I’m a big fan of Matthew Hughes’s faux-Jack Vance books. Hughes manages to channel Vance’s unique writing style and assemble worlds that blend both Vance’s visions and his own. A God in Chains (2019) begins with a man whose memories have been suppressed walking down a road. I was immediately drawn in by the adventures of the man who calls himself Farouche as he untangles the conundrum of his identity. Matthew Hughes keeps the pages turning with magic and mystery on every page! GRADE: B+
While reading A God in Chains I recalled Jack Vance wrote an SF novel using a similar premise. Vance’s Marune: Alastor 933 (1975) opens with a man on a strange planet with no recollection of how he got there. The man is given the name of “Pardero” and sent to work to earn money so he can travel to yet another planet where his memory might be restored at a famous hospital. Vance takes us on a wild journey into stranger and stranger realms as the clues to the missing memories come together. Both A God in Chains and Marune deal with amnesia in very different ways, but with suspenseful stories that reveal hidden secrets. What’s your favorite book or movie that deals with memory loss? GRADE: B+
Can’t recall any novels about memory loss although I’m sure I’ve read plenty.
I am a big fan of both Vance and Hughes. Wasn’t aware of this Hughes so I just ordered it from Amazon.
Steve, I enjoy how Matthew Hughes manages to emulate Jack Vance’s style while giving it a spin all his own. You’ll like A GOD IN CHAINS.
It’s a staple of romance fiction, where it is often denoted…AMNESIA!! I suppose the movie “Memento” would be my favorite use of amnesia: a very tricky, convoluted plot wrapped around what it would be like not to remember anything about your past. In several of his books, Oliver Sachs writes case studies about different types of amnesia. The saddest was someone who sustained a brain injury in 1965 and retained no memory of anything after that. Every day he woke up thinking he was a young man.
Deb, amnesia shows up in many movies: THE BOURNE IDENTITY, Hitchcock’s SPELLBOUND, TOTAL RECALL, etc. Diane likes the amnesia rom-com WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING.
Darn, Deb beat me to it again. I loved MEMENTO. She didn’t mention that, to make it more complicated, it is presented backwards. Guy Pearce was perfect in it.
Jeff, MEMENTO may be the ultimate amnesia movie!
I loved Westlake’s MEMORY, which HCC republished a few years ago. I love the theme of amnesia and this was a great one. Will look for these.
Patti, for a more humorous use of amnesia, there’s always the Neuralyzer from MEN IN BLACK that erases memories.
Nobody’s going to come up with anything better than “Memento”, so I won’t even try. Patti’s mention of “Memory” reminds me that I have a copy of it but have never gotten to it. It seemed to be awfully long for a Westlake novel. This might be a good time to see if I can find out where it’s hidden and read it.
Michael, I had the same thought as you did: where did I shelve Westlake’s MEMORY? I don’t remember…
Allingham’s Traitor’s Purse in which Campion loses his memory, or rather wakes up without any.
Rick, excellent choice! I had completely forgotten about TRAITOR’S PURSE!