The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory (Paperback)

~ Aleksandr R. Luria (Author), Lynn Solotaroff (Translator), Jerome Bruner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A distinguished Soviet psychologist's study...[of a] young man who was discovered to have a literally limitless memory and eventually became a professional mnemonist. Experiments and interviews over the years showed that his memory was based on synesthesia (turning sounds into vivid visual imagery), that he could forget anything only by an act of will, that he solved problems in a peculiar crablike fashion that worked, and that he was handicapped intellectually because he could not make discriminations, and because every abstraction and idea immediately dissolved into an image for him. It is all fascinating and delightful. (New Yorker )

Luria's essay is a model of lucid presentation and is an altogether convincing description of a man whose whole personality and fate was conditioned by an intellectual idiosyncrasy. (Times Literary Supplement )

[A] compassionate and vivid portrait. (Los Angeles Times Book Review )

A welcome re-issue of an English translation of Alexander Luria's famous case-history of hypermnestic man. The study remains the classic paradigm of what Luria called 'romantic science,' a genre characterized by individual portraiture based on an assessment of operative psychological processes. The opening section analyses in some detail the subject's extraordinary capacity for recall and demonstrates the association between the persistence of iconic memory and a highly developed synaesthesia. The remainder of the book deals with the subject's construction of the world, his mental strengths and weaknesses, his control of behaviour and his personality. The result is a contribution to literature as well as to science. (Psychological Medicine )

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian (translation)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (April 30, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674576225
• ISBN-13: 978-0674576223
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #297,999 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A readable book on a fascinating subject, September 7, 1998

By	David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I first encountered the name of A.R. Luria in the works of neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, and am glad that several of Luria's works have been translated from Russian into English. The Mind of a Mnemonist is an insightful inquisition by Luria into a man he knew for several decades who had a literally limitless memory. The man - called 'S.' in the book - had an especially vivid synesthesia, whereby he converted what he saw or heard into vivid visual imagery, with powerful gustatory and auditory overtones as well. To forget things required an act of the will, and in some respects his prodigious memory was actually a hindrance for him. This short book is quite easy to read and fascinating enough to hold one's interest all the way through.

This book, Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (especially his chapter on "The Twins") or An Anthropologist on Mars (cf. the chapter "Prodigies"), and Donald Treffert's Extraordinary People: Understanding "Idiot Savants", all explore people whose memory is astonishingly accurate and sometimes limitless. These are fascinating and highly stimulating accounts that arouse our sense of wonder.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Luria at his best, April 24, 2000

By	Al Kihano (Iskandria) - See all my reviews

You will never think about your mind the same way. A. R. Luria's most famous subject was a young Russian man whose talent in life was to be able to recall anything -- literally *anything* -- that he set his mind to remembering. His talent was prodigious, and we are fortunate that a researcher as talented and humane as Luria found and studied him. This resulting volume is a beautiful account of how his memory worked, of a doctor-patient relationship that spanned decades, and of how what appeared to be a gift turned out to be a curse.

A beautiful book.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the annals of memory, August 30, 2001

By	J. Reich "trendputter" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Referenced in numerous psychology and memory books is where persons might locate this book. The account of S. and his spectacular memory is almost legendary in the psychology, and memory community. This was my fortunate pleasure in locating the above reference in the following book: Your Memory How It Works and How To Improve It By Kenneth Higbee. A fine memory book. The Mind of a Mnemonist is not written as a fictional account of a person named "S". Non-fiction might be where the beauty lies. Aleksandr Romanovich Luria is a Russian psychologist. The mnemonist "S" is a Jewish man. S. is studied under a 30 year period. At the beginning of study, S. is under 30 yrs of age.
Luria catalogues his work very well. From the beginning of Luria's research then continuing to analyze S's memory then furthering to S's mind, behaviors, and then personality. Moreover, S. makes many of the comments of his own memory ability throughout this book. In analyzing S's memory, Luria leads the reader to deal with Synthesia of which S. possesses. This a integral part of S's phenomenal memory ability. S. would see splashes of color or puffs of steam regarding different sounds. In chapter 3 Luria conducted different sound tests of which analyzed S's Synthesia.
For more information regarding Synthesia, I would recommend Richard Cytowic's book "The Man Who Tasted Shapes". Luria also deals with S's ability to figure math problems. S has a great ability to easily solve certain math problems. His visualization capabilities are in high assistance with his ability here. Chapter 5 is most interesting: Luria comments on S's "Strong Points" and "Weak Points" regarding his memory. Strong points -as mentioned above- are his ability in visualizing math problems, visualization, graphic detail in story lines, and his efficiency ability. Weak points are S's reading ability. S. cannot read much material because words conjure up vivid images in which S. is forced to deal with. Abstract words, sentences, almost have no meaning to S. because of loss in the words meaning. Poetry was particularly difficult. "His control of his behavior" is another outstanding chapter by Luria. Luria comments on S's ability to control his body temperature by visualization. S. also has the ability to control his heartbeat by visualization. One of the most spectacular written accounts of which S. himself writes,"To me there's no great difference between the things I imagine an what exist in reality". This is a very powerful quotation and one can see what problems, or luxuries this may have. On one particular account, S. was supposed to wake up for school. He visualized the clock and reckoned there was more time before school. Then his mother is coming into the room and saying, "you haven't left yet". S's visualizations were completely real to himself. In addition, S. has graphic memories of infancy. I wanted to remark on some of the chapters and different subject areas in this book. As seen, there is a lot of fascinating work done here. What makes this book special is Aleksandr Romanovich Luria details, and allows S. to explain his own abilities. Many great memorists or savants in the past have seemed unable to accurately explain their memory technique. I have remarked on a few of the points in this book, there is much more.
The Mind of a Mnemonist is a fine example of a psychologist's account of memory ability and well written. I thank previous reviewers for there correct comments on this book.