only one memory

i'm reading siri hustvedt's the sorrow of an american, which i picked up in the oslo airport last friday. strange that it was available there in paperback when it shows as not yet released (even in hardcover) on amazon--both the .com and .co.uk. strange. but anyway, as is usual for siri, her beautiful writing evokes so much atmosphere. she always seems to succinctly put random half-formed thoughts that were in the back of my head, giving them voice and giving me a ah-ha moment when i read them.

she has a passage in which one of her characters talks about if you could only save one memory from your life, which one it would be. and i find that such an interesting notion. which memory of all of the (more or less unreliable) memories collected over a lifetime? which one would i save? and even more, how would i preserve it? how would i know it was accurate? how would i keep it from mutating or being filtered? is that even possible?

i don't know yet what memory it would be, but these are the questions i'm pondering on a monday morning...