A review by miak2
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

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

4.0

 
"How does it feel to remember everything? To have everything that the rest of us have lost saved up in your heart?" p.85

What a unique concept for a dystopia book - objects are disappearing, but not in a literal sense. If hats disappear, it's not that they physically vanish, but any memories or knowledge of them disappears from the mind, and people go on about their lives as if hats never existed. I could tell that the concept gave Ogawa some difficulty too. After all, how do we imagine what it's like to not know music or books? Specifically, I recall that fruits disappeared, but Ogawa went on to mention them a couple of times in passing afterwards anyway.

That said, this book really explores one question: is it better to remember all the things you can no longer experience, or for it to be as if you never knew them at all? One is perhaps more fulfilling, but it comes with the risk of being discovered by the Memory Police. And the other, well, what sort of life is it when the objects you know are slowly dwindling down?

I liked that, alongside the main story, was a story that the main character was writing about a different kind of loss. It really put into words how the narrator felt trapped in her own body, even if she didn't appear to realize it. I also think it's very interesting that there aren't any named characters in the novel, the closest being the nickname R. Really makes you think...

The friendship between the old man and the main character was truly special. I loved every second that they interacted, and I really felt the familial love they had for each other. R, however... I liked what he represented, but I didn't feel particularly attached to him and I didn't care for the adultery storyline introduced with him.

I'm feeling mixed about the ending of the book. Without saying too much, it was a little underwhelming. But that's perhaps because I entered it with expectations for it to more closely resemble 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale. I think the ending was fitting for the story being told, albeit somewhat dissatisfying. Nevertheless, I think there's a lot of fantastic things about this book and I'm very glad that I read it! 
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