The Memory Police- A Novel by Yoko Ogawa
Finalist for the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award. A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor. On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing- first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . . . Most of the inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few able to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten. When a young writer discovers that her editor is in danger, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her f loorboards, and together they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past. Powerful and provocative, The Memory Police is a stunning novel about the trauma of loss. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARTHE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, TIME, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE GUARDIAN, ESQUIRE, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, FINANCIAL TIMES, LIBRARY JOURNAL, THE A. V. CLUB, KIRKUS REVIEWS, LITERARY HUB American Book Award winner.
- Suggested age range- Adult
- Format- Paperback
- Product dimensions- 5.2" W x 7.5" H x 0.9" D
- Genre- Fiction
- Publisher- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Publication date- 07-28-2020
- Page count- 288
- ISBN- 9781101911815
Web ID: 10918882
Really got me thinking
It’s interesting to see how the memory of something crucial to your identity gets taken away over night, and how the characters in this book react to it. It makes you think, what are things that you can and will never ever give up or forget? And what would you do if you lose them anyway, knowing you won’t even remember that they existed in the first place in a couple of days? Also, the ending got me gasping out loud. It was great.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Mindful Thinking Fiction
Exploring the trauma of loss has on us as individuals and as communities speaks volumes to the overall story and how the unidentified narrator processes each series of events.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A beautiful, melancholic, but cautionary tale
Reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Anne Frank's diary, and the infamous book burning's that occurred in Nazi Germany. Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa takes place in a dystopian island where objects, words, and even people "disappear" from the island's population. However, a few outliers who remember these words and objects are forced to hide or are collected be the Memory Police themselves. The story focuses on the main heroine, the old man who serves as a father figure, and R who is an editor for novels. Looking through these main protagonists, the heroine has an informal, yet unemotional attachment and nostalgia to items that are forgotten, and tries to feel something towards these items; the old man seems unbothered by the loss of the words/items; and R is desperate for the future and for the main heroine and the old man to remember and cherish the "forgotten" objects and words. I don't want to spoil too much about the book, but this is a tale of survival, endearment, and finding love and companionship in other ways where attachment is dwindling. It's not an action-packed dystopian novel, but I couldn't put the book down. Although the heroine is more on the apathetic side when it comes to the disappearances, she cares deeply for those she has left. However, despite the neutral tone the heroine has for duration of the novel, her perspective is woven to be beautifully melancholic and romantic when she is vulnerable with R and the Old Man. Overall, a fantastic read with a cautionary tale about censorship and the survival of history and people as the undertone as the book' setting, but ensures a beautiful tale of three people in a make-shift family loving each other until the end where all things disappear.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Brilliant Storytelling
I could not put this book down! Its theme, though dystopian and Orwellian, paints a vivid picture in words which is the best thing any writer can do, invite you in and make you feel the experience. You can see the story. It's one of those books you need to let sit with you awhile before you go onto another story.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Ethereal and beautiful, tinged with sadness.
<b>The Short of It:</b> On a remote island, random objects begin to disappear. Birds, roses, ribbons, etc. The inhabitants wake to a feeling of change yet can’t put their finger on what has changed until they interact with others on the island. The strange thing is that the feeling that the disappearance causes precedes the actual disappearance which is followed through to completion by the inhabitants themselves. So when roses disappear, the inhabitants gather up all the roses to destroy them and send them down a river. The disappearances are enforced by the Memory Police. How they know when someone is holding out is not explained but if someone tries to preserve something that has disappeared, they are taken away. Eventually, when all traces are removed, most of the inhabitants can no longer recall the item at all. All memory of the item has disappeared as well. But there are some who never forget. The memories of these items remain in them, and for some, they’ve even been able to preserve the actual item, such as a piece of candy. As living becomes more difficult and the situation more dire, you can’t help but compare what is going on with Orwell’s 1984. The three main characters are for the most part, unnamed. Our protagonist, a young woman, lost both her parents and lives a solitary life. She is a writer and befriended by her editor, only known as “R” and a kind old man who knew her mother. The three navigate these disappearances as best they can but “R” happens to be one of the people who can remember and so he must go into hiding with their help. What will disappear next? This story is beautifully written. I found myself rereading many passages as I went along. The author’s skill at evoking a particular memory is especially wonderful. I found myself mourning all the things we have lost during this pandemic. The smell of a wonderful meal, served to me in a bustling restaurant filled with laughter and happy people. Or I found myself missing movie theatres and that anticipation you feel when the previews roll or the smell of hot buttered popcorn while sitting back to enjoy a really good film. The story made me feel all kinds of things. Yes, it made me a little sad but also hopeful because I am fairly certain that the tangible things we’ve lost during this pandemic are only temporary losses, not like the ones in the story. The author’s inspiration was Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. This makes sense when you consider the hiding that must take place to keep these people safe. The Memory Police is a wonderful read. I have found a new favorite author in Ogawa and can’t wait to read another book by her.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Thought-Provoking Dystopian Fiction
This work of thought-provoking dystopian fiction is set on an unnamed island in Japan ruled by the authoritarian Memory Police who make things disappear. When an item is declared “disappeared” everyone collectively discards the items and their memories of the objects quickly fade until nobody can remember what they were. Anyone caught keeping the forbidden objects is arrested by the Memory Police and never heard from again. Some people are able to retain these memories which makes them a target of the Memory Police and they must remain in hiding, which is the main plot of the story. Vaguely reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984 and Dunn’s Ella Minnow Pea, Ogawa leads the reader through an existential rumination on memory, identity, individuality, and freedom. This is definitely a more cerebral and unsettling slow-burn type of book that makes you think; this is not an action-packed/adventure type of dystopian novel. This one will leave you thinking long after you finish reading it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com