I started reading American Psycho yesterday, and while obnoxiously thorough, it got me thinking -- what happens to the details?
Looking back on my life, I recall the who’s, what’s and when’s, but the details are gone, lost to my subconscious. I remember the first and last name of almost every person I have ever done anything with, but the intricacies of the moments are gone.
Without these seemingly minor memories, it is impossible to accurately reconstruct my life -- it is nothing more than a seemingly endless string of actions. I haven’t had enough alcohol, drugs, or hard hits to the head to justify this outcome. Since I don’t have an answer, I am going to blame it on my complete and utter lack of an attention span – if only I focused for an entire conversation, sexual experience or show, it would be different.
Accordingly, I am going to spend a week trying to appreciate the smallness of my day, actions, and statements. I am hoping that if I operate on the micro level, the macro will take care of itself.
2 comments:
I hadn't thought of looking at American Psycho with the perspective of memory, patrick's memory..which as it turns out isn't exactly lucid. was that the point, you think?
I haven't finished yet; but to me, it seems it is the point – otherwise, how else would have Bateman coasted through his days unnoticed? If one person thought about the details, paid attention long enough to listen, they may have connected the dots and realized that he was a psycho. I also think it screams “American excess.”
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