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The Memory Police: A Novel by Yoko Ogawa
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The Memory Police: A Novel (original 1994; edition 2020)

by Yoko Ogawa (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,122927,493 (3.72)162
"On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, things are disappearing. First, animals and flowers. Then objects--ribbons, bells, photographs. Then, body parts. Most of the island's inhabitants fail to notice these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the mysterious 'memory police,' who are committed to ensuring that the disappeared remain forgotten. When a young novelist realizes that more than her career is in danger, she hides her editor beneath her floorboards, and together, as fear and loss close in around them, they cling to literature as the last way of preserving the past"--… (more)
Member:wester
Title:The Memory Police: A Novel
Authors:Yoko Ogawa (Author)
Info:Vintage (2020), Edition: 01, 288 pages
Collections:Your library, Fiction, To read
Rating:
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Work Information

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (1994)

  1. 10
    If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura (stretch)
  2. 00
    They by Kay Dick (hubies)
  3. 00
    Oracle Night by Paul Auster (EerierIdyllMeme)
    EerierIdyllMeme: Novels about writers recombining aspects of their experiences into their writing.
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» See also 162 mentions

English (83)  Dutch (2)  French (2)  Spanish (1)  All languages (88)
Showing 1-5 of 83 (next | show all)
2.5 at best. Normally I love surrealism in literature and art, and the first half of this book was no exception, but by the end I was left with the same unanswered questions as the beginning, and ended up strongly disliking the narrator to boot. Though I understand there's supposed to be a deeper meaning symbolized by the surreal events happening on the island, I would've appreciated some hints on how the Memory Police came about, how the "disappearances" happen and are chosen... something! Instead, we just get a bunch of idle speculation. The time and setting are unclear, though the characters live similarly to how we do today, which gave me the impression that more details/worldbuilding were to follow. Grounding the story further might have driven its message home a little better, instead of the nebulous way it's delivered here.

Also, I was absolutely done with the main character when she risked everything for no reason by walking into the Memory Police headquarters (apparently without suffering any consequences though, so it's all excused I guess?) and somehow managed to ignore the repeated signs of an oncoming stroke in her friend the old man until the day he died of one (for context/contrast, she took the dog to the vet at the first sign of illness). I can understand unlikeable characters, but I cannot abide inconsistent or stupid ones, and the unnamed narrator of this book unfortunately happens to be both. In fact, she hardly qualifies as a main character for me because she takes a backseat in almost all the events that matter - she tells us what happens to her, what other people are doing (the old man does pretty much everything, for instance, when it comes to their rescue operation) carries on an icky affair with a married man she's hiding (contributing nothing whatsoever to the plot), and then just kind of fades away at the end. Good riddance, honestly. ( )
  Myridia | Jan 19, 2024 |
Another beyond weird translated book with an interesting concept! Though I feel this book holds the reader at a distance, for example, none of the characters have names. A novelist lives in a place where occasionally things disappear from the island. One day it's birds. One day it's roses... Interspersed with a bit of a novel that the character was writing makes it a bit more interesting. I don't regret reading it, but wish I had liked the execution better. ( )
  booklove2 | Jan 12, 2024 |
Story: 6.0 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 8.5
Prose: 8 ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
Any work where the main character is also an author stands on a tightrope and threatens to plunge into self-aggrandisement (looking at you [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]).
But it works very well here, a novel about what happens when the process of defamiliarization menaces a community like a monster out of a b-movie. Other reviews for Ogawa's novel focus on the arbitrariness of the Memory Police's rules and the political connection to cruel and absurd laws today, but to me the fact that nature itself collaborated with the authorities was more horrifying. The authorities were merely agents of some natural force that imposed insane restraints and demanded people recontextualize and relearn through these painful fetters. Anyone who's had music lessons or been to a writer's workshop can sympathize. ( )
  ethorwitz | Jan 3, 2024 |
3.5....I think. Parts of the book were a bit slow but I suspect this very unsettling story will stay with me. ( )
  mmcrawford | Dec 5, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 83 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Ogawa, Yokoprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Comrie, TylerCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kato-Kiriyama, TraciNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Snyder, StephenTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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I sometimes wonder what was disappeared first—among all the things that have vanished from the island.
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"On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, things are disappearing. First, animals and flowers. Then objects--ribbons, bells, photographs. Then, body parts. Most of the island's inhabitants fail to notice these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the mysterious 'memory police,' who are committed to ensuring that the disappeared remain forgotten. When a young novelist realizes that more than her career is in danger, she hides her editor beneath her floorboards, and together, as fear and loss close in around them, they cling to literature as the last way of preserving the past"--

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Book description
Auf einer Insel, nicht weit vom Festland entfernt, prägen sonderbare Ereignisse das Leben. In regelmäßigen Abständen verschwinden Dinge, und zwar für immer. Zunächst sind es Hüte, dann alle Vögel, später die Fähre. Bald gibt es keine Haarbänder mehr und keine Rosen … Die Bewohner haben sich damit abgefunden, dass auch ihre Erinnerung immer weiter verblasst. Nur einige wenige können nichts vergessen. Deshalb werden sie von der Erinnerungspolizei verfolgt, die dafür Sorge trägt, dass alle verschwundenen Dinge auch verschwunden bleiben, nicht nur im alltäglichen Leben, sondern auch in den Köpfen der Menschen. Als eine junge Schriftstellerin herausfindet, dass ihr Verleger Gefahr läuft, von der Erinnerungspolizei festgenommen zu werden, beschließt sie, ihm zu helfen – auch wenn sie damit ihr Leben riskiert. Sie richtet im Untergeschoss ihres Hauses ein Versteck für ihn ein. Doch die Razzien der Polizei werden ständig ausgeweitet, und immer häufiger verschwinden Dinge. Die beiden hoffen auf die Fertigstellung ihres neuen Romans als letzte Möglichkeit, die Vergangenheit zu bewahren.

Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2020, an enthralling Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance from one of Japan's greatest writers.

Hat, ribbon, bird rose.

To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed.

When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn't forget, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next?
__________

Finalist for the National Book Award 2019
Longlisted for the Translated Book Award 2020
New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year
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