Reviews

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

camillejov's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

evieb00's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

kpcrossy's review against another edition

4.0

4/5 ⭐️: hauntingly beautiful, dream-like dystopian. The book is set on an island where things regularly “disappear,” both physically and in people’s memories. These disappearances are enforced by the Memory Police, but some people continue to remember…I loved Ogawa’s writing, the characters, and the way the story unfolded. Truly an unforgettable read. If you’re a fan of speculative or dystopian fiction, you’ll love this!

feymwah's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

badly_behaved_books's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

ka_schulze's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

hunky_dory_1971's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

hippea's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

djrennie7's review against another edition

5.0

Indescribably sad. Colossally moving despite an economy of style and a non-flashy, non-revolutionary approach to storytelling - it’s unassuminlgly, quietly devastating. It’s frightening how people adjust to successive waves of unbearable loss with resignation and apathy. The passiving/passive process’ effect is exhausting, weary on its harmless victims. With its central metaphor accentuated by the poetically intertwined story within a story - the loss of the written word as a literal loss of voice - Ogawa expresses our hero’s innate fears. That is, the depravity of losing basic functions and having your humanity stripped away, being hollowed out, by a brutish (masculinised) force. The separation of body and mind and spirit; unable to to articulate even feeling. Voiceless, faceless, shattered. It’s painfully bleak - do the shells that remain leave anything behind? That’s perhaps the novel’s only faint glimmer of hope, that perhaps they do: a touch of a hand, a sculpture, the nave of a sunken ship - the art of the written word.

pearandapple's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0