Memento Mori

by Jonathan Nolan

A man named Earl has anterograde amnesia. Because of his inability to remember things for more than a few minutes, he uses notes and tattoos to keep track of new information.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks, Literature

1 pages, Audiobook

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Jonathan Nolan is a British-American author and screenwriter. His short story „Memento Mori“ (Latin for remember you will die) was used by his brother, director Christopher Nolan, as the basis for the screenplay for the critically acclaimed film Memento. He has also co-written the screenplays for The Prestige and The Dark Knight, with his brother. He recently created the CBS drama Person of Interest. He has also been credited under his nickname of Jonah.

Reviews

[Nilesh Kashyap · Rating 5 out of 5]

You're fucked up as shit. But that is not the tragedy of your life. The worst joke that life has played on you is that you don't even remember that your life is a fucking wreck. You need a bell tied around your neck to keep you reminding everytime that, someone fucked you real bad. And now you can't do a thing about it, because in a few minutes time you'll be wiped clean as a new slate, thinking where are you and biggest question what you got to do next!

"A corpse. A vegetable who probably wouldn't remember to eat or take a shit if someone wasn't there to remind you.

You can't have a normal life anymore. You must know that. How can you have a girlfriend if you can't remember her name? Can't have kids, not unless you want them to grow up with a dad who doesn't recognize them. Sure as hell can't hold down a job. Not too many professions out there that value forgetfulness. Prostitution, maybe. Politics, of course.
No. Your life is over. You're a dead man."

No, No No No, I must stop quoting those lines from this short-story, because I don't want to end up writing the whole story in this review, because every line is so very quotable. And moreover I don't want to ruin your reading experience.

I want you to experience everything firsthand from the story itself. I want you to you to have goosebumps, like I had. Rub your hand, still thrilled, to smoothen your skin, from those goosebumps, like I did. I want to hear you say 'Motherf---er', even more thrilled and in the similar hushed voice, like I said.

Written by Jonathan Nolan, brother of Christopher Nolan, director of many excellent movies. His movie Memento, one of the most creative movie, started from this short story. Though both remain same at the core, they are very much different.

That is it. I don't have anything to say about the story except the fact that I abso-fucking-lutely love the story.

How does it feel to be free from the clutches of time, when time becomes you puppet? You will know in few minutes 'time'.
Read it. Read it Now. Read it here.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original short story version of the movie Memento, about a man named Earl with severe short-term memory loss issues (he can't keep anything in his mind for more than about 10 minutes) who is dealing with it through a combination of written notes to himself and tattooed messages on his body, urging himself to investigate his wife's suspicious death.

This opaque, rather confusing story will make a lot more sense if you’re a fan of (or at least familiar with) the movie. What it does best is examine the psychological effects of this ailment and the frustrated drive to seek revenge.

Here's the truth: People, even regular people, are never just any one person with one set of attributes. It's not that simple. We're all at the mercy of the limbic system, clouds of electricity drifting through the brain. Every man is broken into twenty-four-hour fractions, and then again within those twenty-four hours. It's a daily pantomime, one man yielding control to the next: a backstage crowded with old hacks clamoring for their turn in the spotlight. Every week, every day. The angry man hands the baton over to the sulking man, and in turn to the sex addict, the introvert, the conversationalist. Every man is a mob, a chain gang of idiots.

This is the tragedy of life. Because for a few minutes of every day, every man becomes a genius. Moments of clarity, insight, whatever you want to call them. The clouds part, the planets get in a neat little line, and everything becomes obvious. I should quit smoking, maybe, or here's how I could make a fast million, or such and such is the key to eternal happiness. That's the miserable truth. For a few moments, the secrets of the universe are opened to us. Life is a cheap parlor trick.

But then the genius, the savant, has to hand over the controls to the next guy down the pike, most likely the guy who just wants to eat potato chips, and insight and brilliance and salvation are all entrusted to a moron or a hedonist or a narcoleptic.

The only way out of this mess, of course, is to take steps to ensure that you control the idiots that you become. To take your chain gang, hand in hand, and lead them.

Free to read online here at Esquire magazine.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw the movie Memento ages ago, I had no idea it was based on a short story. Equally, after finding out that the source material for the movie was a short story, I had also no idea the author and the movie's director were brothers. Both is quite interesting for a number of reasons.

For starters, I like many of Christopher Nolan's movies very much. The adaptation of his brother's story is, in my opinion, one of those undervalued masterpieces. Moreover, it is apparent that talent runs in the family.

So what is the story about? Well, the protagonist, Earl, has amnesia - but a very special kind. He can remember things only for a few minutes. That in and of itself is a tragic and very fascinating affliction. However, it gets worse. Apparently, this affliction was caused by a very traumatic experience: Earl had to watch while a man first raped and then murdered his wife. He is determined to track down the rapist/killer, however. How to do that? With notes, post-its and tattoos.

An interesting premise that leads to a very well-crafted story about human nature (ingenuity, spirit, relentlessness, revenge, obsession, devotion, self-reflection and more) as well as time.

You can read it for free here https://www.esquire.com/entertainment... and I urge you to watch the movie, too.

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!

boilerplate mission statement intro:

for the past two years, i’ve set december’s project aside to do my own version of a short story advent calendar. it’s not a true advent calendar since i choose all the stories myself, but what it lacks in the ‘element of surprise’ department it more than makes up for in hassle, as i try to cram even MORE reading into a life already overcrammed with impossible personal goals (live up to your potential! find meaningful work! learn to knit!) merry merry wheee!

since i am already well behind in my *regular* reviewing, when it comes to these stories, whatever i poop out as far as reflections or impressions are going to be superficial and perfunctory at best. please do not weep for the great big hole my absented, much-vaunted critical insights are gonna leave in these daily review-spaces (and your hearts); i’ll try to drop shiny insights elsewhere in other reviews, and here, i will at least drop links to where you can read the stories yourselves for free, which - let’s be honest - is gonna serve you better anyway.

HAPPY READING, BOOKNERDS!

links to all stories read in previous years' calendars can be found at the end of these reviews, in case you are a person who likes to read stories for free:

2016: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

scroll down for links to this year’s stories which i will update as we go, and if you have any suggestions, send 'em my way! the only rules are: it must be available free online (links greatly appreciated), and it must be here on gr as its own thing so i can review it. thank you in advance!

DECEMBER 20

Here's the truth: People, even regular people, are never just any one person with one set of attributes. It's not that simple. We're all at the mercy of the limbic system, clouds of electricity drifting through the brain. Every man is broken into twenty-four-hour fractions, and then again within those twenty-four hours. It's a daily pantomime, one man yielding control to the next: a backstage crowded with old hacks clamoring for their turn in the spotlight. Every week, every day. The angry man hands the baton over to the sulking man, and in turn to the sex addict, the introvert, the conversationalist. Every man is a mob, a chain gang of idiots.

This is the tragedy of life. Because for a few minutes of every day, every man becomes a genius. Moments of clarity, insight, whatever you want to call them. The clouds part, the planets get in a neat little line, and everything becomes obvious. I should quit smoking, maybe, or here's how I could make a fast million, or such and such is the key to eternal happiness. That's the miserable truth. For a few moments, the secrets of the universe are opened to us. Life is a cheap parlor trick.
But then the genius, the savant, has to hand over the controls to the next guy down the pike, most likely the guy who just wants to eat potato chips, and insight and brilliance and salvation are all entrusted to a moron or a hedonist or a narcoleptic.

The only way out of this mess, of course, is to take steps to ensure that you control the idiots that you become. To take your chain gang, hand in hand, and lead them. The best way to do this is with a list.

i feel like i've read this before, but maybe i haven't?



that actually wasn't a joke (which you will get if you have read the story or seen Memento, the movie-branch of this story).



but i've read the bound screenplay Memento & Following, and this was maybe included? or not?



true enough. anyway, this was a reminder that it's high time i rewatched that movie



as it gets closer to xmas, this is gonna be the quality of my book reports. just gifs. but i'll make 'em worth your while with BOYNIP!



merry merry

read it for yourself here:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment...

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come to my blog!

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, does my love for this story stem from the movie or is it razor sharp enough for us all on its own?

Wait. I need to write on this post-it. Damnit, I just forgot what I was trying to write.

Something about loving a story, or was it about rape and murder? No. That's on another post-it.

What I need is a list.

Christopher Nolan's brother wrote this short.

Did I mention that I love this story? Did you know that I loved the movie first?

OH! That was written on THIS post-it. Silly me.

What was I doing? Writing a review? Ah, well. This post-it is pretty spot on. It says I need to press "save".

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earl wakes up in a hospital room, with no memory of how he's got there. He has anterograde amnesia.

One of the last things he remembers is the face of the man who raped and killed his wife. He's unable to make new memories since then. After about ten minutes everything is gone and he's back to square one.

He wants to track down the murderer of his wife. But how to do that, when you can't even remember that you wanted to get up and brush your teeth, only a few minutes ago?!

Sounds familiar?



This Jonathan Nolan short story was the basis for his brother Christopher's movie Memento.

Interesting story. Some humor, some tragedy, a little bit of a mystery and some quite interesting observations about human nature and the meaning of time.

You can read it here.

[Simona B · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The only way out of this mess, of course, is to take steps to ensure that you control the idiots that you become.”

[Jonathan Terrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memento Mori - remember your mortality.

The key topic of this short story - only twelve pages in fact - focuses around mortality. Because the main character is afflicted with a condition which causes random memory loss. Thus every action he performs could be forgotten from the funeral of his wife, to what he was doing in the hospital.

What Jonathan Nolan (yes the writer brother of Christopher Nolan who created the film Memento and so many other great clever films) conveys poignantly through a few words is a sense of loss. This is a story about what happens to a man when he must rely upon the power of others just to live. Yet what happens when you are not suffering physically and the one prison is your mind?

The power of words is exposed because of what Nolan can do with such brevity. He provides a portrait of a sort of suffering that cannot be expressed and raises questions. And I've come to feel recently that powerful stories and indeed powerful short stories are meant to raise questions. And this is a very interesting and possibly challenging short story.

[Sharad · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first audiobook...amazing flow. Narrated by the Author himself.

Although I would say I was distracted while listening to it and will have to listen to it again. But its not going to be a problem because its a short story with a narration of just half an hour.

If anybody else wants to listen, the link is below:
https://soundcloud.com/mappingtheterr...

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

You've stumbled across this short story and think it sounds familiar.

Read it now.

Before you forget about it.

Read it now.

Before it's gone from your mind forever.

Read it now.

[Colin Borden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another school book down.
Currently my class has been reading short stories and then watching their film adaptations. Paul’s Case was the first one, and now Memento Mori. I liked this more than Paul’s Case. If it was a little longer I probably could have loved this, but it was a little too short. It was definitely strange in the way it was told, but it had to be. Our main character loses his memory every ten minutes, so he can’t remember how he gets to certain places. Overall, I did like it. Strange, but good.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh

[pirasalbe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short story.

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستان فراموش نکن که خواهی مرد.فیلم یادآوری بر اساس این داستان ساخته شده.ایده مرکزی فیلم و داستان یکی هست ولی هر کدام راه خودشونو رفتن.قسمت های فرد داستان از زبان دوم شخص و قسمت های زوج توسط دانای کل روایت شده.با اینکه فیلم فوق‌العاده هست اما اگر قرار باشه بین فیلم و داستان یکی رو انتخاب کنم بدون شک داستان رو انتخاب می‌کنم.به دلیل ویژگی شاخصی که داستان داره و اون اینه که قسمت های دوم شخص داستان در واقع از زبانِ ناخودآگاهِ قهرمانِ داستان هست که اونو به انتقام و یادآوری تحریک می‌کنه

و یک یادآوری دیگر بعد از خواندن داستان:نولان ها نابغه هستند

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memento Mori is the basis of the extraordinary movie 'Memento' by Christoper Nolan, the writer's brother. The short story is about a guy who is suffering from anterograde amnesia. Despite being a short story, it manages to cover a lot of themes such as revenge, identity, self reflection. Overall, it is a very fascinating and well thought out story.

[Suhasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time is an absurdity. An abstraction. The only thing that matters is this moment. This moment a million times over.

So jealous of the people who've never seen "Memento" and never read this short story. For those people, I say - Read the short and then watch the movie and get ready for your mind to be blown!

[Mr. Noc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scariest thing I have ever read.

Holy shit.

Just

Holy

Shit.

Nothing I have ever read or seen has touched me this deeply.

I think I may be scarred for life.
And if not,
Then I finally Understand what that means.

[Nabha Kulkarni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing style is awsome, but this book (and the movie) made me feel stupid. I had to read the book once, go through three different explanation articles and scroll the story six times after reading it to make it make sense. 😭 I knew what was happening, just didn't understand how that's actually shown in the book. Anyway, I love the movie, and the book showed me that both Jonathan and Christopher Nolan have a knack for twisted, non-linear story telling.

[Mazzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This (short) short story is quite different than the movie and quite gloomy.

[Jesse C · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you’re looking forward, you’re looking in the wrong direction

[Literary Ames · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memento Mori is the free short story that inspired Nolan's brother, Christopher Nolan (Inception, Interstellar) to make mind-bending film Memento starring Guy Pearce.

Earl is a permanent patient at a hospital since he was injured in the attack which saw Earl's wife raped and killed. His injury has caused permanent brain damage meaning he's unable to convert short-term into long-term memories. Earl remembers everything before the damage, but nothing after, so his memory is only ten minutes long.

You can't have a normal life anymore. You must know that. How can you have a girlfriend if you can't remember her name? Can't have kids, not unless you want them to grow up with a dad who doesn't recognize them. Sure as hell can't hold down a job. Not too many professions out there that value forgetfulness. Prostitution, maybe. Politics, of course.

No. Your life is over. You're a dead man. The only thing the doctors are hoping to do is teach you to be less of a burden to the orderlies. And they'll probably never let you go home, wherever that would be.

So the question is not "to be or not to be," because you aren't. The question is whether you want to do something about it. Whether revenge matters to you.

It does to most people. For a few weeks, they plot, they scheme, they take measures to get even. But the passage of time is all it takes to erode that initial impulse. Time is theft, isn't that what they say? And time eventually convinces most of us that forgiveness is a virtue. Conveniently, cowardice and forgiveness look identical at a certain distance. Time steals your nerve.

No doubt Memento Mori is interesting and insightful. A man with no memory has nothing to lose. Punishment for taking revenge on his wife's killer is going to be meaningless to him, although I'm not sure it's realistic for Earl to actually achieve this goal with a ten-minute memory even with the notes tattooed on his body to remind him of what he needs to do.

Jonathan Nolan's narration of Memento Mori is also available for free on YouTube.

[Paula ϟ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember your mortality. Remember you will die. That you must die. Memento Mori.

The fervent tone of Memento Mori rushes both the reader and narrator through each moment in time. We feel a sense of bewilderment alongside the narrator every time he wakes up and transports to a new scene. There is a persistent underlying haste to move through each moment and accomplish something before it is forgotten, before it is gone. For good that is, because it can never be brought back, not even by memory. "Time is an absurdity. An abstraction. The only thing that matters is this moment. This moment a million times over."

The ending is inconclusive and haunting, just like much of our lives. The only true conclusion is death.

This story will leave you fascinated. It is a very imaginative experience for the reader.

[Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para quienes vimos (y nos costó entender) la película Memento, este cuento resulta más que interesante. Está escrito por Jonathan Nolan, el hermano del famoso director de cine Christopher Nolan, y fue este cuento el que originó la extrañísima película.

Son 11 pequeños capítulos donde se intercalan la historia actual de Earl que despierta en un hospital sin recordar nada, y una narración tipo monólogo de un hombre hablándole a Earl en un tono sarcástico y bastante malintencionado.
A esta voz en off me la imaginé durante todo el cuento con un tono grave y ligeramente cascado.

Es muy original y está muy bien escrito. La historia es muy curiosa y mientras me acercaba al último mini-capítulo no pude parar de preguntarme cuál sería el desenlace.


Reseña de Libros junto al mar

[DNS · Rating 5 out of 5]

"After all,
everybody else needs mirrors to remind themselves who they are. You're
no different."

Interesting. Totally worth the read.

"It's not so much that you've lost your faith in time
as that time has lost its faith in you. And who needs it, anyway? Who
wants to be one of those saps living in the safety of the future, in
the safety of the moment after the moment in which they felt something
powerful? Living in the next moment, in which they feel nothing."

"So how can you forgive if you can't remember to forget?"

"Every man is broken into twenty-four-hour fractions, and
then again within those twenty-four hours. It's a daily pantomime, one
man yielding control to the next: a backstage crowded with old hacks
clamoring for their turn in the spotlight."

[Germán González · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memento Mori es una historia corta escrita por Jonathan Nolan y que sirvió de base para la película Memento que dirigió su hermano Cristopher. Comienza con Earl despertando en un hospital, sin ninguna idea de como llegó ahi, sufre una especie de amnesia que le impide grabar nuevos recuerdos por lo cual olvida lo que hace apenas minutos después. La forma que tiene de enfrentarse a este problema es dejándose mensajes a si mismo en notas post-it y tatuajes.

Si bien es breve, logra desarrollar adecuadamente la temática que plantea. El estilo de escritura tiene algunas similitudes con el de Palahniuk y resulta agradable para leer.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short story that gave birth to the terrific movie Memento, made by the author's brother Christopher Nolan.

[Shahin Ghaeminejad · Rating 3 out of 5]

.به هرحال در دنیای پست مدرن داشتن «هارد» قوی تر مهمتر از داشتن «سی پی یو»ی قوی است

قهرمان داستان مشکل هارد دارد و نویسنده مشکل سی پی یو

:)))

[Cassie R. (cassie_in_the_void) · Rating 3 out of 5]

What on earth? We're doing an analysis of this short story and the movie counterpart in class today and I have a feeling it's gonna be a tough one.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was wild.

[Ally Dalman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this quote, a good example of a feeling I would have trouble describing but someone else can express so well with words.


"This is the tragedy of life. Because for a few minutes of every day,
every man becomes a genius. Moments of clarity, insight, whatever you
want to call them. The clouds part, the planets get in a neat little
line, and everything becomes obvious. I should quit smoking, maybe, or
here's how I could make a fast million, or such and such is the key to
eternal happiness. That's the miserable truth. For a few moments, the
secrets of the universe are opened to us. Life is a cheap parlor
trick.

But then the genius, the savant, has to hand over the controls to the
next guy down the pike, most likely the guy who just wants to eat
potato chips, and insight and brilliance and salvation are all
entrusted to a moron or a hedonist or a narcoleptic.

The only way out of this mess, of course, is to take steps to ensure
that you control the idiots that you become."