paperback, 336 pages
Published March 10, 2020 by Ballantine Books.
Memory makes reality.
That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.
That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.
As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.
But how can …
Memory makes reality.
That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.
That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.
As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.
But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?
The story revolves around a memory device that can bring people back in time to a memory that they then can change -- but it changes everyone else's memories, and they can then remember those timelines as well. Mindbending fun.
Interesting concepts about memory and time and how screwing around with both/either can have catastrophic consequences. I didn't think the world building or the characters were very well-developed, but it did make for an entertaining story.
Nach Black Matter erneut und Upgrade erstmals habe ich auch diesen Crouch gerne nochmal gelesen. Hier geht es zur Erstbesprechung: wolfwitte.blog/2019/12/21/blake-crouch-recursion/
The book starts out slow with a few cliches. I wasn't impressed. But that's all part of the plan; I'm glad I didn't give up.
The conceit of the story, recursion, is investigated completely and exhaustively to the point where you are completely exhausted and thrilled. Beautiful ending (It shouldn't be an epilogue though! Too necessary.).
TW: suicide, described brutal motor accident, death by fire, mentioned domestic abuse, mentioned child rape & murder
4.2
It began 8 months ago, a disease inflicting people with two sets of memories- one real, one not, though both feel as if they've been lived through. An NYC cop is on the scene for a suicide, a woman who does not want to live in a world she swears her child has been deleted from. She's not the first to kill herself due to not being able to deal with the memories, but it's her death that sends that cop, Barry Sutton, onto a path that will change everything. A path begun years ago- life times ago, really. He will stumble into the truth... False Memory Syndrome is not at all what the world believes.
This book grabs you from the very first page. Nothing about this book is filler, it …
TW: suicide, described brutal motor accident, death by fire, mentioned domestic abuse, mentioned child rape & murder
4.2
It began 8 months ago, a disease inflicting people with two sets of memories- one real, one not, though both feel as if they've been lived through. An NYC cop is on the scene for a suicide, a woman who does not want to live in a world she swears her child has been deleted from. She's not the first to kill herself due to not being able to deal with the memories, but it's her death that sends that cop, Barry Sutton, onto a path that will change everything. A path begun years ago- life times ago, really. He will stumble into the truth... False Memory Syndrome is not at all what the world believes.
This book grabs you from the very first page. Nothing about this book is filler, it begins and ends with a challenge. I was invested from the very beginning, and honestly, all these days later I still feel invested. It pulls you in and forces you onto the ride.
And it's a twisty ride! Made up of layers of timelines and back and forth point of views, you're never entirely sure what is possible or where things are leading. This book feels so perfectly speculative and exploratory, it's really a whole experience, almost like watching someone perform an impressive trick in front of you. You don't try to poke holes, you're transfixed, hoping something magical happens- and it does.
Part of what makes the whole thing so interesting and new, is the concept of "dead memories" and the refusal to play into a classic paradox. The inability to get out from under cause and effect makes everything feel that much more important and precarious. It also made it easier to keep track of, while also feeling almost like amassing a body count.
The only thing that didn't work for me was the ending. In general I like the turn it took, but it didn't really make sense to me at the very end, and felt more like a cop out. It seemed like Barry just made the mapping of dead memories work without actually figuring out how to? After all the science and trial and error I have no idea why he'd be able to make that major leap without even more time working through that specific puzzle.
This is an engrossing and captivating speculative scifi book! I'll be thinking about it for a long, long time.
A clever premise, worked out in detail, described clearly and consistently. A story that starts slowly but builds with some real surprises. Prose that flows, a pleasure to read. Well-drawn characters all with their own emotional baggage. This is the first of Blake Crouch's books I've read. I will read more.
If you expect something similar to Dark Matter this book's got you covered. The parallel timelines (not spoiling anything with that I hope?) are relatively easy to follow and it's engagingly written.
DNF. Just when you think the story has a decent foothold and you know where it's going, it suddenly turns into Terminator, with the scientist character suddenly aware of knowing how to use a shotgun and be a generic Sarah Conner. The cop who should be trained in firearms and dangerous situations is useless and shot within the first few minutes of the scuffle.
Then when you think, "Okay, good. Now it's over and I can just pretend this ending spot didn't happen." there's more, and the "twist" lands with a wet, soggy thud.
So, I'm gonnna pass.
I love these kinds of books that explore some weird ass philosophical theory and craft an awesome sci-fi story around it ... because what if the theory is true?
Recursion explores the theory the linearity of time and how people can change it.
It's a cool read and will certainly fuck with your thoughts for a couple days :p
~~
When a person dies, he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past . . . All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever. — KURT VONNEGUT, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIV
Fun premise, though whenever I listen to sci-fi that involves multiple universes/timelines I kind of have to "blur my brain" so I don't get super lost trying to make sense of the science. That said, Crouch does a good job taking crazy concepts and making them grasp-able for regular people. This book was fun - but got a bit slow/repetitive (as one might expect with the topic is recursion) in the final 25%. There were also so plot holes that I'll omit for fear of spoilers... and I wasn't sure if they were intentional, if I had simply missed a key detail somewhere, or if they were the bi-product of dealing with a messy topic. In any case, they stood in the way of this book seaming itself up perfectly and feeling like a magic trick.
I loved this so much. RTC.
Стерильное и бесхитростное нечто (young adult?.. ревьюеры не разделяют эту точку зрения, но я не знаю других ярлыков, позволяющих не материться на настолько ленивую писанину, а относиться с некоторым снисхождением), прикидывающееся научной фантастикой; секция обсуждения на Goodreads задаётся вопросом "вот это ничего себе, уж не лучше ли это, чем Дэн Браун?".
Не знаю.
Наверное.
Вообразите, что вы только что в ходе ночной википедия-сессии потыкались по линкам о квантовой природе сознания, квантовом же бессмертии, и, наконец, блочной вселенной, вздохнули, и отправились всё же в постель. С очень высокой вероятностью вы успеете в общих чертах вообразить сценарий, несколько более интересный, чем лежащий в основе Recursion, прежде чем наконец заснёте.
Отдельно замечу, что очень хочется верить, что упоминание в книге систем D-Wave также происходит скорее по глупости, чем в рамках утверждённой кем-то коммерческой инициативы.
Две звезды потому что все любят альтернативные таймлайны и временные петли, это узаконенное guilty pleasure.
Such a good book. If you enjoyed Dark Matter, you'll love this too. Very different, but a lot of the same fun SciFi theme and contemplation.
овва! не міг одірваться, поки не закінчив! дуже рекомендую.
I've been forgetting things. Not like Helena's mother. At least not yet. But I don't know that externally recording my memories and playing them back to me would really help. I think it's just a plot device.
I didn't forget to review this book. I just didn't know what I wanted to say. There's nothing like a love story with time travel. That's why there are so many of them. I mostly enjoyed this one and will give it that extra star I didn't give [b:Dark Matter|27833670|Dark Matter|Blake Crouch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1472119680l/27833670.SY75.jpg|43161998] though the ending where it looked like he may not make it didn't fool me. I knew it couldn't end that way so I found that part annoying. I'm being a bit vague to leave out the spoilers, but did it fool you? Maybe it would work in the movie version.
The idea of time and memory being connected …
I've been forgetting things. Not like Helena's mother. At least not yet. But I don't know that externally recording my memories and playing them back to me would really help. I think it's just a plot device.
I didn't forget to review this book. I just didn't know what I wanted to say. There's nothing like a love story with time travel. That's why there are so many of them. I mostly enjoyed this one and will give it that extra star I didn't give [b:Dark Matter|27833670|Dark Matter|Blake Crouch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1472119680l/27833670.SY75.jpg|43161998] though the ending where it looked like he may not make it didn't fool me. I knew it couldn't end that way so I found that part annoying. I'm being a bit vague to leave out the spoilers, but did it fool you? Maybe it would work in the movie version.
The idea of time and memory being connected was a good one which, far as I know, hasn't been done before. (Though everything has been done before, I know.)
There's a certain warmth to Blake Crouch's books. I find I miss them when they're over and I'm left out in the cold. They're memorable. High neuronal footprint.
