The Memory Book : The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play
Author: Harry Lorayne, Jerry Lucas
List Price: $11.95
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ISBN: 0345410025
Publisher: Ballantine Books (27 August, 1996)
Sales Rank: 2,477
Average Customer Rating: 4.87 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
I passed the bar exam with the memory book
Well, it was a very OLD edition of the memory book, cira 1976. But back in 1976 I did memorize the ENTIRE BRI bar exam course book, a huge outline of the law. No kidding, I could recite the entire outline, using a slight modification of Harry Lorraine's techniques. As a fellow law student said while I was giving a demonstration, "it's a trick!" Exactly, it is a trick. Memorizing doesn't help you UNDERSTAND what you are reciting. But you won't forget it, short term. The other caveat is, having memorized it, you do have to PRACTICE recalling it. Lorraine's techniques, at least circa 1976, didn't result in immediate storage into long-term memory. That requires recalling the information repeatedly. Also, the techniques themselves require practice, just as developing any other skill does. The work is only justified if you have a need to memorize a little data often, or a lot of data at least occasionally.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Fantastic Book, but be prepared to invest some time
It's a fantastic book that will help you instantly to memorize all 50 states in alphabetical order or any number of items on a shopping list (even two days later). But be prepared to spend some time and effort until you will be able to make the system work for you for some "real-life" challenges like giving a speech, improving reading abilities, or memorize difficult vocabularies of a foreign language. If you make the decision to do so, the techniques described will add a lot of value in all areas of your life, especially for those who suffer from a poor memory. The text and the dialogues are written nicely, so it is actually fun to read. Also, the chapters are categorized into specific abilities, like name remembering, again, speeches, etc., which makes it easy to pick your own selection without reading the entire book.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Valuable techniques
This book definately requires work. It is a "How To" guide which will only be effective if the reader is committed to putting in the work of practicing the techniques explained. I think one of the most interesting aspects of this is that good memory, like many other things, can be a LEARNED skill.
I found this book after searching specifically for a helpful one to improve my poor memory. In particular, I went from being a very good law student who was a capable researcher and writer and preformed well on essay exams in school, and even won a competitive moot court competition based on advocacy skills, to a JD who failed the BAR Exam multiple times due to an inability to remember details and jargon. After time with every legal study aid possible, I turned to resources to improve my memory. While I unfortunately can't yet say I have passed the BAR exam, I can say that I have noticed a significant improvement in my relationship with my husband and others as I have become more attentinve to remembering details and with the techniques in this book thus have become a more dependable person. In the past when he or anyone else asked me to do things, though I was well intentioned and sincere in my "Yes", I had a serious problem with follow up due to inattentiveness and poor memory skills. This book was most helpful as an aid to overcoming those limitations and assisited me in becoming a more responsible and less absentminded irritating person to be around.
As a serious, logical, pragmatic person, this book was helpful in specificallly giving me the prompt to think of silly associations with the specific intent of remembering items. That would be something I wouldn't have ever NATURALLY done on my own! In discussing it with others I have found that many people ALREADY utilize many of the memory techniques described, and they were surprised these were new to me. This book is most helpful for those of us who just haven't gotton into those habits. As someone who NEVER could even remember any of those numonics throughout school it was a relief to discover that there are other techniques which are more effective for me. The book also discusses how memory and intelligence are distinct, and that the problem of poor memory, and in particular absentmindedness is one of not being fully consious in the moment. It is helpful in identifying the source of many memory problems is simply not being in the habit of focusing on the mundane with full attention. Making that ASSUMPTION that something is "simple" and "easy" and therefore doesn't require much time and attention is a trap I more consiously avoid after employing the techniques of this book. The disctinction between intellegence and memory is one which I feel is helpful as it validates those of us who have great capacity to understand things easily, but little capacity to recall. That distinction made me as reader feel more empowered to use memory as a TOOL, and I believe offers needed encouragement to anyone who has struggled in either work, school or their personal life due to poor memory skills. Similar Products
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