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A review by dejnozkova
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
4.0
So usually when I read dystopian novels about corrupt governments and censorship I get things like an obviously oppressive party, people not having the freedom to do certain things, high tensions, overt rebellion and conflict, etc. which is all pretty standard, but this book I think captured some of the scariest and saddest aspects of such an existence. “The Memory Police” is a book about the deterioration of collective memory and therefore the deterioration of an overarching culture and the deterioration of the humanity of its individuals. It’s about how your material reality and your memory is what defines you as a person and the community you belong to, and what happens when that is taken away.
This book isn’t just about an oppressive regime. It’s about genocide. The erasure of memory, storytelling, shared experiences to bond over, and lessons learned contributes to the decline of culture. The people lose their cuisines, their childhoods, their personal narratives, the stories of their neighbors, their jobs, their voices, their autonomy —they lose their identities as a whole.
The most chilling aspect of this book is how EASILY these people lose these things. That not only does memory fade quickly and puts items out of recognition, but they grow accustomed to the loss. They expect things in their life to disappear and crumble and they wholly accept this reality. They accept the fate that someday all they will be are ghosts. Shells of what used to be but is no more. All without putting up any kind of resistance. There isn’t a war, there are no heroes, and there are no discernible villains (not by our narrator’s perspective).
“The Memory Police” is a reminder that you won’t actually notice what you’re losing until it’s too late when you’re under such a regime. That when your history is censored and the material evidence is destroyed you won’t notice at all, and if you do, you might not even care. And the hazard that comes with losing your past. What happens when people, culture, and storytelling is erased without hardly a fight and no one is left to remember. How much history does a country like the US try to “forget” for example? How many peoples, languages, and cultures have been “quietly” annihilated with the confiscation of material artifacts, the suppression of language, and the denial of expression? How much of your own family’s past do you remember if you were stolen from your motherland or immigrated here without any heirlooms to speak of? How quickly is memory altered and destroyed in the age of the Internet?
Just a lot of thoughts.
This book isn’t just about an oppressive regime. It’s about genocide. The erasure of memory, storytelling, shared experiences to bond over, and lessons learned contributes to the decline of culture. The people lose their cuisines, their childhoods, their personal narratives, the stories of their neighbors, their jobs, their voices, their autonomy —they lose their identities as a whole.
The most chilling aspect of this book is how EASILY these people lose these things. That not only does memory fade quickly and puts items out of recognition, but they grow accustomed to the loss. They expect things in their life to disappear and crumble and they wholly accept this reality. They accept the fate that someday all they will be are ghosts. Shells of what used to be but is no more. All without putting up any kind of resistance. There isn’t a war, there are no heroes, and there are no discernible villains (not by our narrator’s perspective).
“The Memory Police” is a reminder that you won’t actually notice what you’re losing until it’s too late when you’re under such a regime. That when your history is censored and the material evidence is destroyed you won’t notice at all, and if you do, you might not even care. And the hazard that comes with losing your past. What happens when people, culture, and storytelling is erased without hardly a fight and no one is left to remember. How much history does a country like the US try to “forget” for example? How many peoples, languages, and cultures have been “quietly” annihilated with the confiscation of material artifacts, the suppression of language, and the denial of expression? How much of your own family’s past do you remember if you were stolen from your motherland or immigrated here without any heirlooms to speak of? How quickly is memory altered and destroyed in the age of the Internet?
Just a lot of thoughts.