The Memory Police: A Novel
Description
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
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Community Reviews
This fantasy will haunt me for a long time, I think. Partly written as a story within a story, a novelist struggles to find balance and purpose in her life on an island where people disappear, but more notably where entire categories of things and all human memory of those things can also disappear.
We see her with her parents, an ornithologist and a sculptor, in flashbacks that help to set the stage for her more current life. Her mother was one...read more
We see her with her parents, an ornithologist and a sculptor, in flashbacks that help to set the stage for her more current life. Her mother was one...read more
A Thought-Provoking Yet Disappointing Journey: "Memory Police" by Yoko Ogawa
"Memory Police" by Yoko Ogawa presents a captivating premise that initially sparks intrigue and curiosity. However, as the story unfolds, it leaves the reader yearning for more. While it's evident that Ogawa possesses exceptional writing skills and a gift for crafting vivid descriptions, the overall narrative falls short of its potential.
One of the most striking aspec...read more
Not the easiest book to read. There's a slow, poetic pace to it. Perhaps because it's a translated book. But as things in the book begin to disappear, it becomes clearer for the reader. Lots of symbolism in the disappearing objects and heavy on the metaphors. This book really forces the reader to think about what these things mean to us..what memories mean, their importance, and the legacies we leave. Are we losing ourselves in modernity? Do we e...read more
I loved this so much, it was beautifully written and thought-provoking.
sharrjo59 reacted with :thumb_up:
Haunting and thought provoking. Who are we without our memories and feelings? How does loss shape us?
Also just a nice little weird, melancholic book that's got me feeling things I haven't yet while reading. Like a cozy sad read.
One thing I'll say though is that I didn't enjoy it as much as The Housekeeper and Professor - I didn't really get the link between the story she was writing and the main story - it was a parallel to what was happenin...read more
sharrjo59 reacted with :thumb_up:
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