Hyde, Lewis: A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Past

Lewis Hyde

A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Past, Canongate, Edinburgh, 2019; originally published Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2019; electronic version available

We live in a culture that prizes memory—how much we can store, the quality of what’s preserved, how we might better document and retain the moments of our life while fighting off the nightmare of losing all that we have experienced. But what if forgetfulness were seen not as something to fear—be it in the form of illness or simple absentmindedness—but rather as a blessing, a balm, a path to peace and rebirth? (blurb)

The book is reviewed for Honest History by David Stephens. Other reviews: Guardian; LA Review of Books; Washington Post. Similar issues are explored by David Rieff, In Praise of Forgetting: Historical Memory and Its Ironies. Also use our Search engine with terms like ‘forget’ and ‘memory’.

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