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Memory Slips: A Memoir of Music and Healing
Memory Slips A Memoir of Music and Healing
Author: Linda Katherine Cutting
"There are three kinds of memory slips, I tell my students. One, when Memory slips but you find your way back without losing a beat. Two, when you don't find your way back until the downbeat. Three, when you don't find your way back in time and must stop and restart the music. I don't tell them about a fourth possibility , when one ...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780060187309
ISBN-10: 0060187301
Publication Date: 1/1997
Pages: 240
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 4

3.9 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: Harpercollins
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

lilyfyrestorm avatar reviewed Memory Slips: A Memoir of Music and Healing on
Helpful Score: 1
This memoir described one month in the recent past of the author, while she was in therapy and one year in her less recent past. The convention of switching back and forth between the time periods and showing the correlations between events was less confusing than I thought it would be. The musical terminology and descriptions of pieces of music were confusing to me. She described her feelings a lot of times in terms of certain concertos and symphonies. I don't read music at all, and I had a hard time grasping the point of what she was trying to say.
I also didn't feel that the book really resolved. She went through a lot of abuse and broken relationships and her therapy was all about coming to terms with that. She described the process of that very well, but even though the book includes a 'Coda' (Epilogue) that takes place 3 years later and then the entire work was copyrighted 2 years after that, the author does not say how she now relates to her family and whether her father continues to be an abusive clergy person. I'm glad she can play the piano again, but I'd like to know how other things are going as well....
Possibly I shouldn't have attempted reading a memoir so steeped in musical theory with my lack of knowledge on the subject, but I was reading for the personal story, which I thought got lost amidst all the musical analogies. Also, I understand that this is probably a very difficult process, to write about one's childhood abuse, so I feel apologetic for judging the work rather harshly.
lilyfyrestorm avatar reviewed Memory Slips: A Memoir of Music and Healing on
Helpful Score: 1
This memoir described one month in the recent past of the author, while she was in therapy and one year in her less recent past. The convention of switching back and forth between the time periods and showing the correlations between events was less confusing than I thought it would be. The musical terminology and descriptions of pieces of music were confusing to me. She described her feelings a lot of times in terms of certain concertos and symphonies. I don't read music at all, and I had a hard time grasping the point of what she was trying to say.
I also didn't feel that the book really resolved. She went through a lot of abuse and broken relationships and her therapy was all about coming to terms with that. She described the process of that very well, but even though the book includes a 'Coda' (Epilogue) that takes place 3 years later and then the entire work was copyrighted 2 years after that, the author does not say how she now relates to her family and whether her father continues to be an abusive clergy person. I'm glad she can play the piano again, but I'd like to know how other things are going as well....
Possibly I shouldn't have attempted reading a memoir so steeped in musical theory with my lack of knowledge on the subject, but I was reading for the personal story, which I thought got lost amidst all the musical analogies. Also, I understand that this is probably a very difficult process, to write about one's childhood abuse, so I feel apologetic for judging the work rather harshly.
Read All 2 Book Reviews of "Memory Slips A Memoir of Music and Healing"


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