All concepts 
Narrative · Conflict theme

Memory vs Identity

The interrogation of selfhood as a construct of recollection, exploring how identity shifts when personal archives are corrupted, manipulated, or lost to trauma and age.

The dizzying disorientation of realizing your past is not your own, or that your very being is a fragile construct of recollection. The existential dread of a self unraveling as memories fade or warp, leaving you adrift in a sea of forgotten selves.

Books

Duma KeyStephen King
Alias GraceMargaret Atwood
Mr. MurderDean Koontz
Flow My Tears, the Policeman SaidPhilip K. Dick
The House of ThunderDean Koontz
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of NantucketEdgar Allan Poe
The Key to MidnightDean Koontz
The DeepRivers Solomon
FreshwaterAkwaeke Emezi
The Raw Shark TextsSteven Hall
The MirrorMarlys Millhiser
The dovekeepersAlice Hoffman
The Echo MakerRichard Powers
The Adoration of Jenna FoxMary E. Pearson
Man in the DarkPaul Auster
Everything UnderDaisy Johnson
An echo of things to comeJames Islington
Autobiography of redAnne Carson
My real childrenJo Walton
This Census-TakerChina Miéville
Remote ControlNnedi Okorafor
Cuckoo SongFrances Hardinge
One of usMichael Marshall Smith
Tell Me an EndingJo Harkin
White spaceIlsa J. Bick
Half LifeShelley Jackson
The AsylumJohn Harwood
Wolf RainNalini Singh
The sudden appearance of HopeClaire North
Time Shelter: A NovelGeorgi Gospodinov
ConstanceMatthew FitzSimmons
Forest of MemoryMary Robinette Kowal
ThursbitchAlan Garner
Ratha and Thistle-ChaserClare Bell
The Memory KeepersNatasha Ngan
We Could Be HeroesMike Chen
Dark CityFrank Lauria
The Quiet WomanChristopher Priest
City of OrangeDavid Yoon
13 minutesSarah Pinborough
The Stolen ChildKeith Donohue
The Archive of the ForgottenA. J. Hackwith
The Tiger's WifeTea Obreht
The angel of lossesStephanie Feldman
Love is the drugAlaya Dawn Johnson
And Then She FellAlicia Elliott
MEMBethany C. Morrow
DreadfulCaitlin Rozakis
The UnboundV. E. Schwab
Good Girls Don't DieChristina Henry
Crimes Against MagicSteve McHugh
The Hollow HeartMarie Rutkoski
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam SylvesterMaya MacGregor
Somewhere East of LifeBrian W. Aldiss
His Father's SonBentley Little
The Wrong ReflectionGillian Bradshaw
The Great ForgettingJames Renner
The ClarityKeith Thomas
Crown of AcornsCatherine Fisher
Realtime InterruptJames P. Hogan

Related

Identity & SelfhoodMemory & GriefReality vs SimulationThe BreachTruth & DeceptionExile & ReturnLegacy & InheritanceThe Double / Mirror SelfPower & Corruption