Memories of the Future (novel)
2019 novel by Siri Hustvedt
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Memories of the Future is a 2019 novel by American writer Siri Hustvedt. The novel concerns a narrator, known as S.H. or by her nickname, "Minnesota", who discovers her journal from 40 years before the novel's events.
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Sceptre (UK)
First edition (US) | |
| Author | Siri Hustvedt |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster (US) Sceptre (UK) |
| Publication place | United States |
Writing and development
Hustvedt has said she "[...] actively [hoped] to undermine" the assumption that autobiographical fiction by women tends to be less imaginative than equivalent works by men.[1]
Style and contents
The novel contains autobiographical elements.[2] Writing for the New York Times, Judith Shulevitz referred to the novel as an example of autofiction.[2] The novel contains drawings by Hustvedt of several men, including Marcel Duchamp and Donald Trump.[1]
Reception
Critical reception
In a review for The Financial Times, Catherine Taylor compared the work to the "best" of the filmography of American director David Lynch.[3] Critics highlighted Hustvedt's depiction of New York City, with Sam Sacks crediting the depiction of S.H.'s relationship with a neighbor, Lucy, as accurate to the experience of living in a large city.[4] In her review for The Guardian, Sarah Crown praised the inclusion of the city, writing that Hustvedt "joyously depicts" New York as "hot, dirty and cacophonous".[5]
Writing for The Los Angeles Review of Books, Elena Goukassian compared Memories of the Future unfavorably to Hustvedt's debut novel, The Blindfold.[6] Goukassian praised The Blindfold for "leaving readers to draw [their] own conclusions" while writing that Memories of the Future "suffers from over-explanation".[6] Goukassian attributes this tendency to the "Trump era", during which she writes that there "[...] appears to be a wider trend among writers and artists of all kinds in creating works that drill their themes into the minds of their audiences".[6]
Accolades
The novel was long-listed for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction.[7]