The Memory Police

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Ogawa, Yoko	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Ogawa, Yoko	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Dystopian / Ogawa, Yoko	4-week checkout	Due 06-25-2025

"Originally published in Japan as Hisoyaka na kessho by Kodansha, Tokyo, 1994."
"On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, things are disappearing. First, animals and flowers. Then objects--ribbons, bells, photographs. Then, body parts. Most of the island's inhabitants fail to notice these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the mysterious 'memory police,' who are committed to ensuring that the disappeared remain forgotten. When a young novelist realizes that more than her career is in danger, she hides her editor beneath her floorboards, and together, as fear and loss close in around them, they cling to literature as the last way of preserving the past"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Intense Allegory of Loss submitted by sVfGI7Glt2pz7GZgVB90 on June 24, 2020, 11:36pm An excellent Japanese allegory about an island where disappearance is a way of life. Profound deliberation on totalitarianism and conflict in addition to the rhythms of life and death. This book doesn’t lend itself to laid-back analysis. It's somewhat of an allegory, somewhat of a word of warning. This tome will make you see differently, opening up its ideas in discreet ways, knowing that all moments of understanding and elegance are transitory.

An interesting premise submitted by KatieDW on August 5, 2021, 1:04pm This story is all about loss and how it feels to not remember what you have lost. I really was moved by the author's writing style and the story, but I wish there was more background given, especially regarding who the memory police are and why this is happening.

A New Favorite submitted by em_pawl on June 12, 2023, 4:06pm The Memory Police beautifully depicts the intensity of emotions that are felt on all sides of loss, both from those who do and do not remember, as well as the dangers that can come with it. A fascinating book that left me rereading and rereading the last page. A perfect read for those who want not to be told about grief, but to be walked through it.

The Memory Police submitted by desrochers.stephanie on August 8, 2024, 9:01am This is a hauntingly beautiful book, so well written, and such an interesting take on grief and loss.