POD: Book Clubs

Recursion

Mind-bending thriller

Recursion is a New York Times Bestseller by Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines triology. Described as mind-bending, action-packed and deeply emotional, Recursion is science fiction thriller set in New York, exploring love, grief and the nature of memories.

When Barry Sutton fails to stop the suicide of a women suffering with False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived, his search for the truth is more terrifying than any disease. Neuroscientist Helena Smith, whose mother has Alzheimer’s disease, has dedicated her life to creating a technology that will preserve our most precious memories forever. As their stories collide, Barry and Helena are trapped together in a loop of ever-growing chaos.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

PODCASTS

Interview with Blake Crouch

(30 mins)

Blake Crouch joins us at the Radio Bookclub to talk about his latest science-fiction thriller Recursion, which has at its heart False Memory Syndrome — a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. NYC cop Barry Sutton searches for the truth and then 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.

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How are memories formed?

(27 mins)

The brain has billions of neurons interconnected by trillions of synapses. It is at these synapses where memories are made. Ground-breaking research by Timothy Bliss, Graham Collingridge and Richard Morris has transformed our understanding of memory, and offered new insights into devastating effects of failing memory.

This year they won the Brain Prize, the world’s most valuable award in brain research. Claudia Hammond meets them in front of an audience at London’s Royal Institution to discuss how memories are made.

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VIDEOS

Meet the Author

(2 mins)

Author of Recursion Blake Crouch discusses how much of himself he puts into his work, his writing environment, and shares his best fan interaction.

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The Mandela Effect: A Critical Analysis

(16 mins)

As mentioned in Recursion, the Mandela Effect is when a large group of people misremember the same experience. However, many claim misremembrance is an insufficient explanation and choose to invoke the paranormal. This video looks at a number of popular Mandela Effect examples, in an effort to determine if this paranormal invocation is truly necessary.

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What is Alzheimer’s disease?

(4 mins)

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and also the best understood. It is thought to be caused by the formation of abnormal deposits of protein in the brain. A video from the Alzheimer’s Society, the leading support and research charity for people with dementia, their families and carers.

Watch

ARTICLES

The Two Scientists Who Implanted a False Memory Into a Mouse

This is the original article that gave Blake Crouch the idea for Recursion, as mentioned in his podcast interview. In a neuroscience breakthrough, the science duo pioneered a real-life version of Inception. From the Smithsonian Magazine

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Netflix developing Recursion for Film and TV

Netflix has secured the rights to international bestselling author Blake Crouch’s book “Recursion” for a feature film, as well as a television universe. “Recursion” will be published by Crown on June 11, 2019.

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The Rise and Fall of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation

In late December 2019 the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) announced its cessation, as of the end of the calendar year, not with a bang, but with a whimper, just a little note on the bottom of their website homepage. From ISSTD News.

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Recursion Reader’s Guide

Book club questions and topics for discussion. From Penguin Random House.

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XTRA

Blake Crouch Author Website

Clifford Johnson Home Page

Description of False Memory Syndrome

My Dark Vanessa

A darkly, compelling debut

My Dark Vanessa is the harrowing tale of fifteen year old Vanessa Wye’s relationship with her forty five year old English teacher, Jacob Strane and the lasting impact it has on her life. Kate Elizabeth Russell resists the insistence on black and white in sexual dealings – instead inhabiting the mind of a vulnerable teenager, offering insight into how black might feel like white, how abuse may be taken for romance – and how this lie could be desperately clung onto into adulthood. My Dark Vanessa reveals a slow journey towards a different understanding

Although this book seems very current, with its themes of manipulation by an older man, Kate Elizabeth Russell actually took 18 years to write this novel that has been labelled Lolita for the #MeToo society. Like American Dirt, this novel too has courted controversy: a seven figure advance, allegations of plagiarism that got it dropped from Oprah’s book club, and questions about whether the novel was based on Russell’s own experience and the implication that she needed to prove her credentials for writing about sexual trauma. It is somewhat ironic that in writing a book about a woman who doesn’t want to come forward about abuse, she is then forced to reveal her own trauma. As she says on her website, “my greatest wish is that My Dark Vanessa will spark conversation about the complexity of coercion, trauma, and victimhood, because while these stories can feel all too familiar, victims are not a monolith and there is no universal experience of sexual violence”. See her website (link in Xtra) for the complete piece.

Stephen King described it as ‘A hard story to read and an even harder one to put down … a package of dynamite’. See what you think.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

The Color Purple

Iconic modern classic

Set in the deep American South between the wars, The Color Purple is the classic tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls ‘father’, she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker – a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.

Published in 1982, The Color Purple went on to win both the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. In 1985, the book was adapted into a film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey, and in 2005 it was adapted into a Broadway musical.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

American Dirt

Incredible or insulting

When American Dirt came out, it was an Oprah’s book club pick and became The Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller. It was optioned for a film adaptation by Clint Eastwood and was lauded by many as the ‘great immigration novel’. However since then it has received harsh criticism, particularly from many Latinx writers for what they felt was its stereotypical portrait of migrants from Mexico and Central America. The controversy caused Jeanine Cummins to cancel her book tour and all events due to death threats and more.

There’s so much to discuss about this novel, so in addition to reading the book why not enrich your book club meeting by exploring the US/Mexico crisis further with podcasts and videos from the frontlines and discussions about the potential consequences of telling a story that is not your own.

Part of our ‘Beyond the Book’ Series. View

Recursion

Mind-bending thriller

PODCASTS

(30 mins)

(27 mins)

Kindle Paperwhite

VIDEOS

(2 mins)

(16 mins)

HelloFresh meal plan offers

(4 mins)

ARTICLES

XTRA

Blake Crouch Author Website

Clifford Johnson Home Page

Description of False Memory Syndrome

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