A review by sp1derfairy
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I really liked this book and although it didn’t hold my attention the entire time, it was a lovely read. It reminds me that even though things may be lost, an effect from them remains. They still leave an imprint. I do feel a little lost as to what the rest of the book is trying to say though. 

I like that as the book draws to a close, there is less detail written about the outside world as the people in the story lose their own details, their own memories. I like how awareness is one of the things that never left her, even as she lost her memories and the holes grew larger, she still was aware of this occurring. Even though she was unable to be aware of the things that had left, she is still aware of the loss even though she describes how the people easily moved on. There’s still that difference between full and full of holes. 

I also like how the characters aren’t given names the closest thing to a name is R. 

I was expecting the book to go more in depth of the memory police and the “why” of the memory police, but it didn’t. I guess that the fact that it didn’t is telling of the helplessness and eventual acceptance of the situation.