The accident of existence

Memory is a departure from the usual story-based novel, not only for Westlake, but for most writers. The central character, Paul Cole, has the kind of internalized perceptions found in the protagonists of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment or Camus' The Stranger. Their world is defined by a logic which conflicts with the expectations of others. Cole is driven, not by circumstances, but by their refusal to fit together in a way that will allow him to re-establish his forgotten way of life.
This is a very interesting and ambitious mode of story-telling, because Westlake lets the reader see ahead of his hapless protagonist and sense the outcome of Paul Cole's groping attempts at regaining his memory. The theme of the book stands as a kind of metaphor for the accidental nature of life. Events appear to be cyclical, but they are spiral, the circles never quite overlap.

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Review of Memory

Ouch. Couldn't finish it. I love Donald Westlake in all his guises, from the tough to the goofy. This is Donald Westlake as Camus. It's horrifying from beginning to end. Really creepy with no let up and little nuance. (Went to the end to check this out.) I'm not saying it's bad, just that it's far, far, from the mature Donald Westlake. To read a book that is this much of a downer, the sentences have to glow. Nothing glows here. Stephen Thorne does a great job as reader, but his load is too heavy. Regret buying it.

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I still can't believe it happened

I love Westlake and while this is a completely different style in all ways and while it was depressing in its reality, it could have been among his best, EXCEPT, the ending. The ending was so weird and abrupt i still can't believe it was the end. If the Moderator had not come back on telling us that "This has been ..." i would be sure the file was corrupted and it was not the end. The reader was great though!

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A very poor and disappointing book

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I persisted to the end thinking that Paul Kohl would finally have some reasonable conclusion in this story. At 20 minutes left I realized that I was in trouble. A very dark and depressing story with really nothing good to be said about it. The absolutely worst book I've ever purchased from Audible.

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Gripping and fascinating.

I love Westlake's writing and this was so different. I was hooked from the start!

Great Story....

Narrator was awesome, story hooked me....ending was abrupt. It wasn't what I expected---- totally different!

Great!

I really loved It and the narrator is great!The story is fascinating and profound.