The Importance of Memory in a Book

We talk about the drabness of the characters that Borjas creates, but then he also talks about Shakespeare as this gray man with this pretty dull life. He acquires this memory and all he thinks of is the next door neighbor's face and a tune from Chaucer or kind of insignificant tune to whistle. So you have this sense, he's acquired something that's not particularly exciting and Shakespeare's memories were just as banal as anybody else's. It's almost a cautionary tale in that sense, no? And also it puts a big question mark on what extent is the author in the work?