The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
Translated by: Stephen Snyder
Publisher: Pantheon
Publication Date: August 13, 2019
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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 Publisher’s Description:

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.

them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.

The Memory Police is a stark, dystopian novel about an island where the Memory Police are slowly disappearing objects from everyone’s memory. Only a few select few can remember these forgotten items and those who can are enemies of the state who disappear themselves. When a woman discovers that her friend is one of those people, she hides him under her floorboards.

There is never a backstory given of how the Memory Police came into power or what their objective is. None of the characters even have names. My friend who lived in Japan for years said this style is quite common in Japanese literature. This would usually be frustrating for me because I like good world-building, but for some reason, I enjoyed this book anyway. It’s definitely disturbing but in a good way. It was a selection for my book club and led to a great discussion. People either loved it or hated it. Those are always the best meetings. It’s boring when everyone agrees!

Recommended.