Before Oliver Sacks' _The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat_ popularized the idea of case study as literature, there was this astonishing little book about a man we only know as S. The author, renowned psychologist A.R. Luria, met S. in the 1920's when S. worked as a reporter. S.'s editor suggested he visit Dr. Luria because S. had a peculiar gift. He could remember entire conversations and enormous lists of items perfectly. Luria decided to test his memory and see what its upper limits were. He couldn't find any. I'm not exaggerating. S. could repeat lists of 30, 50, 70 items without mistakes. More amazing, it didn't matter how much time had passed. As long as Dr. Luria could explain which day it was that he had given S. a particular list, S. could repeat it back to him, even sixteen years later.

Dr. Luria studied S. over several decades. Luria eventually came to understand that S.'s memory worked the way it did because of the way S. perceived the world. S. had a severe form of synesthesia, meaning that he perceived words and sounds as colors and images, in addition to the visual information he took in. The book will explain further. It also delves into question like: what is it like to live with a perfect memory? What if there are things you want to forget but can't?

It is a quick read. I read it in a day. It will affect the way you look at the world. Enjoy.



Recommended: Yes