The Memory Police

A Novel

by Yoko Ogawa, Stephen Snyder, 小川洋子

paperback, 288 pages

Published July 28, 2020 by Vintage.

ISBN:: 9781101911815

(4 reviews)

**2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

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 …

**2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST

A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor.**

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.

3 editions

plasticjolteon reviewed The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

emotional and thought provoking

5 stars

this is the first book i’ve read on my own outside of school in a very long time. i wasn’t a fan of 1984 but i was still looking for a good dystopian novel, so i tried this one. i really enjoy the author’s writing style, it makes the characters feel so full and alive. i think there’s a lot to think about with this book, and it leaves you questioning things. i do think the ending was a bit quick, but i’m sure it was intentional. i recommend this book if you’re looking for a good dystopian.

pdotb@wyrms.de reviewed The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Melancholy dystopia

5 stars

Skillfully melds the fear of living in an oppressive dystopia with the melancholy of the loss of memories and, first, the objects they're tied to. Tends towards feeling pretty dark, leavened only by the obvious love between the main characters.

Tenzin@bookwyrm.social reviewed The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Excellent

5 stars

Even at its darkest, you can still find a glimmer of hope in the strangest of places when you've given up looking. Grasping onto things as if they won't change is so painful. Floating on the wave, allows you to survive albeit in a different way than expected.

Mat reviewed The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Review of 'Memory Police' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I didn't want this book to finish but it has and I loved it! There was something very surreal and oddly comforting about reading a story where everyday things disappear during a pandemic where much of our former lives has disappeared

The Memory Police

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