Goodreads Blurb

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.

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

A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A story that gradually erases your memories. The very things that make us human begin to disappear, one by one. Without question, you simply obey. The narrator and characters are stripped of their names, identities, and existence, leading to a profound loss of friendship, family, and love. This creates a transition into the unknown and challenges the sense of self. Yoko is a storyteller beyond her time. A story published in Japan in 1994 and later published in the US in 2019, continues resonating with current events.

The narrator experiences feelings of love, loss, and loneliness that mirror the emotions of the character in the book she is writing. The demise of both the character and the narrator stems from losing their voice and coming to terms with their circumstances. Without a voice and a sense of identity, one cannot truly exist.

Imagine living on an island inhabited by people who have lost their sense of identity, in a world dominated by fear. The memory police are ready to ensure you forget your memories; otherwise, you might vanish like all the cherished things we collect as humans.

When you believe you’ve awakened from your current nightmare, you hear the fluttering of wings from all the birds. Flap, flap, flap! You long to spread your wings and fly away from this island with them, escaping into the unknown. Goodbye, beautiful creatures.

Days later, you wake up to find that the beauty and fragrance of roses are gone forever. You stand by the river, watching it overflows with rose petals. It’s your final farewell to the beauty and rose scent that once filled the air.

A picture captures a moment, serving as a memory of a person, place, or thing. We cherish photographs because we wish to hold onto those memories forever. However, there may come a time when all pictures must be discarded. Imagine having to part with something that reminds you of significant moments, like the birth of a baby, a wedding, a birthday celebration, or a picture of a family member who is long gone. It would mean saying goodbye to treasured memories of the past.

Winter arrived quietly, blanketing the island in pure white snow. The stillness and chill can leave you shivering. The time has come for all calendars to vanish. Your memories of days, months, holidays, and celebrations will fade away, just as the snow has concealed the footprints we leave behind.

Knowledge is power. The last thing that can occupy your mind and provide companionship in this lonely life will now burn through the night. Say goodbye to all the books that gave you the ability to think and the courage to survive. It marks the end of libraries, books, and knowledge in a world that remains unaware condemned to silence and obedience.

Will you remain silent while your liberties, identity, and life get taken away, or will you finally speak out about those lost, forgotten things that define who you are?

Author Biography

Yōko Ogawa (小川 洋子) was born in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, graduated from Waseda University, and lives in Ashiya. Since 1988, she has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel The Professor and his Beloved Equation has been made into a movie. In 2006 she co-authored „An Introduction to the World’s Most Elegant Mathematics“ with Masahiko Fujiwara, a mathematician, as a dialogue on the extraordinary beauty of numbers.

A film in French, “L’Annulaire“ (The Ringfinger), directed by Diane Bertrand, starring Olga Kurylenko and Marc Barbé, was released in France in June 2005 and subsequently made the rounds of the international film festivals; the film, some of which is filmed in the Hamburg docks, is based in part on Ogawa’s “Kusuriyubi no hyōhon“ (薬指の標本), translated into French as “L’Annulaire“ (by Rose-Marie Makino-Fayolle who has translated numerous works by Ogawa, as well as works by Akira Yoshimura and by Ranpo Edogawa, into French).