Bios & Memoirs

This was a painful book to read, but it made me appreciate what goes on during war. It is about a young doctor who leaves his wife and 4-day-old daughter to go to Iraq to do what he could to take care of injured marines. I think I can safely say I will never have to fight in a war, and I pray daily that I will never have to see a war first hand. This book made me honor those who are willing to fight for my freedom even more than I already did. I found myself with tears rolling down my face from time to time, and even a bit sick to my stomach on occasion, but I always had a sense of awe that there are people in the world who are willing to do the things that have to be done in a war. It is overwhelming to me. I want to tell them that I am so very grateful!

But that was not really the gist of this book. It turned out to be more about the "sport" of competitive memorizing. There are people who compete all over the world in huge competitions to see who can memorize the longest string of digits, who can memorize a group of people's names the most accurately, and so on and so forth. They can train for years, and up to 6 hours a day. If I spent that kind of time on learning to memorize, I would not need to make a shopping list! At least I hope I wouldn't.

The author also follows people who are able to make complicated calculations in their heads, or can know how many toothpicks there are in a pile on the floor without counting them. He looks at savants, such as Kim Peak, the person on whom the character in the movie "Rain Man" is based. I found that all very interesting, and enjoyed hearing about it very much. But the part I liked best was the history of memorizing. I didn't even know there was a history of memorizing, but there is, and it is quite fascinating. It is easy to understand that one of the key components to our humanness, to our ability to relate, invent and progress, hinges on our memories. Without them, we have pretty much lost everything. I learned that when I watched my aunt lose herself in the vicious Alzheimer's disease as it robbed her of her memories and personality.

I also really liked hearing about how far the human ability to memorize can be pushed. It is quite phenomenal what our average human brains are capable of, when we choose to exercise and feed them properly.

This was a good book that was easy to listen to. The narrator is not my all time favorite, but at the same time, he did a very good job. If you are at all interested in learning more about how your memory works, I recommend this book. If you are interested in how to remember where you put your car keys, um, not so much. Aw heck, it's still a good read.

This book is read by the author who was a victim of the 9/11 attacks. It is an amazing story told by an amazing person. She worked at the WTC, and the morning of 9/11, she had just walked into the building when a fireball erupted from the elevator shaft and lit her on fire. She didn't know how to put the fire out. She made her way outside where there was a little patch of grass and started to roll. A man saw her and threw his jacket over her to smother the flames, then got help for her. She was burned over nearly 85% of her body and was not expected to live, so they more or less ignored her. Eventually she was taken to a burn unit and was put in a medically induced coma. She had a 10-month-old baby, and he is what kept her going once she regained consciousness and started the painful burn treatment protocol. Her husband stood by her, as well as her parents and many friends. She simply willed herself to live and recover, and she did it. I admire her so much. I wonder if I would be as valiant in a similar situation.