last minute.
He also writes nonfiction. The Big Book of Mental Models applies cognitive frameworks to creative work. The Mental Models Club translates theory into practice for writers and artists.
irevuo is his publishing platform. Essays on craft, guides for independent creators, resources for writers who want to build something that lasts. The site operates on a simple premise: creative work requires creative thinking, and both can be taught.
Cristian writes in English. He lives in Romania. He believes that fiction should leave marks.
His novels include Jazz, High Stakes, The Perfect Match, King of Kings, 2:22 AM, and the collection Dream City and Other Stories. The fiction tends toward transgressive territory: unrequited love that stays unrequited, moral compromise without redemption, endings that refuse to comfort. His characters make choices and live with them. No one gets saved at the last minute.
He also writes nonfiction. The Big Book of Mental Models applies cognitive frameworks to creative work. The Mental Models Club translates theory into practice for writers and artists.
irevuo is his publishing platform. Essays on craft, guides for independent creators, resources for writers who want to build something that lasts. The site operates on a simple premise: creative work requires creative thinking, and both can be taught.
Cristian writes in English. He lives in Romania. He believes that fiction should leave marks.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 22, 2024
Great! A short story about a man who unexpectedly encounters his first love while on holiday. The writing is quite engaging and full of the yearnings of the heart.
The emotions and sensations described in the writing are reminiscent of a film I watched many years ago. In the film, Cinema Paradiso (1988) an old man tells the younger man a love story about a princess and a soldier. The soldier pledges his undying devotion to the princess. She responds with a task. He must stand outside her window every night for 100 days to gain her hand for marriage. He stands through rain, sleet, snow, and laughter. Surprisingly, on the 99th night the soldier turns and walks away. Never to return. If you don't get this analogy right away, just wait because you will in time. This book has a similar spirit related to the yearnings of the heart. A great read!
🌷Book Quotes:
"I believe in luck, which is pure chaos, but I don't believe in destiny."
"I never even tried to fall in love with someone else."
The emotions and sensations described in the writing are reminiscent of a film I watched many years ago. In the film, Cinema Paradiso (1988) an old man tells the younger man a love story about a princess and a soldier. The soldier pledges his undying devotion to the princess. She responds with a task. He must stand outside her window every night for 100 days to gain her hand for marriage. He stands through rain, sleet, snow, and laughter. Surprisingly, on the 99th night the soldier turns and walks away. Never to return. If you don't get this analogy right away, just wait because you will in time. This book has a similar spirit related to the yearnings of the heart. A great read!
🌷Book Quotes:
"I believe in luck, which is pure chaos, but I don't believe in destiny."
"I never even tried to fall in love with someone else."
September 12, 2016
Captivating, But a Little Confusing
On the surface, Remember by Cristian Mihai appears to be another tale of unrequited love and the inability to cope with it. However, Mihai's stylistic choices make this story stand out in a positive way.
What I Thought Worked Well
Theme, Characters, and Plot
The characterization and form of Remember complement each other very well. For instance, the story details a heartbroken protagonist's despair at being stuck in the friend zone, battling both his memory and his "introverted" personality through the epistolary literary form. He writes to an alleged friend named "Dexter," wishing to keep the memory of when he brushed lips with a former classmate of his at a party. The sensation, the narrator describes, is like an ice cube melting, and soon after it melts, searing warmth takes its place (Mihai).
As he struggles to remember, and also to forget, his unrequited love, he urges "Dexter" that he is not introverted or lonely. Yet in the story he tells to "Dexter" about reuniting with his unrequited in Rome, he clearly displays signs of loneliness and lack of confidence. In these contradictions, lovely character development happens, and Mihai has a deft hand for it.
The rest of the plot, as a result, is fairly smooth and straightforward.
What I Thought Didn't Work Well
Style and Setting
There were, however, times when I thought the intimacy established as the narrator writes to "Dexter" was challenged or compromised. For example, most of the time, setting and sensory details were not described. This is not to say the lack of details were problematic to the point where the story could not function, but for a story about remembering and sensation, I wondered how close I would come to experiencing exactly what the narrator experienced at the party, coffee shop, or hotel in the ending scene.
In addition, I was baffled by one of the final details in the story. The woman that the narrator loves is described as a brunette for the majority of the story, but her hair is described as black at the end. I am not sure if this change in hair color signals the narrator's acceptance of losing his memories of her, but if it is, I find it a fascinating choice.
More sensory and memory play throughout the story, I think, would have strengthened the story even more.
My Verdict
This is the first work of Mihai's that I've read, and I can say that his writing is what I like to call certified CPD, or "can't-put-down." I enjoyed Remember, and I look forward to more.
3.5 Stars
On the surface, Remember by Cristian Mihai appears to be another tale of unrequited love and the inability to cope with it. However, Mihai's stylistic choices make this story stand out in a positive way.
What I Thought Worked Well
Theme, Characters, and Plot
The characterization and form of Remember complement each other very well. For instance, the story details a heartbroken protagonist's despair at being stuck in the friend zone, battling both his memory and his "introverted" personality through the epistolary literary form. He writes to an alleged friend named "Dexter," wishing to keep the memory of when he brushed lips with a former classmate of his at a party. The sensation, the narrator describes, is like an ice cube melting, and soon after it melts, searing warmth takes its place (Mihai).
As he struggles to remember, and also to forget, his unrequited love, he urges "Dexter" that he is not introverted or lonely. Yet in the story he tells to "Dexter" about reuniting with his unrequited in Rome, he clearly displays signs of loneliness and lack of confidence. In these contradictions, lovely character development happens, and Mihai has a deft hand for it.
The rest of the plot, as a result, is fairly smooth and straightforward.
What I Thought Didn't Work Well
Style and Setting
There were, however, times when I thought the intimacy established as the narrator writes to "Dexter" was challenged or compromised. For example, most of the time, setting and sensory details were not described. This is not to say the lack of details were problematic to the point where the story could not function, but for a story about remembering and sensation, I wondered how close I would come to experiencing exactly what the narrator experienced at the party, coffee shop, or hotel in the ending scene.
In addition, I was baffled by one of the final details in the story. The woman that the narrator loves is described as a brunette for the majority of the story, but her hair is described as black at the end. I am not sure if this change in hair color signals the narrator's acceptance of losing his memories of her, but if it is, I find it a fascinating choice.
More sensory and memory play throughout the story, I think, would have strengthened the story even more.
My Verdict
This is the first work of Mihai's that I've read, and I can say that his writing is what I like to call certified CPD, or "can't-put-down." I enjoyed Remember, and I look forward to more.
3.5 Stars
February 18, 2014
I thought this was a wonderful short story. The point of view was awesome, it reads like a letter. It is straight forward and to the point. Wonderful story about a first love and how fantasy or expectations meet reality. I would love to read more by this author, I think he's extremely talented.
Read
September 2, 2012A short story based on the age-old themes of love, longing and loss. There is not much else to say about this story. It doesn't try to be too clever, just brutal reality, but I quite like that.
One person's experience, heading inexorably to a fait accompli.
One person's experience, heading inexorably to a fait accompli.
May 20, 2013
Really lovely piece of writing, a reflection on dreams of first love meeting the reality.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews