Yes the limitations of memory are normal. There is variability depending on the person and how interested you were in the book.

Carry around a copy of "Infinite Jest". If anyone asks you what it's about, just stare wistfully for several seconds and say "Life. Real life."

Foundation isn't the best Asimov introduction. I, Robot is a lot better to get you an idea of what he's going for in writing.

Out of curiosity, let's have a bit of that discussion. In the context of the world of the story, what are the issues with creating a fake soul like this?

In my social circles (adults), it's still considered very rude to scroll around on your phone in most social situations. The exceptions (low-intensity chilling, etc) would also apply to reading books.

• The humor hits for me. It doesn't for some people. I especially like how the author uses the flow and rhythm of language.
• The structure of the book, in my view, is a stream-of-consciousness vortex circling around an existential crisis, gradually getting deeper and darker. Putting together the connections of these seemingly randomly presented events is interesting.
• The tonal shift of the book, especially its acceleration towards the end, is masterfully done. It starts out as goofy dark humor, and pulls out the humor and increases the 'dark' until it's just unsettling. Still has that bitter irony and absurdism, but it's no longer funny.
• One of my favorite book series when I was a little kid was Louis Sachar's "Sideways Stories from Wayside School", and Catch-22 uses the exact same gimmick for its chapters (each focusing on a character). Similar sense of humor, too.
• I'm a big fan of M*A*S*H, and Catch-22 has similar themes.
• I've read it about 5 times, and each time I read it, I see it from a new angle. To the point where I see interpretations of the story that I've never been able to find online from anyone else. (Does anyone know why Yossarian fell in love with the Chaplain at first sight?)
• Nothing has captured the feelings of frustration and anxiety more than Arfy crowding Yossarian in the bombardier turret and blissfully mishearing everything Yossarian says.

That being said, I enjoyed it most when I was an 18-22 year old guy, and I think you have to have that attitude to really appreciate it. You need that anti-authoritarian streak and a desire to read stuff that has a cynical edge to it, while also being old enough to appreciate the existential issues at its core. I haven't been able to finish a re-read of it as I've gotten older - I've lost the appetite for how obsessed with mortality it is. I also think it helps if you've read a lot, I appreciated how different it was from other books.

>your not supposed to have that voice in your head that repeats everything.

I've never heard of this. When I read there's basically an internal monologue thinking the words that are on the page. I've never heard that you're not supposed to have a train of thought when reading. I do, and my reading speed and comprehension are high. But I don't know what you're talking about that's "repeating" things, it's just one train of thought.