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gr8reader's review
3.0
"A man is found wandering the desert outside Las Vegas. The cards in his wallet identify him as Samson Greene, a Columbia University English professor last seen leaving campus eight days ago. Thirty-six years old, with a wife, Anna, and a dog, Frank. But Samson doesn't even recognize his own name, and by the time Anna has make her way across the country to pick him up, doctors have discovered a cherry-sized tumor in his brain; its removal eradicates the last twenty-four years of Samson's memories." "Samson and Anna return to New York together, where Samson struggles to connect with the woman he knows he is supposed to love, with his career, with his home, with his "life"." Into these daily lives fraught with a peculiarly intimate tension comes a charismatic scientist who invites Samson to take part in a groundbreaking medical experiment in the Nevada desert.
thirdcoast's review
4.0
What would you do if your memory from adolescence to the present were wiped out? That’s the central question in Nicole Krauss’ novel Man Walks into a Room. The novel follows the events of Samson who disappears from New York and is discovered wandering the desert outside of Las Vegas, sick and incoherent. It turns out he has a tumor in his brain, which when removed causes the loss of his memories since age twelve. However, he does not suffer any other effects from the surgery. That was one part I found a little unbelievable, then again, I don’t have a lot of knowledge of the brain and how it works. I was willing to let this go, but it still seemed a stretch.
Samson returns or tries to return to his life. He is an English professor in New York, married to a caring and beautiful woman, has plenty of concerned friends. Yet all of this seems alien to him. With no memory of who he was, he doesn’t identify with this life or feel a connection with the people who care for him. He feels there is this vast expanse in his mind, this empty space where the old memories were. He’s not sure he wants them back, or that he wants to be who he was. He identifies with explorers and astronauts, because he sees his mind and lack of identity as a new frontier. He’s not the only one though.
This novel explores what makes us who we are. Are we a collection of habits and preferences? How do we recognize people in our lives? We perceive them to act a certain way, because that is how they’ve always acted and thus who they are. If the experiences which form us are swiped away, who are we, and how can we be close to the people with whom we’ve shared those experiences?
At times Samson seems callous and small. He is unable to empathize with people, partly because he feels a lack of connection, but also because he can’t remember experiencing the emotions his loved ones feel. So much is new to Samson as he navigates through his life.
Another moment in this novel which is a little unbelievable as well, is when Samson gets a phone call from a brain researcher. The man convinces Samson to come out to California for a project. This project involves implanting a memory from someone else into another person’s brain. Since Samson visualizes his memory as having a wide open void, he seems like the perfect candidate. Krauss does a decent job of supplying Samson’s reasons and motivations for the experiment, but still it’s difficult to imagine someone signing on for such a project. When the memory is implanted, things do not turn out how either Samson or the researcher thought.
The final section of the novel involves Samson dealing with this outcome and eventually finding his place in the world again.
If this doesn’t seem like a narrative that interests you, another reason to read this book is how beautifully and succinctly it’s written. Some people may complain that not enough happens, or we spend too much time in Samson’s thoughts. While that may be true, this is a novel about thoughts, about memory and identity. Reading it makes you think about your own life and what events have shaped your being. Even though the premise might be hard to believe, once you accept it the narrative is compelling.
Samson returns or tries to return to his life. He is an English professor in New York, married to a caring and beautiful woman, has plenty of concerned friends. Yet all of this seems alien to him. With no memory of who he was, he doesn’t identify with this life or feel a connection with the people who care for him. He feels there is this vast expanse in his mind, this empty space where the old memories were. He’s not sure he wants them back, or that he wants to be who he was. He identifies with explorers and astronauts, because he sees his mind and lack of identity as a new frontier. He’s not the only one though.
This novel explores what makes us who we are. Are we a collection of habits and preferences? How do we recognize people in our lives? We perceive them to act a certain way, because that is how they’ve always acted and thus who they are. If the experiences which form us are swiped away, who are we, and how can we be close to the people with whom we’ve shared those experiences?
At times Samson seems callous and small. He is unable to empathize with people, partly because he feels a lack of connection, but also because he can’t remember experiencing the emotions his loved ones feel. So much is new to Samson as he navigates through his life.
Another moment in this novel which is a little unbelievable as well, is when Samson gets a phone call from a brain researcher. The man convinces Samson to come out to California for a project. This project involves implanting a memory from someone else into another person’s brain. Since Samson visualizes his memory as having a wide open void, he seems like the perfect candidate. Krauss does a decent job of supplying Samson’s reasons and motivations for the experiment, but still it’s difficult to imagine someone signing on for such a project. When the memory is implanted, things do not turn out how either Samson or the researcher thought.
The final section of the novel involves Samson dealing with this outcome and eventually finding his place in the world again.
If this doesn’t seem like a narrative that interests you, another reason to read this book is how beautifully and succinctly it’s written. Some people may complain that not enough happens, or we spend too much time in Samson’s thoughts. While that may be true, this is a novel about thoughts, about memory and identity. Reading it makes you think about your own life and what events have shaped your being. Even though the premise might be hard to believe, once you accept it the narrative is compelling.
wubledoo's review
2.0
Better in concept than in execution. First part of book is very compelling, but the plot gets way too fantastical and falls off the rails about halfway through...
butlerebecca's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Medical content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Fatphobia and Ableism
shirisandler's review
2.0
I was disappointed by this book. I found it difficult to get into. The way she writes is, of course, beautiful and she is at her best when describing relationships and the memory of them. The premise is interesting and the parts about his mother are heartbreaking.
erikas_bookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Nicole Krauss did it again!
I'm standing in front of my computer screen trying to find the words to describe this amazing book.
When I read "The History of Love" I thought she nailed it and that she would have never wrote something as good as that book. But I was wrong... she did it... She wrote an amazing story about Samson Greene, a man who loses 24 years of his life in a moment and he has to face the consequences of his loss.
Krauss touches along the way a lot of very delicate topics as: what if you wake up one day and all you knew was gone. What if all you were left with were the memories of your younger self, but you were still be able to process the world around you as an adult? Would you want your life back? Would you start over? Would you miss what you have lost if you didn't know what it was in the first place?
The book is divided in 4 parts that function as 4 different stages in Samson life. First he loses his memory and he struggles with the sense of guilt he feels every time he looks into his wife's eyes. Then - out of curiosity or just because he has nothing left to lose - he "donates" his mind. He allows a doctor and his team of scientist to put a memory that belongs to someone's else's in his head (What would you do if someone - in the name of a greater good, a way to be able to truly empathize with someone - asks you to accept into your own head a memory that belongs to someone else's? Would you do it? Would you donate one of your own?). In the third part he had to deal with the consequences of his decisions/actions. And in the fourth and last phase he accepts and understand what he has lost and moves on with his life and - as the rest of us - with his regrets.
An amazing story BEAUTIFULLY written and I wish my english was better to be able to give it justice. A must read!
I'm standing in front of my computer screen trying to find the words to describe this amazing book.
When I read "The History of Love" I thought she nailed it and that she would have never wrote something as good as that book. But I was wrong... she did it... She wrote an amazing story about Samson Greene, a man who loses 24 years of his life in a moment and he has to face the consequences of his loss.
Krauss touches along the way a lot of very delicate topics as: what if you wake up one day and all you knew was gone. What if all you were left with were the memories of your younger self, but you were still be able to process the world around you as an adult? Would you want your life back? Would you start over? Would you miss what you have lost if you didn't know what it was in the first place?
The book is divided in 4 parts that function as 4 different stages in Samson life. First he loses his memory and he struggles with the sense of guilt he feels every time he looks into his wife's eyes. Then - out of curiosity or just because he has nothing left to lose - he "donates" his mind. He allows a doctor and his team of scientist to put a memory that belongs to someone's else's in his head (What would you do if someone - in the name of a greater good, a way to be able to truly empathize with someone - asks you to accept into your own head a memory that belongs to someone else's? Would you do it? Would you donate one of your own?). In the third part he had to deal with the consequences of his decisions/actions. And in the fourth and last phase he accepts and understand what he has lost and moves on with his life and - as the rest of us - with his regrets.
An amazing story BEAUTIFULLY written and I wish my english was better to be able to give it justice. A must read!
notfrmoz's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
merrinish's review
2.0
I think this book tried to be too many things at once, and would have been much better if she'd concentrated on one story line and stuck with it, rather than trying to introduce all these little sensational side story lines. Too much.
fluentinsilence's review
4.0
Hoewel ik ontzettend houd van Krauss' schrijven, haar twee laatste boeken staan hoog op mijn lijst van favorieten, was dit boek toch niet helemaal wat ik verwachtte, of wat ik had gehoopt. Het schrijven was soms een beetje saai, stroef. De hoofdpersoon was echter boeiend genoeg, en het hele verhaal is één grote verrassing. Ik weet eigenlijk niet zo goed waarom het boek me een beetje tegenviel. Het einde vond ik prachtig, Pip een leuke extra, ineens, uit het niets. En strepen heb ik ook gezet, genoeg. Nouja, laat ik maar een paar quotes delen, dan:
"To touch and feel each thing in the world, to know it by sight and by name, and then to know it with your eyes closed so that when something is gone, it can be recognized by the shape of its absence. So that you can continue to possess the lost, because absence is the only constant thing. Because you can get free of everything except the space where things have been." (pag. 152)
"Somewhere in the far north of Canada there would be snow, falling soundlessly over Beaufort Sea, falling over the Arctic without a soul to see it. What kind of weather was that, Samson wondered, and how was one to use such information except as proof that the world was too much to bear?" (pag. 192)
". . . no matter how great the desire is to be understood, the mind cannot abide any presence but its own." (pag. 206)
"To touch and feel each thing in the world, to know it by sight and by name, and then to know it with your eyes closed so that when something is gone, it can be recognized by the shape of its absence. So that you can continue to possess the lost, because absence is the only constant thing. Because you can get free of everything except the space where things have been." (pag. 152)
"Somewhere in the far north of Canada there would be snow, falling soundlessly over Beaufort Sea, falling over the Arctic without a soul to see it. What kind of weather was that, Samson wondered, and how was one to use such information except as proof that the world was too much to bear?" (pag. 192)
". . . no matter how great the desire is to be understood, the mind cannot abide any presence but its own." (pag. 206)
hyzenthlay76's review
3.0
Who are we without our memories? What happens to a life unwitnessed?
Kraus explores some very intriguing questions in a careful way. The sci-fi aspect is subtle enough to not distract.
I did find myself dissatisfied with the main character's slippery series of relationships - perhaps that was part of the point...with no past he had no way of connecting.
The Luke/hospital scene was jarringly unlikely, and I felt that a beautiful, deliberate build became sloppy at the end.
So few books finish as well as they start.
Kraus explores some very intriguing questions in a careful way. The sci-fi aspect is subtle enough to not distract.
I did find myself dissatisfied with the main character's slippery series of relationships - perhaps that was part of the point...with no past he had no way of connecting.
The Luke/hospital scene was jarringly unlikely, and I felt that a beautiful, deliberate build became sloppy at the end.
So few books finish as well as they start.