reflections
It was alright overall. The idea of using memory as a type of time travel is interesting, but I feel that it got repetitive and I think the climax was way too early. Or at least, the climax near the was not big enough. I also don’t understand why Helena had to go back 33 years each time, that’s wild. They could have gone back five or so years before everything was addled and tried again. The ending was nice and emotional.
I’m not really sure what is meant by the idea that time is an illusion. Of course, we can’t control or see any other moment than the present (and are we really seeing the present?), but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an illusion. Or I guess, since we have such a lack of control over it, then it might as well be an illusion.
There was also a tacit notion that’s also found in 1984 that using technology to the point of taking away all pain is a terrible idea.
“I’m ready to accept that my existence will sometimes contain pain. no more trying to escape, either through nostalgia or a memory chair. They’re both the fucking same thing … Our existence isn’t something to be engineered or optimized for the avoidance of pain. That’s what it is to be human — the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other”(316).
quotes that I liked
“‘Every moment is equally real and happening now, but the nature of our consciousness only gives access to one slice at a time. Think of our life like a book. Each page a distinct moment. But in the way we read a book, we can only perceive one moment, one page at a time. Our flawed perception shuts off access to all the others. Until now.’"(103).
“And he wonders — is deja vu actually the specter of false timelines that never happened but did, casting their upon reality”(124)?
“’Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.’"(304).
“I’m ready to accept that my existence will sometimes contain pain. no more trying to escape, either through nostalgia or a memory chair. They’re both the fucking same thing … Our existence isn’t something to be engineered or optimized for the avoidance of pain. That’s what it is to be human — the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other”(316).