Memory - Donald Westlake

I was advised when starting this blog not to write posts about books which I didn't like. But as many books as I have read this year, this has given me hesitancy about whether to post anything at all.

I just finished Donald Westlake's last published novel, "Memory."  I have very much enjoyed his Dortmunder series, which follows the ill luck of a small time crime mastermind and his crew. Dortmunder is comedic in the situational problems which crop up in the heists undertaken. There are familiar touchstones in that series. The crew's fondness for stealing doctor's cars because of the luxuries which the MD's inevitably indulge. The OJ bar's regulars having half-drunken debates in which misunderstandings of the topic lead to interesting insights. The middle of the book epiphany to the reader's perspective, as Westlake's characters peel back the curtain to reveal greater truths about humanity.

"Memory" does not follow that cadence. It is excellently written as well, but it made me feel depressed rather than entertained. It begins with the actor, Paul Cole, who is on tour with an play. He is caught in an affair by the husband entering the hotel bedroom. The husband cracks Cole on the head, concussing him. When Cole awakens in the hospital, he has trouble with his memory. Upon leaving the hospital, he desires to return to his New York address, but doesn't have enough cash for the bus fare.

Instead, Cole ends up in a small town.  He is broke and finds a job at the local tannery, saving his money for a half-remembered mission to make it to New York. Some days he forgets his name, who he was, and what he is doing. He leaves notes to himself to remind himself of his job and his life, and he attempts to collect memories from his past life as an actor leave him frustrated and confused when he reads them later.

He falls into a routine, finding comfort in the physical labor and simple demands of his job and life in time.  He finds a girl named Edna who shyly takes an interest in him. Cole likes her, but feels guilty when remembering his mission to go to New York once he gets the money for the bus fare.

The story follows Cole's frustration with his memories to return & his reluctance to admit this weakness to anyone. This causes him to be alienate himself from social situations, makes him apologetic when engaged in one, and irritable when pressured as to why he can't recall commitments and promises he makes.

This took me a while emotionally to get through, but I made it through to the other end. It reminded me of the Nolan movie "Memento," only Cole doesn't have a polaroid camera, nor is the story told in a fragmented fashion.  Instead, Cole struggles with the fragments he receives from his slot machine memory, mostly falling into bed with empty hands and emptier pockets.


I think I shall soon
Violate personal taboo
And review comics