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The Mind of a Mnemonist
This study explores the inner world of a rare human phenomenon―a man who was endowed with virtually limitless powers of memory. From his intimate knowledge of S., the mnemonist, gained from conversations and testing over a period of almost thirty years, A. R. Luria is able to reveal in rich detail not only the obvious strengths of S.’s astonishing memory but also his surprising weaknesses: his crippling inability to forget, his pattern of reacting passively to life, and his uniquely handicapped personality.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Alexander R. Luria
63 books199 followersAlexander Romanovich Luria (Russian:
Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Лу́рия
) was a famous Soviet neuropsychologist and developmental psychologist. He was one of the founders of cultural-historical psychology and the leaders of the Vygotsky Circle. Apart from his work with Vygotsky, he is widely known for his later work with two extraordinary psychological case studies, his study of a man with a highly advanced memory published as The Mind of a Mnemonist, and the study of a man with traumatic brain injury published in The Man with a Shattered World.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
April 19, 2019
سرگذشت آقای «س» و توانایی ذهنی عجیب او در یادآوری .
لوریا به عنوان روانشناس، مطالعات و آزمایشات متعددی بر روی ذهن «س» انجام می دهد.
جدول کلمات متعدد، اعداد متعدد که همه بدون کوچکترین سختی، توسط وی درست پیش بینی می شود. بازۀ زمانی آزمایشات حتی تا 20 سال بعد نیز ادامه می باید و او جدول اعدادی که بیست سال پیش به ذهن سپرده بود را باز به یاد می آورد!
تکنیک ذهنی وی، «تصویر» هست. هر چیز در ذهن او تبدیل به رنگ و تصویر و مزه می شود. او تصاویر را با یک بار به دقت دیدن به یاد می سپارد.
یکی از راه حل هایی که برای حفظ کردن به کار برد برای من بسیار جالب بود. او خیابان سن پترزبورگ را در نظر می گرفت و هر عدد یا مفهوم و کلمه ای که قرار بود به خاطر بسپارد از ابتدای آن خیابان تا انتهای آن قرار می داد و بدین تریب آنها را به یاد می آورد. او حتی می توانست با دیدن و با چنین تکنیک هایی زبان های بیگانه را نیز حفظ کند. مانند کمدی الهی دانته و ...
همیشه از مطالعه دربارۀ ذهن لذت بردم و دوست دارم در آینده هم بسیار در این زمینه مطالعه کنم.
لوریا به عنوان روانشناس، مطالعات و آزمایشات متعددی بر روی ذهن «س» انجام می دهد.
جدول کلمات متعدد، اعداد متعدد که همه بدون کوچکترین سختی، توسط وی درست پیش بینی می شود. بازۀ زمانی آزمایشات حتی تا 20 سال بعد نیز ادامه می باید و او جدول اعدادی که بیست سال پیش به ذهن سپرده بود را باز به یاد می آورد!
تکنیک ذهنی وی، «تصویر» هست. هر چیز در ذهن او تبدیل به رنگ و تصویر و مزه می شود. او تصاویر را با یک بار به دقت دیدن به یاد می سپارد.
یکی از راه حل هایی که برای حفظ کردن به کار برد برای من بسیار جالب بود. او خیابان سن پترزبورگ را در نظر می گرفت و هر عدد یا مفهوم و کلمه ای که قرار بود به خاطر بسپارد از ابتدای آن خیابان تا انتهای آن قرار می داد و بدین تریب آنها را به یاد می آورد. او حتی می توانست با دیدن و با چنین تکنیک هایی زبان های بیگانه را نیز حفظ کند. مانند کمدی الهی دانته و ...
همیشه از مطالعه دربارۀ ذهن لذت بردم و دوست دارم در آینده هم بسیار در این زمینه مطالعه کنم.
December 25, 2012
A time-capsule classic, and the way I learned the word "synesthesia," the topic that became my life's work. It's interesting that Luria focused on S's vast memory and made S"s synesthesia almost an afterthought.
The book is good reading whether one is interested in memory per se or not. It gives the flavor of early neuroscience by one of its pioneers.
The book is good reading whether one is interested in memory per se or not. It gives the flavor of early neuroscience by one of its pioneers.
January 8, 2023
Viaggio nella mente di un uomo che non dimenticava nulla di Aleksandr Lurija è un saggio di divulgazione scientifica non molto conosciuto che merita assolutamente di essere letto, in quanto racconta la storia pazzesca del signor S., un uomo dotato di una memoria prodigiosa, capace di immagazzinare un numero illimitato di informazioni per un tempo indefinito (forse infinit0). Questo uomo non è, quindi, capace di dimenticare. La sua memoria non glielo consente. Riuscite a immaginare una vita in cui tutto continua ad esistere nella vostra mente? Probabilmente io mi sentirei soffocare. E' impossibile definire i limiti di durata e di volume della sua memoria. I suoi ricordi, inoltre, non sbiadiscono con il passare del tempo, rimangono nitidi e ben definiti. Forse, non li si può chiamare nemmeno "ricordi", data la loro vividezza e precisione. Sembrano quasi essere una realtà costante, un presente perenne, attimi che non passano mai. Il signor S. a causa di ciò, è come intrappolato nella sua mente. Lurija riesce a trasmetterci, attraverso un approccio scientifico "romantico" rispetto la valutazione e l'analisi del suo paziente, tutte le caratteristiche positive (unitamente anche alle problematiche) di questa insolita condizione. Studiò per trent'anni il signor S. nella sua interezza, mettendo in primo piano non la malattia dello stesso, bensì la sua storia, la sua personalità e soprattutto le sue emozioni. Un saggio stupendo (e anche molto breve) che consiglio caldamente di recuperare a tutti gli appassionati del genere.
September 1, 2021
The study of consciousness is hampered by the lack of another mental paradigm with which to contrast it. We could contrast consciousness with bicamerality, but our understanding of the bicameral mind is limited to the literary records left to us by men of the second millennium BC. We could contrast consciousness with schizophrenia, but schizophrenia is not another mental paradigm. It is fractured consciousness. The best contrast – the best backdrop from which to study consciousness – would be a different mental paradigm that is contemporary and viable.
A. R. Luria’s The Mind of a Mnemonist is probably as close as we can get. Naturally Luria’s unusual subject is conscious, but his memory and perception are so radically different from ordinary consciousness that he suggests another possible mental paradigm. S., as Luria calls him, has a perfect photographic memory and experiences the world synesthetically.
I shall call S’s mental state viable since he gets along in his life as well as anyone else and indeed better than many, for his infallible memory brought him success as a professional mnemonist. Thus S. serves as an example of a different type of mental life, one that I believe is neither inferior nor superior to ordinary consciousness.
There are three extraordinary features of his mental life that I would like to consider: his dream-like mental walks, his infant memories, and his ability to dissociate at will.
It is an essential fact of S’s mental life that images guide his thinking instead of language. His memory is visual. When he has to remember words he converts them into images. When he has to remember a lot for a performance, he takes a mental walk and distributes the images along a street he visualizes in his mind. The street is usually one from his childhood.
Even more remarkable, S’s memories go back to his infancy. Imagine such memories! Of all the astonishing things about S., this is the one that most blows my mind. Luria explains:
“It is no wonder that S.’s memories of early childhood were incomparably richer than ours. For his memory was never transformed into an apparatus for reshaping reminiscences into words, which is what happens to others of us at a fairly early age. Rather, his memory continued to summon up spontaneously images that formed part of an early period of awareness” (76).
Surely such an unusual development would have implications for S.’s sense of self.
And indeed, he could observe himself as if from outside. He could split himself into two selves, one self that gives orders and another self that carries out the orders. This resembles Jaynes’s description of bicameral man except that S. – a conscious man – splits himself intentionally.
Now there are advantages and disadvantages to S.’s type of mental life. S. has rich memories going back to infancy. He can visualize solutions to problems that are difficult to solve with calculations. He can observe himself from outside, a talent he uses to avoid pain in the dentist’s chair. However, he has difficulty reading because he gets overwhelmed by images. He has difficulty with abstract concepts because he cannot comprehend what he cannot see.
But this is a superficial contrast. The important question is: How does S. experience himself?
Luria describes a man whose life is like a lucid dream. For S., there is no clear distinction between imagination and reality. The images he conjures before his eyes are almost as real as real things. When he tries to think about anything at length, images of his childhood and his hometown tend to come to mind. When he is distracted, he sometimes dissociates unintentionally, his acting self acting on its own.
Moreover, his difficulty separating fantasy from reality caused him to believe in some fine thing that was going to happen in his future. Thus he treated everything in his life as merely temporary. He lived ever in anticipation of the fine thing.
Luria describes these features of S.’s personality with sympathy. But I prefer not to assume that S.’s unusual mental life is a misfortune.
Imagine being able to spontaneously recall every page of every book you ever read. S. can do that. However he has difficulty understanding what he reads. But consider the alternative. Is it any better to understand what you read, but have a dim recollection of it?
Which is preferable? Remembering everything, but understanding little or understanding everything, but remembering little. Doesn’t it depend on your values? The things that are difficult for S. are things that are valued in a civilization based on ordinary consciousness. But if S. was the norm, not the exception, if everyone were like him, civilization would no doubt have developed differently.
Our civilization has external aids to memory – written records to store information, filing systems to organize it, computers to retrieve it – compensation for our comparatively poor memories. A civilization of people like S. would likewise compensate. Perhaps with a pictographic language that had no practical limits on the number of pictograms there could be.
Imagine being able to revisit the past through memories that are “so palpable as to verge on being real” (96). S. can do that. I wish I could. Who has tasted of nostalgia and not wished the same?
Luria says that S. treated everything in his life as temporary. That he lived ever in anticipation of some fine thing to come. But this hardly seems a sad fate in a world where millions of ordinary people flit through life aimlessly, accomplishing less than S. and being less content.
I may be romanticizing this mental state because I am disenchanted with consciousness. But since the problem of consciousness is as dire as ever, it only seems right to give a robust defense to alternatives. That people in all times and places have sought to alter their consciousness suggests that consciousness is not altogether satisfactory. I mean merely to point out that ordinary consciousness does not exhaust the possibilities of what the mind can be.
A. R. Luria’s The Mind of a Mnemonist is probably as close as we can get. Naturally Luria’s unusual subject is conscious, but his memory and perception are so radically different from ordinary consciousness that he suggests another possible mental paradigm. S., as Luria calls him, has a perfect photographic memory and experiences the world synesthetically.
I shall call S’s mental state viable since he gets along in his life as well as anyone else and indeed better than many, for his infallible memory brought him success as a professional mnemonist. Thus S. serves as an example of a different type of mental life, one that I believe is neither inferior nor superior to ordinary consciousness.
There are three extraordinary features of his mental life that I would like to consider: his dream-like mental walks, his infant memories, and his ability to dissociate at will.
It is an essential fact of S’s mental life that images guide his thinking instead of language. His memory is visual. When he has to remember words he converts them into images. When he has to remember a lot for a performance, he takes a mental walk and distributes the images along a street he visualizes in his mind. The street is usually one from his childhood.
Even more remarkable, S’s memories go back to his infancy. Imagine such memories! Of all the astonishing things about S., this is the one that most blows my mind. Luria explains:
“It is no wonder that S.’s memories of early childhood were incomparably richer than ours. For his memory was never transformed into an apparatus for reshaping reminiscences into words, which is what happens to others of us at a fairly early age. Rather, his memory continued to summon up spontaneously images that formed part of an early period of awareness” (76).
Surely such an unusual development would have implications for S.’s sense of self.
And indeed, he could observe himself as if from outside. He could split himself into two selves, one self that gives orders and another self that carries out the orders. This resembles Jaynes’s description of bicameral man except that S. – a conscious man – splits himself intentionally.
Now there are advantages and disadvantages to S.’s type of mental life. S. has rich memories going back to infancy. He can visualize solutions to problems that are difficult to solve with calculations. He can observe himself from outside, a talent he uses to avoid pain in the dentist’s chair. However, he has difficulty reading because he gets overwhelmed by images. He has difficulty with abstract concepts because he cannot comprehend what he cannot see.
But this is a superficial contrast. The important question is: How does S. experience himself?
Luria describes a man whose life is like a lucid dream. For S., there is no clear distinction between imagination and reality. The images he conjures before his eyes are almost as real as real things. When he tries to think about anything at length, images of his childhood and his hometown tend to come to mind. When he is distracted, he sometimes dissociates unintentionally, his acting self acting on its own.
Moreover, his difficulty separating fantasy from reality caused him to believe in some fine thing that was going to happen in his future. Thus he treated everything in his life as merely temporary. He lived ever in anticipation of the fine thing.
Luria describes these features of S.’s personality with sympathy. But I prefer not to assume that S.’s unusual mental life is a misfortune.
Imagine being able to spontaneously recall every page of every book you ever read. S. can do that. However he has difficulty understanding what he reads. But consider the alternative. Is it any better to understand what you read, but have a dim recollection of it?
Which is preferable? Remembering everything, but understanding little or understanding everything, but remembering little. Doesn’t it depend on your values? The things that are difficult for S. are things that are valued in a civilization based on ordinary consciousness. But if S. was the norm, not the exception, if everyone were like him, civilization would no doubt have developed differently.
Our civilization has external aids to memory – written records to store information, filing systems to organize it, computers to retrieve it – compensation for our comparatively poor memories. A civilization of people like S. would likewise compensate. Perhaps with a pictographic language that had no practical limits on the number of pictograms there could be.
Imagine being able to revisit the past through memories that are “so palpable as to verge on being real” (96). S. can do that. I wish I could. Who has tasted of nostalgia and not wished the same?
Luria says that S. treated everything in his life as temporary. That he lived ever in anticipation of some fine thing to come. But this hardly seems a sad fate in a world where millions of ordinary people flit through life aimlessly, accomplishing less than S. and being less content.
I may be romanticizing this mental state because I am disenchanted with consciousness. But since the problem of consciousness is as dire as ever, it only seems right to give a robust defense to alternatives. That people in all times and places have sought to alter their consciousness suggests that consciousness is not altogether satisfactory. I mean merely to point out that ordinary consciousness does not exhaust the possibilities of what the mind can be.
September 20, 2021
A mente humana é um lugar ardiloso, composto por diferentes habitats: desde oásis, que deslumbram, a regiões mais pantanosas, nas quais se sucumbe. Fundamental, pois, será uma boa preparação, antes de iniciar uma expedição, que exigirá o uso da maior argúcia e bons dotes de espeleologia. As capacidades têm de ser - ainda mais - aguçadas quando, na mente, se formam furacões, que desorientam qualquer bússola; ou a fragmentação é tamanha, a ponto de não existirem pontos de apoio.
O fascínio pela narrativa médica surgiu na universidade, fruto da recomendação de um professor: ler o famigerado livro de Oliver Sacks, com o seu título peculiar. Essa exploração dos mais recônditos recantos da natureza humana, a partir de intrigantes casos clínicos, traz uma vertente holística à prática médica e ao conhecimento científico. Por isso, conhecer o mestre deste ser humano esplendoroso, tornou-se uma necessidade - proporcionada pela Cristina Luiz.
A infindável memória de C. melindrou Luria, a ponto de motivar um estudo mais aprofundado deste ser singular, que percepciona o mundo de uma forma fragmentada - só vislumbra pormenores de um quadro, não a imagem na sua vastidão. Com uma linguagem mais erudita mas ainda assim acessível (em comparação ao seu discípulo), Luria consegue associar raciocínio e emoção, explorando as artimanhas criadas por um homem de forma a passar despercebido, mesmo com a sua imaginação fértil e o seu sentido de humor quase lírico. Não prometo que C. permaneça para sempre na minha memória mas sempre quererei ler mais deste género, ainda pouco explorado.
O fascínio pela narrativa médica surgiu na universidade, fruto da recomendação de um professor: ler o famigerado livro de Oliver Sacks, com o seu título peculiar. Essa exploração dos mais recônditos recantos da natureza humana, a partir de intrigantes casos clínicos, traz uma vertente holística à prática médica e ao conhecimento científico. Por isso, conhecer o mestre deste ser humano esplendoroso, tornou-se uma necessidade - proporcionada pela Cristina Luiz.
A infindável memória de C. melindrou Luria, a ponto de motivar um estudo mais aprofundado deste ser singular, que percepciona o mundo de uma forma fragmentada - só vislumbra pormenores de um quadro, não a imagem na sua vastidão. Com uma linguagem mais erudita mas ainda assim acessível (em comparação ao seu discípulo), Luria consegue associar raciocínio e emoção, explorando as artimanhas criadas por um homem de forma a passar despercebido, mesmo com a sua imaginação fértil e o seu sentido de humor quase lírico. Não prometo que C. permaneça para sempre na minha memória mas sempre quererei ler mais deste género, ainda pouco explorado.
December 11, 2023
Swear this didn't even feel like clinical text at times. How do I say this? I feel at home in accounts of individuals who occupy "freaky" fringes of the society. S. by default belongs there.
I really wanted to shave off a star because of how many examples were inserted to drive a point through. But then, it is a clinical text. Thoroughness and all that.
I really wanted to shave off a star because of how many examples were inserted to drive a point through. But then, it is a clinical text. Thoroughness and all that.
March 26, 2017
Some useful tips
Never connect same colors of objects with places. No in dark places. Bigger objects are efficient in dark places.
Music in Restaurants because it changes the taste of everything.
You cannot eat while reading because you focus on reading.
Never connect same colors of objects with places. No in dark places. Bigger objects are efficient in dark places.
Music in Restaurants because it changes the taste of everything.
You cannot eat while reading because you focus on reading.
June 22, 2015
I loved this book. Quite a fast read. It not only discusses S.'s memory capabilities, but the synesthesia that plays such a big part in how S. remembers. Luria also discusses, with great sensitivity, the effect such a gifted memory has on S.'s personality, and explores the limitations that S. experiences as a result of the way his mind works. A fantastic read for those interested in memory, as well as in synesthesia.
July 12, 2016
Starting in the 1920's Luria began to study "S." a subject who had a seemingly limitless capacity to memorize numbers, words, nonsense sounds, etc. Once memorized, S can recall a list after years. Luria worked with S through the 20's and 30's to unlock the secrets of his remarkable ability, and also to understand the impact this talent had on his perception and understanding of the world and his personality and self-control. S has the rare condition of synesthesia by which experience is encoded in multiple sensory pathways. For him, sounds have distinct colors and visual imagery and the wrong music can clash with the taste of a meal. The visual images he forms are extremely vivid and particular and he memorizes lists by encoding each item into images which he stores on the fly. However, this faculty has its downside. S finds metaphor and abstract concepts extremely challenging. Poetry is almost inaccessible to him. He is confused by the clash and confusion vivid, unrelated images that arise when words are used with double meaning. His powerful visual imagination allowed him extraordinary control over autonomic responses such as body temperature, pulse and the like. But the boundary between the visual imagery of his imagination and reality was often be nebulous and he was prone to distraction that could border on split personality.
The Mind of a Mnemonist anticipates the later work of Oliver Sacks and is a short, rewarding book.
The Mind of a Mnemonist anticipates the later work of Oliver Sacks and is a short, rewarding book.
May 29, 2017
This short book is Soviet psychologist A.R. Luria's case study of Mr S whose memory is so vast that he can perfectly recall long lists of items YEARS after he first remembered them. His secret is synaesthesia:
To this day, I can't escape from seeing colors when I hear sounds. What first strikes me is the color of someone's voice. Then it fades off...for it does interfere. If , say, a person says something, I see the word; but should another person's voice break in, blurs appear. These creep into the syllables of the words and I can't make out what of being said.
I would say about 80% of this book is filled with these reflections of Mr S telling us how he remembers and the way his thought process differs from ours, with Luria's commentary setting his account into chapters and sections. While it's a readable case study about an one-of-a-kind memory (plus all the credit for founding a new genre for humanistic clinical history!), Professor Luria's writing and his approach, to a reader of our time, may seem plain and ordinary.
To this day, I can't escape from seeing colors when I hear sounds. What first strikes me is the color of someone's voice. Then it fades off...for it does interfere. If , say, a person says something, I see the word; but should another person's voice break in, blurs appear. These creep into the syllables of the words and I can't make out what of being said.
I would say about 80% of this book is filled with these reflections of Mr S telling us how he remembers and the way his thought process differs from ours, with Luria's commentary setting his account into chapters and sections. While it's a readable case study about an one-of-a-kind memory (plus all the credit for founding a new genre for humanistic clinical history!), Professor Luria's writing and his approach, to a reader of our time, may seem plain and ordinary.
April 11, 2024
Sometimes I'm very grateful that I'm just NORMAL.
Brilliant work. Even though it's not a fiction, this book has a character with his amazingly written (or lived) development. You start by thinking "Wow, that must be nice" and wind up sad, but, at the same time, glad that you're not him.
You read about his sensations, his memories, his problem-solving methods and find yourself surfing through your own memories, your synesthetic experiences, your own ways to deal with math problems that you take as unique.
I wish to know more about his personality. That part was poorly written in my opinion. There goes one star.
Brilliant work. Even though it's not a fiction, this book has a character with his amazingly written (or lived) development. You start by thinking "Wow, that must be nice" and wind up sad, but, at the same time, glad that you're not him.
You read about his sensations, his memories, his problem-solving methods and find yourself surfing through your own memories, your synesthetic experiences, your own ways to deal with math problems that you take as unique.
I wish to know more about his personality. That part was poorly written in my opinion. There goes one star.
August 29, 2020
loved this book.
Though the book is purely based on the subjective experience of a mnemonist. Hence it would be impossible to comprehend the subjectivity of the protagonist(Writer made great efforts to make him as lively as possible).
But this book can push you to expand your horizon to problem-solving. It will push you to see problems in a very different light. How you can practice visual memory to see the world differently. To synthesis synesthesia in you.
more importantly, the great product that you are accidentally created by existence.
Though the book is purely based on the subjective experience of a mnemonist. Hence it would be impossible to comprehend the subjectivity of the protagonist(Writer made great efforts to make him as lively as possible).
But this book can push you to expand your horizon to problem-solving. It will push you to see problems in a very different light. How you can practice visual memory to see the world differently. To synthesis synesthesia in you.
more importantly, the great product that you are accidentally created by existence.
January 21, 2014
Несмотря на то, что книга написана довольно давно. Она раскрывает подробности интереснейшей разновидности памяти. Вначале кажется, что она тоже про ейдетическую память, но на самом деле это вводная к синестезии. Из этой книги понятно откуда брались техники типа "дворец памяти"(memory palace) именно благодаря дотошному научному подходу к исследованию господина Ш.
Жаль, что небольшая, было интересно увидеть целый сборник.
Жаль, что небольшая, было интересно увидеть целый сборник.
October 16, 2021
That Luria's work was a product of Soviet Science is little surprise. It is imbued throughout with a profound grasp of the dialectical method and an attempt to analyse complex phenomena on their interrelationship with one another.
That such a way of approaching Psychiatry isn't more common is a failing which has not been fully address to this day.
If you have an interest in the study of perception, consciousness, memory and the inner workings of the mind this book is an excellent way into discussing such questions.
The text is not terribly long and it is written in a most engaging manner by the author. This is most evident in sections where Luria is recounting tests and exercises which he conducted with S which in the hands of anyone else could have quite easily come across as being incredibly dry.
That such a way of approaching Psychiatry isn't more common is a failing which has not been fully address to this day.
If you have an interest in the study of perception, consciousness, memory and the inner workings of the mind this book is an excellent way into discussing such questions.
The text is not terribly long and it is written in a most engaging manner by the author. This is most evident in sections where Luria is recounting tests and exercises which he conducted with S which in the hands of anyone else could have quite easily come across as being incredibly dry.
February 12, 2019
Me ha resultado un libro muy interesante por sí mismo y por el hondo contraste conmigo, pues trata varios aspectos de un hombre cuya memoria es increíble y yo poseo una de las peores memorias que conozco.
Saber un poco de este señor, desde un prisma a caballo entre novelado y clínico (es clínico, pero la forma de escribir es amena e inteligible) me acerca a una de esas realidades difíciles, aquella en la que no se puede obviar.
Saber un poco de este señor, desde un prisma a caballo entre novelado y clínico (es clínico, pero la forma de escribir es amena e inteligible) me acerca a una de esas realidades difíciles, aquella en la que no se puede obviar.
January 7, 2021
Fascinating how little we know of human brain!
September 3, 2022
Fascinating.
Just needed a better editor
Just needed a better editor
April 15, 2025
Magnifico
August 16, 2023
Se hai qualche dubbio su come può essere la vita senza dimenticare un singolo istante allora questo libro fa al caso tuo. Ti presenterà esempi di vita reale su come il signor S ha affrontato la vita di tutti i giorni accumulando giorno dopo giorno aneddoti e momenti. Questo memorai indelebile è però benefico o una condanna? Riuscirti a vivere senza mai dimenticare ?
August 26, 2025
Fascinating. S.' perception of reality (and imagination) is so foreign to view, yet so familiar at the same time. Luria does quite a phenomenal job examining such a mind - and not just as a subject, but as a human being to be understood.
August 11, 2024
Très curieux de découvrir un esprit tout à fait différent ! J'aurais cependant apprécié que ce soit mieux écrit
November 10, 2025
An interesting keyhole view of a man with an extraordinary ability, but one that takes a bit of persistence to see.
July 1, 2018
DNF-ed at 40%
which considering this is less than 200-hundred pages, it's not really saying much
well, to put it bluntly, this was not the type of read i was expecting. i could tell from the synopsis that this little book dealt with a medical case from the perspective of its actual researcher. i thought "ok." then i read (scrolled through, to be more precise) the top reviews, trying to get a sense of what other people thought about it. and most people said that, although it wasn't the most entertaining read in the world, it did come across as a bed-time story (or as if someone was telling you a very interesting anecdote about a very peculiar person)
that just makes me wonder what type of stories those people read. now, you see, this is a research article and, to me, this read like a research article. i studied linguistics, i wrote research articles, i studied how to write them--i can spot one a mile way and this is one. and if i wanted to read one instead of a non-fiction book, i would do so. except, i really don't want to. i burned out my interest for psycholinguistics and psychology around a year ago. i'm done with that for now as far as i'm concerned.
this is not the type of narrative tale with the witty and well-informed narrator that makes good non-fiction books become great non-fiction books. even more so, this little book has no interest in doing so either. it even tells you, right at the introduction, how it hopes to inspire other psychologists to continue on widening the gaps within this field.
simply said, i was never the target audience so why waste my time reading this when i have other 500 books to read.
which considering this is less than 200-hundred pages, it's not really saying much
well, to put it bluntly, this was not the type of read i was expecting. i could tell from the synopsis that this little book dealt with a medical case from the perspective of its actual researcher. i thought "ok." then i read (scrolled through, to be more precise) the top reviews, trying to get a sense of what other people thought about it. and most people said that, although it wasn't the most entertaining read in the world, it did come across as a bed-time story (or as if someone was telling you a very interesting anecdote about a very peculiar person)
that just makes me wonder what type of stories those people read. now, you see, this is a research article and, to me, this read like a research article. i studied linguistics, i wrote research articles, i studied how to write them--i can spot one a mile way and this is one. and if i wanted to read one instead of a non-fiction book, i would do so. except, i really don't want to. i burned out my interest for psycholinguistics and psychology around a year ago. i'm done with that for now as far as i'm concerned.
this is not the type of narrative tale with the witty and well-informed narrator that makes good non-fiction books become great non-fiction books. even more so, this little book has no interest in doing so either. it even tells you, right at the introduction, how it hopes to inspire other psychologists to continue on widening the gaps within this field.
simply said, i was never the target audience so why waste my time reading this when i have other 500 books to read.
July 17, 2018
I personaggi di “Crocevia“, celebre giallo metafisico di Spallanzani, sono più volte colti da dubbi sull’esattezza dei loro ricordi. A un certo punto l’autore mette in bocca al dottor Stuffenbau questa considerazione inconfondibilmente spallanzanesca, tipicamente eliana:
“Il ricordo”, disse Stuffenbau a madamoiselle Mimolotte, “è come una torta gelato: ogni volta che la tiri fuori dal frigo per guardarla si affloscia un pochino e quando la rimetti dentro si ricongela in una forma leggermente diversa. Dopo cento, mille ricongelamenti le sue cuspidi di panna sono diventate dei bottoni, la sfoglia si è bagnata mille volte e ha ceduto sotto il peso delle creme, la forma di corona è perduta, i cristalli di ghiaccio hanno sgretolato la struttura, che ora somiglia a uno squallido ciambellone. Quando infine la tagli il coltello fa il rumore di qualcosa che fende la ghiaia”.
In vari racconti del Nostro emerge questa disperazione per il fatto che è impossibile conoscere qualcosa senza modificarlo*, boccone avvelenato comparso in letteratura molto prima che la scienza l’inghiottisse avidamente e ci si strozzasse.
Ma ci sono anche casi inquietanti di memoria stabile, fin troppo, come quello descritto da Lurija in “Viaggio nella mente di un uomo che non dimenticava nulla“.
(continua su https://eliaspallanzanivive.wordpress...)
“Il ricordo”, disse Stuffenbau a madamoiselle Mimolotte, “è come una torta gelato: ogni volta che la tiri fuori dal frigo per guardarla si affloscia un pochino e quando la rimetti dentro si ricongela in una forma leggermente diversa. Dopo cento, mille ricongelamenti le sue cuspidi di panna sono diventate dei bottoni, la sfoglia si è bagnata mille volte e ha ceduto sotto il peso delle creme, la forma di corona è perduta, i cristalli di ghiaccio hanno sgretolato la struttura, che ora somiglia a uno squallido ciambellone. Quando infine la tagli il coltello fa il rumore di qualcosa che fende la ghiaia”.
In vari racconti del Nostro emerge questa disperazione per il fatto che è impossibile conoscere qualcosa senza modificarlo*, boccone avvelenato comparso in letteratura molto prima che la scienza l’inghiottisse avidamente e ci si strozzasse.
Ma ci sono anche casi inquietanti di memoria stabile, fin troppo, come quello descritto da Lurija in “Viaggio nella mente di un uomo che non dimenticava nulla“.
(continua su https://eliaspallanzanivive.wordpress...)
September 6, 2022
I found this book an interesting case study BUT I will admit I was disappointed. In the preface and introduction, the reader is introduced to the concept of romantic science as opposed to classical, and it states that Luria found both methods valid ways of investigating a patient. I was interested to hear his “romantic” approach to S.’s condition, which, from my interpretation, promised us information into not only his clinical condition but also his personality and behavior as a result of this. I was dismayed that by the end of the book, the only personal information I had learned about S. was that he had a wife. There was nothing more on his personal life, and fairly little on his behavior, aside from repeated references to his tendency to switch jobs frequently. His thought processes were thoroughly expounded upon, if that’s what you’re interested in reading. However, I would like to note (and this is no fault of Luria), that S. is a bit insufferable. I do believe this is the purpose of including his thought processes though, because it allows the reader to really experience what it would be like to be inside his mind. I now know that I would not want to be there, could not be paid enough to be there. From the small portion of this book I read aloud to a roommate, she came to a similar conclusion.
Overall, interesting and quick read, not something I’ll be pondering all day, but something I’m glad I read.
Overall, interesting and quick read, not something I’ll be pondering all day, but something I’m glad I read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2020
Solomon Shereshevsky, known only in the book as S., was a young journalist when his boss realised that he could remember long lists of daily assignments without taking any notes, and sent him to see A.R. Luria, a Russian psychologist. Luria soon discovers that S. has a phenomenal memory. Even more significantly, his memory is linked to profound synesthesia, where stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to experiences in a second sensory pathway (e.g. numbers have specific tastes, and sounds have specific smells). Over the course of thirty years, Luria conducts multiple experiments and interviews, and in this book describes how Luria's mind behaved and how his unique memory and synesthesia affected his daily life.
Though this is a scientific record, it is written simply so it is understandable even to laypeople. Luria writes in an easy-to-read narrative style. There are plenty of anecdotes from S., who also describes his thoughts in great detail, so that the processes of a mind so different from most of ours come to life in a manner that is understandable. The secret to S.' amazing memory is his ability to visualise the information given to him. So given a table of numbers, he imprints the numbers in his mind, and each time he needs to pull it forth, he sees the table again exactly as it was written out. Given a list of objects, he imagines himself walking down a street that he knows, planting each object in each doorway. Even more incredibly, the information stays in his brain, so he can remember it even 15 years later. There are some drawbacks to this approach. If he plants an object in a dark doorway, he is apt to 'forget' it - not because he actually forgets it, but because he doesn't see it when he is recalling his memories.
That leads us to the next major point about S.', his synesthesia. He remembers things because he visualises them so well. He even remembers scenes from his infanthood, which most of us are unable to recall, perhaps because we had not built up the vocabulary to describe them. But S. remembers the images and feelings and smells and tastes, and can describe these scenes from his baby perspective. Luria also describes how his synethesia is helpful in other situations. When he is solving math problems, he derives simple solutions to problems that appear complex to other people through his ability to visualise things so well.
Synesthesia, unfortunately, has many drawbacks. S. can't read newspapers when he's having breakfast, because the tastes that the words conjure interfere with his breakfast. Because every word he reads forms a concrete image in his mind, he has difficulty reading prose where the images in each sentence contradict the image that he has built up in his mind, and even more difficulty reading poetry where words are not meant to be interpreted literally. Abstract concepts like "infinity" or "nothing" are almost impossible to grasp. His imagination is so strong that if he wakes up at 7.30am and wants to continue sleeping, he imagines that the alarm clock still says 7.30am, and is surprised when told it is already 9am.
From the information, it is clear that S.' synesthesia contributes to, but does not explain fully, his memory. Being able to visualise the information he is told helps him to memorise it better, but how do we explain him being able to retain such vast amounts of information for decades, and being unable to forget it even when he tries? It's a mystery and a wonder that Luria admits he won't be able to explain, and doesn't try.
One of the things I appreciate most is how scientific and objective Luria is about a qualitative, subjective topic. He draws attention to the strengths and weaknesses of S.' mind without attempting to buy our sympathy or bias us for or against S. He aimed for a scientific case study, not a biography, and so we don't get details about S.' family and death, for instance, but only what is relevant to understand his mind. It's a different approach from many of the bestselling books on healthcare shelves these days, and I found the objective approach, ironically, more effective in enabling me to understand S. and sympathising with him.
Luria was apparently one of the first people to try to explain a person's personality through his psychology. He does a good job of helping us understand how S. views the world and how this influences his behaviour and personality. You really cannot judge another person without standing in his shoes. S., through his sheer inability to understand poetry and figurative meanings, seems dull-witted. But when you understand how his mind works, you realise he isn't dumb at all. His mind just operates in a different way. Luria also describes how S. visualising a "he" who does the things that S. himself doesn't want to do, and how this differs from a split personality. But to those of us who don't understand how S.' mind works, it would be easy to label him as having schizophrenia. I wonder what would happen if each of us had case studies done of our minds. Would we then be able to understand and appreciate each other better?
It is not clear how truthful S. was with his anecdotes. Some of them seem too fantastic to be true. And except for the tests of his memory, much of what is reported is subjective and we have only S.' word for it. That is an inevitable limitation, but Luria appears to have made efforts to verify as much as he can.
This is a short book, but rewarding, and thought-provoking in questioning what we know about the minds of the people around us.
Though this is a scientific record, it is written simply so it is understandable even to laypeople. Luria writes in an easy-to-read narrative style. There are plenty of anecdotes from S., who also describes his thoughts in great detail, so that the processes of a mind so different from most of ours come to life in a manner that is understandable. The secret to S.' amazing memory is his ability to visualise the information given to him. So given a table of numbers, he imprints the numbers in his mind, and each time he needs to pull it forth, he sees the table again exactly as it was written out. Given a list of objects, he imagines himself walking down a street that he knows, planting each object in each doorway. Even more incredibly, the information stays in his brain, so he can remember it even 15 years later. There are some drawbacks to this approach. If he plants an object in a dark doorway, he is apt to 'forget' it - not because he actually forgets it, but because he doesn't see it when he is recalling his memories.
That leads us to the next major point about S.', his synesthesia. He remembers things because he visualises them so well. He even remembers scenes from his infanthood, which most of us are unable to recall, perhaps because we had not built up the vocabulary to describe them. But S. remembers the images and feelings and smells and tastes, and can describe these scenes from his baby perspective. Luria also describes how his synethesia is helpful in other situations. When he is solving math problems, he derives simple solutions to problems that appear complex to other people through his ability to visualise things so well.
Synesthesia, unfortunately, has many drawbacks. S. can't read newspapers when he's having breakfast, because the tastes that the words conjure interfere with his breakfast. Because every word he reads forms a concrete image in his mind, he has difficulty reading prose where the images in each sentence contradict the image that he has built up in his mind, and even more difficulty reading poetry where words are not meant to be interpreted literally. Abstract concepts like "infinity" or "nothing" are almost impossible to grasp. His imagination is so strong that if he wakes up at 7.30am and wants to continue sleeping, he imagines that the alarm clock still says 7.30am, and is surprised when told it is already 9am.
From the information, it is clear that S.' synesthesia contributes to, but does not explain fully, his memory. Being able to visualise the information he is told helps him to memorise it better, but how do we explain him being able to retain such vast amounts of information for decades, and being unable to forget it even when he tries? It's a mystery and a wonder that Luria admits he won't be able to explain, and doesn't try.
One of the things I appreciate most is how scientific and objective Luria is about a qualitative, subjective topic. He draws attention to the strengths and weaknesses of S.' mind without attempting to buy our sympathy or bias us for or against S. He aimed for a scientific case study, not a biography, and so we don't get details about S.' family and death, for instance, but only what is relevant to understand his mind. It's a different approach from many of the bestselling books on healthcare shelves these days, and I found the objective approach, ironically, more effective in enabling me to understand S. and sympathising with him.
Luria was apparently one of the first people to try to explain a person's personality through his psychology. He does a good job of helping us understand how S. views the world and how this influences his behaviour and personality. You really cannot judge another person without standing in his shoes. S., through his sheer inability to understand poetry and figurative meanings, seems dull-witted. But when you understand how his mind works, you realise he isn't dumb at all. His mind just operates in a different way. Luria also describes how S. visualising a "he" who does the things that S. himself doesn't want to do, and how this differs from a split personality. But to those of us who don't understand how S.' mind works, it would be easy to label him as having schizophrenia. I wonder what would happen if each of us had case studies done of our minds. Would we then be able to understand and appreciate each other better?
It is not clear how truthful S. was with his anecdotes. Some of them seem too fantastic to be true. And except for the tests of his memory, much of what is reported is subjective and we have only S.' word for it. That is an inevitable limitation, but Luria appears to have made efforts to verify as much as he can.
This is a short book, but rewarding, and thought-provoking in questioning what we know about the minds of the people around us.
December 15, 2024
Le bizzarrie della mente sono sempre affascinanti, come quella recente di un uomo di Roma che dopo essere stato investito da una macchina ha dimenticato gli ultimi 40 anni della sua vita e quando si è svegliato era convinto di vivere ancora negli anni '80 (beato lui).
Il paziente Š. , al contrario, non dimentica nulla e in questo brevissimo libro, lo psicologo A. R. Lurija, ci porta a capire come funziona questa mente fuori dall'ordinario attraverso studi, tecniche, esperimenti lunghi 30 anni.
Il paziente Š. , al contrario, non dimentica nulla e in questo brevissimo libro, lo psicologo A. R. Lurija, ci porta a capire come funziona questa mente fuori dall'ordinario attraverso studi, tecniche, esperimenti lunghi 30 anni.
June 14, 2017
Having previously read and thoroughly enjoyed Moonwalking with Einstein, the Mind of a Mnemonist fell very short. It delves into painstaking granular detail of one individual case study. If readers wish to learn every single aspect of one man's perspective in the early 20th century, by all means, but if readers were hoping to gain insight on people with exceptional memory skills live and perceive the world around them, read Joshua Foer instead.
January 24, 2016
This is one of the most thought provoking book I have ever read.
December 15, 2023
Amazing little short book about a man with an incredible memory. Reminded me of the Rainman. Here are the best bits:
You know there are people who seem to have many voices, whose voices seem to be an entire composition, a bouquet. The late S. M. Eisensteint had just such a voice: listening to him, it was as though a flame with fibers protruding from it was advancing right toward me. I got so interested in his voice, I couldn't follow what he was saying.
Most often (and this habit persisted throughout his life), he would "distribute" them along some roadway or street he visualized in his mind. Sometimes this was a street in his home town, which would also include the yard attached to the house he had lived in as a child and which he recalled vividly. On the other hand, he might also select a street in Moscow. Frequently he would take a mental walk along that street-Gorky Street in Moscow-beginning at Mayakovsky Square, and slowly make his way down, "distributing" his images at houses, gates, and store windows. At times, without realizing how it had happened, he would suddenly find himself back in his home towl (Torzhok), where he would wind up his trip in the house he had lived in as a child. The setting he chose for his "mental walks" approximates that of dreams, the difference being that the setting in his walks would immediately vanish once his attention was distracted but would reappear just as suddenly when he was obliged to recall a series he had "re-corded" this way.
If S. had placed a particular image in a spot where it would be difficult for him to "discern"—if he, for example, had placed it in an area that was poorly lit or in a spot where he would have trouble distinguishing the object from the background against which it had been sethe would omit this image when he "read off" the series he had distributed along his mental route. He would simply walk on "without noticing" the particular item, as he explained.
S. did not just transcribe words he had been given into graphic images: each word also furnished him with "extra" information which took the form of synesthetic impressions of sight, taste, and touch, all of these aroused either by the sound of a word or by images of the letters in the written word.
Almost all the qualities that most concerned us about S’s memory are to be found in this excerpt: Synesthetic reactions “I had to sing in a loud voice, since it has to be foggy if one’s going to fall asleep”.
... I always experience sensations like these. When I ride in a trolley I can feel the clanging it makes in my teeth. So one time I went to buy some ice cream, thinking I'd sit there and eat it and not have this clanging. I walked over to the vender and asked her what kind of ice cream she had. "Fruit ice cream," she said. But she answered in such a tone that a whole pile of coals, of black cinders, came bursting out of her mouth, and I couldn't bring myself to buy any ice cream after she'd answered that way ..• Another thing: If I read when I eat, I have a hard time understanding what I'm reading the taste of the food drowns out the sense.
You know there are people who seem to have many voices, whose voices seem to be an entire composition, a bouquet. The late S. M. Eisensteint had just such a voice: listening to him, it was as though a flame with fibers protruding from it was advancing right toward me. I got so interested in his voice, I couldn't follow what he was saying.
Most often (and this habit persisted throughout his life), he would "distribute" them along some roadway or street he visualized in his mind. Sometimes this was a street in his home town, which would also include the yard attached to the house he had lived in as a child and which he recalled vividly. On the other hand, he might also select a street in Moscow. Frequently he would take a mental walk along that street-Gorky Street in Moscow-beginning at Mayakovsky Square, and slowly make his way down, "distributing" his images at houses, gates, and store windows. At times, without realizing how it had happened, he would suddenly find himself back in his home towl (Torzhok), where he would wind up his trip in the house he had lived in as a child. The setting he chose for his "mental walks" approximates that of dreams, the difference being that the setting in his walks would immediately vanish once his attention was distracted but would reappear just as suddenly when he was obliged to recall a series he had "re-corded" this way.
If S. had placed a particular image in a spot where it would be difficult for him to "discern"—if he, for example, had placed it in an area that was poorly lit or in a spot where he would have trouble distinguishing the object from the background against which it had been sethe would omit this image when he "read off" the series he had distributed along his mental route. He would simply walk on "without noticing" the particular item, as he explained.
S. did not just transcribe words he had been given into graphic images: each word also furnished him with "extra" information which took the form of synesthetic impressions of sight, taste, and touch, all of these aroused either by the sound of a word or by images of the letters in the written word.
Almost all the qualities that most concerned us about S’s memory are to be found in this excerpt: Synesthetic reactions “I had to sing in a loud voice, since it has to be foggy if one’s going to fall asleep”.
... I always experience sensations like these. When I ride in a trolley I can feel the clanging it makes in my teeth. So one time I went to buy some ice cream, thinking I'd sit there and eat it and not have this clanging. I walked over to the vender and asked her what kind of ice cream she had. "Fruit ice cream," she said. But she answered in such a tone that a whole pile of coals, of black cinders, came bursting out of her mouth, and I couldn't bring myself to buy any ice cream after she'd answered that way ..• Another thing: If I read when I eat, I have a hard time understanding what I'm reading the taste of the food drowns out the sense.
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