The Memory Police

Yōko Ogawa

Science fiction · Allegory

Print length: 274 pagesVintage, 2020

Description

Yōko Ogawa’s dystopian novel follows a novelist living on a dreamlike, melancholy island governed by the Memory Police. An unexplained force causes inhabitants to lose their memories and emotional ties to ordinary objects and ideas. Those who retain forbidden memories must hide or flee to escape the authorities. The novelist shelters her editor, R, whose ability to remember makes him vulnerable to capture. As objects, books, and eventually body parts disappear, scarcity grows and repression intensifies, placing both the novelist and the man she is protecting in increasing danger.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Atmospheric · Lyrical · Spare

Pace

Measured

Tone

Atmospheric · Melancholic · Tense · Unsettling

Structure

Linear

Focus

Atmosphere · Ideas · Relationships

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 4 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

FreedomFriendshipIdentityMemoryMortalityOppression

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 9781529966510

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