The Memory Police
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.9
(839)
Yōko Ogawa
*** 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST ****** LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE AND THE 2020 TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD ****** NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF THE YEAR *** A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor. On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses--until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power 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 woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past. A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.
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More Details:
Author
Yōko Ogawa
Pages
274
Publisher
Pantheon Books
Published Date
2019
ISBN
1101870605 9781101870600
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"The world in the book was more interesting to me than the characters. I wanted to know how the memory police made things disappear, how they decided, how the people of the town realized what disappeared. The main character just seemed hopeless and OK with her demise like all the other islanders. Which made hiding R feel like a waste. The story she was writing paralleled that, making the book feel pointless."
M
Maya
"such an amazing piece of literature! it has a unique world in that things are constantly being “forgotten”. it follows a writer who navigates life wondering what will happen as more and more things are being forgotten and wiped from existence. will never not recommend this book!! "
lina
"my favorite book i’ve read so far. definitely was not expecting that to be the ending. bitter."
trinity!
"Loved it"
Keane Scott
"Not cohesive story. "
Jennifer Messner
"I read this book for my an english class. It was such a great book and provided super thought provoking discussions."
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Sophia Graber
"Amazing read. This author captured the confusion and insanity of losing things you’ve known all your life very well."
Z
Z
"This is a beautifully written, poetic allegory about what happens when the government has a monopoly on the truth. Despite the deep strangeness of the story, all of the characters felt real and grounded, and the author clearly put a lot of thought into how a society with these constraints would work. The dark jokes characters make especially remind me of things I've read about living under totalitarian governments. I deducted one star because the main character has an extremely silly and kind of pointless romantic relationship, but other than that I loved it."
a
awesome_user_984860
"OMG this was so good! the writing was immaculate. The characters were interesting and relatable. The story was dark, eerie, and suspenseful. I loved the plot and how it developed. This was a different take on sci-fi/dystopian literature and i really appreciated that. I definitely recommend this read."
Samantha Leavitt
"totally recommend if you like calm but thrilling writing. i loved it :) "
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