An Abundance of Katherines Memory and the Past Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

Colin leaned back against the rotten tree, his back arching over it until he was staring at the cloudy sky. Betrayed by his vaunted memory! He had, indeed, remarked eighteen and snubbed the rest. How could he remember everything about her and not remember that he dumped her? (15.84)

Good question, Colin. This is a big revelation to him because he's spent his whole life remembering the Katherines one way, only to discover he's been wrong. It makes us wonder whether anything he remembers about the Katherines is really true. How much can we trust his memories if some of them aren't real?

Quote #8

Above him, the interweaving branches seemed to split the sky into a million little pieces. He felt like he had vertigo. The one facility he'd always trusted—memory—was a fraud. And he might have gone on thinking about it for hours, or at least until Mr. Lyford returned, except at that very moment he heard a weird grunting noise and simultaneously felt Hassan's hand tap his knee. (15.88)

We'd like to point out that to Colin, his memory is the most important thing about him—it defines him. Yet, he can't trust it because it's a phony. It's funny that he's critical of Lindsey playing different parts (ditzy, southern, nerdy) because in a way he's done the same thing. He's chalked himself up to be this collection of memories, but they are not real.

Quote #9

Well, or to be forgotten, because someday no one will know who's really buried there. Already a lot of kids at school and stuff think the Archduke is really buried here, and I like that. I like knowing one story and having everyone else know another. That's why those tapes we made are going to be so great one day, because they'll tell stories that time has swallowed up or distorted or whatever. (19.57)

Who is really buried in the Archduke's grave might seem like a random twist in the story, but it helps us think about how fickle memory is for everyone. The new generation of Gutshoters don't even know what they are being told is a lie, so they form a memory on a "fact" that is not true in the first place. It's the same with Colin's mind remembering something that's not true.