[bprieto]

The Spanish original is "había de recordar", and "was to remember" is a good translation. It's meaning is different from just "remembered", as it implies a causality. It wasn't a random remembrance that just happened, it was some memory that was brought by the proximity of death.

[solipsism]

"was to remember" doesn't imply causality any more than "remembered" does.

"could not help but remember" would've been a much better translation, and even has the similarity that the usage is less common and more literary (i speak Spanish).

[wintermutestwin]

Interesting - I didn't realize it was a translated work. I would have inferred causality with "remembered" due to the sentence structure.

My comment was intended to decry the loss of my more literate and verbose pre-corporate self.