Customer Reviews

Memory Book

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book has all the memory techniques that are typically taught in memory courses and other memory books. Even if they are sometimes introduced by other names, all of the techniques are variants and combinations of word-substitution (mostly used for foreign words, but also people's names and words that can't easily be pictured), link, peg, loci (sometimes called Roman Room technique) and phonetic (letter for number substitution) systems. The book is mostly re-hashed information that has been presented earlier (even by Lorayne himself), but the writing style makes it a book worth keeping.

The real strength of this book over others of its kind is the dialog between Lucas and Lorayne. They are fun to read and almost never get boring. There are anecdotes to at the beginning of most chapters and spread throughout the book.

Personally, I found Kenneth Higbee's "Your Memory" a better book, it's more complete a reference and gives much more of the why of memory rather than just the how of remembering. Depending on your needs, you might like this book more, it's got more examples on how to use the systems it introduces and is much lighter and a little less dry, although Higbee's book is very readable.

As with every other memory book, the techniques take time to learn and take considerable effort, but work very well. For a book on memory techniques, this book doesn't dissapoint.

Harry Lorayne, a master magician and card entertainer, is also one of the world's leading memory experts. "The Memory Book" will change your life, literally. In the book, Lorayne describes in detail several memory techniques that, with a little practice, will have you remembering virtually anything you want. Among the techniques, the three I use the most are the Link, Substitute Words, and the Peg. The Link is used to remember any number of items, such as 20 objects, etc. The Peg is used to remember any number of objects in order. Using a phonetic type alphabet for numbers, that is, assigning a consonant sound for each number, Lorayne shows how to memorize numbers easily. The techniques really do work. Frankly, I've never spent so little for something that has changed my life so much. One testimonial is in order: I am a professional teacher. The first day of class I use one of Lorayne's techniques in my class that allows everyone in the classroom, including me, to remember the name of everyone else in the classroom. And it takes less than 20 minutes. The systems work. The only minor quibble I have with the book is that after reading this book, I also read widely in the area of memory improvement. Other books have used the identical techniques to improve memory, so I'm confused as to how much of Lorayne's techniques originated with him, or were borrowed from the literature. This minor point aside, you really do need to have this book on your "READ" list. A real treasure.

After reading "The Memory Book", I can have a group of people give me random words, one at a time, and memorize them... in the order in which they were given. Then, given a number, I can quickly recall the corresponding word. Or, alternately, given a word I can recall the corresponding number. It takes a few seconds for me to engrain each word, but I can easily do this with 20 words. I'm confident I could recall over 95 out of a 100 if I ever had a reason to try.

I have always considered my memory to be rather poor. But after using the VERY SIMPLE techniques in this book, I am capable of memorizing things many people would deem near impossible, with minimal effort. The first exercise listed ten words: Airplane, tree, envelope, earring, bucket, sing, basketball, salami, nose, and star. Then provided a child-like way to not only remember all ten words but also in the sequence in which they were presented. Some might, at first glance, think that's simple, but try it without a method! I had them memorized in about fifteen minutes and now they seem to be permanently etched in my brain; that was over a week ago and I just wrote them in this review from memory! The next exercise was a list of thirty words, most of which were complex and I had never seen before. That might impress some people, but these methods have real practical applications.

Memorizing names with faces, speeches, numbers (phone, credit card, a 50-digit number if you so desire) are what's taught in the first half alone. The use of "pegging" is central to the memorization methods taught in this book. Every number from 0 through 9 has a phonetic sound(s) associated with it. By mastering the basics, one can quickly figure out how to memorize a list of 100 words/names if he really wants to.

Here's an oversimplified example. Memorize the following ten groupings by using a simple rhyming method:

1. Bun
2. Shoe
3. Tree
4. Door
5. Hive
6. Sticks
7. Heaven
8. Gate
9. Vine
10. Pen

Now think of a word you want to memorize. This will be the first word in your memory. Now peg this word to the word "bun". For example, if you thought about a cloud, picture a hamburger bun with a big pile of "cloud" sitting in it instead of a hamburger patty. The more outlandish the connection you imagine, the easier it will be to recall. Peg your second word to "shoe" and so on.

This is really awesome. Why isn't this mandatory in elementary school?

If anyone has ever done a memory improvement course then the material presented here will be nothing new. This book is neither good nor bad it is average. If you purchased Mega Memory from Kevin Trudeau in the 90's then you will be upset because the same material they covered for hundreds of dollars is available here for a fraction.

It is told in a strange format of two people asking and answering each others questions to lay out the material they want to present. The questions are annoying and unrealistic but necessary for this type of narrative.

I was looking for something new in this book. The techniques do work. Their success is only limited by how much you dedicate yourself to them. I started using the same techniques in college and did notice an improvement in my memory.

The stuff works just don't expect miracles or drastic changes.

This book definately requires work. It is a "How To" guide which will only be effective if the reader is committed to putting in the work of practicing the techniques explained. I think one of the most interesting aspects of this is that good memory, like many other things, can be a LEARNED skill.
I found this book after searching specifically for a helpful one to improve my poor memory. In particular, I went from being a very good law student who was a capable researcher and writer and preformed well on essay exams in school, and even won a competitive moot court competition based on advocacy skills, to a JD who failed the BAR Exam multiple times due to an inability to remember details and jargon. After time with every legal study aid possible, I turned to resources to improve my memory. While I unfortunately can't yet say I have passed the BAR exam, I can say that I have noticed a significant improvement in my relationship with my husband and others as I have become more attentinve to remembering details and with the techniques in this book thus have become a more dependable person. In the past when he or anyone else asked me to do things, though I was well intentioned and sincere in my "Yes", I had a serious problem with follow up due to inattentiveness and poor memory skills. This book was most helpful as an aid to overcoming those limitations and assisited me in becoming a more responsible and less absentminded irritating person to be around.
As a serious, logical, pragmatic person, this book was helpful in specificallly giving me the prompt to think of silly associations with the specific intent of remembering items. That would be something I wouldn't have ever NATURALLY done on my own! In discussing it with others I have found that many people ALREADY utilize many of the memory techniques described, and they were surprised these were new to me. This book is most helpful for those of us who just haven't gotton into those habits. As someone who NEVER could even remember any of those numonics throughout school it was a relief to discover that there are other techniques which are more effective for me. The book also discusses how memory and intelligence are distinct, and that the problem of poor memory, and in particular absentmindedness is one of not being fully consious in the moment. It is helpful in identifying the source of many memory problems is simply not being in the habit of focusing on the mundane with full attention. Making that ASSUMPTION that something is "simple" and "easy" and therefore doesn't require much time and attention is a trap I more consiously avoid after employing the techniques of this book. The disctinction between intellegence and memory is one which I feel is helpful as it validates those of us who have great capacity to understand things easily, but little capacity to recall. That distinction made me as reader feel more empowered to use memory as a TOOL, and I believe offers needed encouragement to anyone who has struggled in either work, school or their personal life due to poor memory skills.

My title sums up my comments, I found the book well written, the memory techniques presented were good ones. I want to warn readers to be prepared to work hard before these memory techniques pay off for you. I feel that some of the comments and the book description make it sound as if this book is a magical formula for great memory -- it's just not.

I am an eternal student and this book is a gem! Just to give you some background, I am a teacher at a high school as well as a yoga teacher at several different places in my city and I have to memorize many names. In the short time that I have had this book, I have been able to memorize a few hundred names, no problem. Also, just for fun, I memorized the Bill of Rights in about 10 minutes and was able to have an intelligent discussion with our resident AP Goverment teacher on the Bill of Rights. What I will say that after you memorize whatever you have memorized, you need to apply it in any way you can. For instance, I discussed the Bill of Rights right away, and I believe that it will be forever etched in my memory. I also play a game with one of my students about vocabulary words. In about 10 minutes, we both memorized the definitions for words like pugnacious, repugn, zeitgeist, obstreporus and many more. A few days later I quizzed him on them and he still remembered all of them! From a teacher/student to anyone who wants to have a better memory, this is a great book!

I am currently a senior in high school who has been using the techniques in this book since the 8th grade. I can memorize a list of 100+ items in about five minutes! I used to have the worse memory but now my head is like a mental file cabinet. I excel in all areas involving memory. This book should be required reading for all students because the methods guarantee excellent grades and quite frankly, a better life.

After reading a couple of chapters, I was readily able to remember reasonable lists of items for our shopping trips better than my wife! ;-) However, upon reading more, I realized that the whole book could be summarized in just a few statements: To remember, you need to make the effort to remember. To help in that endeavor, associate each item with something you find easier to remember (example: the name Tony could be remembered as the guy with a toe sticking out of his knee). The book also uses sound associations for numbers in order to remember the specific order of things. With those two techniques applied to every situation, you can remember. But part of the key is - you made an honest attempt to remember it in the first place instead of just glazing over and hoping for the best. Not particularly ground breaking information! However, it did help me to some extent, so I still give it a 3 (as in "okay").

This book was an absolute joy to read. The book contains information on mnemonics, pegs, etc. This information is not particularly new, or unique to this book. But I've read other books on the subject and have not gotten as much use from it as I have this book.

In the first few chapters, you'll already begin to memorize things that you thought couldn't be memorized. I still remember a practice list of random objects in the first couple chapters, with no review or real thought about it since I purchased it back about 2 or 3 years ago (I can't remember when I purchased it, but can still remember the list - ironic, no?).

As much as I enjoyed this book and think how much it has helped me...this book did not provide me with solutions to memory issues such as "where I placed my keys" or "where I parked the car". However, I have memorized Pi to over 100 digits now using the techniques of this book.

Overall, this was a great book, as well as an enjoyable read. For memory books of it's genre, I highly recommend it.