Memory Wall: Stories

Memory Wall by Anthony DoerrThis is a remarkable cluster of short stories spanning continents and generations, all manifesting the author's embrace of humanity and the natural forces we interact with. The young, the old, the sick and those pulsing with life and strength; snows-scapes and burned cities;ever-rushing rivers and fairytale tent-cities - all have their place.A nameless great river in China and the Nemunas river in Lithuania which harbors an unexpected secret, both serve as metaphors for the never-ending flow of time's river. The horrors of the Holocaust in Hamburg; of Soviet rule in Lithuania; and the oppression in today's China, are all seen afloat in that river.The river is not only ever-moving and ever-changing with each part of its flow as real as the segment before and after, it is also a great connector. The mountains from whence the rivulets begin their journey, tumbling down to the broad expanse between its banks,all the way to the ocean where it empties, are bound together by its watery movement. So too, are the generations joined through the river of memories we have of those who came before us. And thus will we be remembered and connect with others beyond our time. Our humanness and our memories flow together, and those who would erase them through mass geographical dislocation, as well as mass propaganda strike us in a core place.The writer's prose-poetry - ".. the moonlight landing on rows of distant corn and the silver lines of riffles where the river wrinkles along its banks" ; "Saplings grow from ruptures in the street. Flights of pink-rimmed clouds sail overhead."; " He's wearing a cashmere vest. She waves a wine glass as she talks. Her pants are shiny and gold; I've never seen them before. On the counter behind them sits a ravaged turkey" - lights up each story and makes reading them a continuous delight.I'm amazed by Doerrs' ability to write from the vantage point of an adolescent American orphan trying to adjust to life in a suburb of Vilnius; an epileptic Jewish girl living in Hamburg during the Holocaust and at age eighty-one, spending her last days with her college-age grandson at her home by the shores of Lake Eire; and an old Chinese woman seed-collector and vendor stubbornly refusing to heed her son's warnings and staying on in her ancestral village as the time of the state-planned flooding approaches.There is so much perspective, wisdom, and beauty woven through these stories. It's as if Doerr were both of us and above us, seeing us clearly and compassionately from a Parnassian perch.As you may gather, I highly recommend this book.Frank RubenfeldAugust 22, 2010

Anthony Doerr is a thoughtful and intellectual writer. Although his books are adult, he has a way with words that literally paints a picture and allows the reader to be in the life of the people in the story. The things he knows and the things he writes about always match up. He does his research, which makes his books educational and fun. Memory Wall is a beautiful representation of his thoughts on different aspects of memory and its importance in our lives. From memory loss, to procreation, to memories that hurt, Doerr looks at this topic and dives in deeply, hitting the soul of the base of what memory actually is. The reader can tell he has not only done his research, but he puts so much heart into his writing that you can feel what he's talking about, experiencing it, instead of just learning about it. That's what makes this book so valuable. It's very scholarly. It's educational (and quite adult). But it's put into a context that is interesting and intriguing to read, and the reader feels a part of the story of a character who knows a lot about certain aspects of memory. A favorite quote from the book Memory Wall comes in the first pages of the book. Quoting Luis Buneuel, it states, "Life without memory is no life at all, just as an intelligence without the possibility of expression is not really an intelligence...Without it, we are nothing." The whole book seems to be framed around this one idea: that memory is the very essence of who we are, and without it, tragedy can occur. This book is a beautiful representation of a real life picture painted with real life feelings that draws the reader in and makes him or her a part of the world that is revealed when the pages are opened.

These stories dug deep within me. Or I fell deep within them. I was an elderly woman about to be flooded out of her village in China. I was an orphaned American girl living with her grandfather in Lithuania. I was an Alzheimer’s victim from the near future, a Jewish child in WWII Hamburg, a contemporary married man yearning for fertility and children.Each of these scenarios is so emotional. I had to rest and regroup after one story before reading the next. Doerr has a way of affecting the reader.The prose is beautiful but never labored.This is the best collection of stories I’ve ever read.