Context

This line is spoken by Rust Cohle, played by Matthew McConaughey, in the TV show True Detective (2014).

When two (true) detectives travel to sun-bleached rural Louisiana to investigate a crime, Rush Cohle, a man who might be better suited to being a (true) philosopher instead of a (true) detective, comments on the sad, tired nature of the town, saying, "This place is like somebody's memory of a town, and the memory's fading." But his fellow detective, Martin Hart, isn't really a fan of this poetic observation for some reason. Maybe Detective Hart never really got into similes.

Where you've heard it

You've probably heard this from your wannabe-philosopher friend when you visited that rural area that seems more like a ghost town than an actual town.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This is a little pretentious, especially if you come from a big city and are using this quote to judge small-town life. And definitely don't use it around the locals.