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A review by babywithanipad
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
5.0
Gotta save most of my thoughts for book club but this is one of those books that you finish and cannot stop thinking about.
NYTimes: “Ogawa considers herself an eavesdropper on her characters. ‘I just peeked into their world and took notes from what they were doing,’ she said.” I love the narration style. There is something about floating around a character and seeing all of them laid out in front of you that makes me need to keep reading.
Memories are something that I have always struggled with for various reasons. If you can relate in any way, read this book. If you are too lazy to read this book, here's a quote to convince you:
It is perfectly poetic (and heartbreaking) that this book will never disappear from my memories.
NYTimes: “Ogawa considers herself an eavesdropper on her characters. ‘I just peeked into their world and took notes from what they were doing,’ she said.” I love the narration style. There is something about floating around a character and seeing all of them laid out in front of you that makes me need to keep reading.
Memories are something that I have always struggled with for various reasons. If you can relate in any way, read this book. If you are too lazy to read this book, here's a quote to convince you:
Spoiler
"My memories don’t feel as though they’ve been pulled up by the root. Even if they fade, something remains. Like tiny seeds that might germinate again if the rain falls. And even if a memory disappears completely, the heart retains something. A slight tremor or pain, some bit of joy, a tear."Spoiler
I found myself frustrated every time they would get close to being found out because all I wanted was an escape. I was imagining the three of them (maybe the dog too) on a boat filled with disappeared items, sailing off to a happy ending. I wanted a love story, an escape, a confrontation, a final battle. I wanted something to come of all they had lost. But this is not a detective story, or even a story about looking for lost memories. It's just a strange, beautiful, devastating story that will leave you staring at the ceiling, remembering.It is perfectly poetic (and heartbreaking) that this book will never disappear from my memories.