I have an excellent memory - for books and authors, that is. I remember all the books I've read.
I honestly don't remember the book well enough to register any surprise about anything. I don't remember anything being shocking to me.
I have no memory for what happens in what books. I don't know when I might remember a scene, but beats me what book it's in because there are 14 of them now.
You want people to be eager for your book; the downside is when the people forget the series even exists.
I read a book a week, man. And I don't have a great memory, but I have a good memory about what I read.
Most people remember the ending of the book more than the beginning and the middle.
I do recall loving 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' and I know I read it in a schoolroom, but I think I was in the sixth grade at the time, so it probably wasn't assigned reading.
With contemporary writers, I often buy books and then realise I've bought them before.
Sometimes readers are telling me about what they read of my books and I don't remember at all.
The thing I'm always trying to do when I write is hit that sweet spot where the book both keeps you up late at night, and yet a week after you've finished, it still pops back into your head.
After you've read a novel, you only retain a vague memory of its contents. You remember the atmosphere, the odd image or phrase or vivid cameo.
When I think about a book like 'A Clockwork Orange,' which I really loved, the weird hybrid language is what I remember most.
I read it in college as an assignment. I didn't think about it at the time. But when I heard there was a 'The Handmaid's Tale' pilot, I freaked out.
In the university library, we know when a book has been used in a class or put on reserve... or while it was out, did somebody call it back in. It turns out to be a pretty good indicator of how relevant the work is at that time.
