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jamie_reads_stuff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Police brutality, and Gaslighting
Iu_0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was surprised that the novel within the novel was so mesmerizing and disturbing to me, the ending and the actions of the woman are still haunting me. I will say that the beginning of the book was an unquestionable 5 stars for me, middle slowed down and was a 4 stars, and the ending brought it back to 4 point something. I'm a little dissatisfied that most of my questions never got answers but I understand why Ogawa wrote it that way. The foreshadowing and laying of plot details was so good! I was so impressed with the way that information was revealed and later made relevant. I grew up really loving books like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, and this book easily stands among or above them as a cautionary tale and retaliation against oppression and totalitarianism.
The "tropes" felt familiar but then I realized it was the "tropes" of oppression, totalitarianism, and surveillance that were the same, that all these books are fighting the same evil. The last note to my stream of consciousness review is that this book really resonated with me because of my memory loss and disabilities too. The trauma of having something important indiscriminately taken away from you and having to live with a new normal without knowing what you've lost is an open wound for me and definitely explored in the book, if not in this context.
Everyone will walk away with something important to carry with them.
UPDATE:
[ I've sat with it a little longer and I now have an even stronger appreciation for this book. The text is quiet and slow paced, but it's also alive and screaming. I don't think everyone will like the format, but it really spoke to me. So much is written in subtext and to be understood and explored by the reader. This novel is so well crafted and I'm blown away that Ogawa was able to accomplish this tone and effect and still capture the beauty of humanity.
More and more I appreciate the ending and the choice of the slow, violent progression to the conclusion. Someone else wrote here in a review that the real terror of the novel comes from us having to continue reading the story although
I think the most important aspect of this book might be the refrain from making this book a fantasy or adventure about courageously overcoming the Memory police. Instead, the novel sits entrenched in the horror and sees the story to conclusion. The sense of normalcy and adaptation of the community is terrifying. The fact that life goes on is terrifying.
It left me with questions of what I expected from the protagonists. What should be expected from me If I was in their position? What is reasonable to expect of others? When one is powerless, what is there to do? Is there dignity in just surviving? What checks failed for this to happen and how could it have been prevented? How close are we to this now? Is it already too late?
I think it will be very natural for most of us to feel dissatisfied that we never got answers to the mysteries or that
Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Deportation
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
“Men who start by burning books end by burning other men.”
The Memory Police is a grim dystopic novel, exploring an island dominated by the memory police, a government entity working to destroy historical objects and their recollection in humankind. Defying the memory police can mean death, but our narrator does so, in order to protect her editor-a man who does not forget-from the memory police.
As someone who read 1984 for high school English, I believe this novel would have made an amazing substitute. Both books hold a similar eerie and almost bleak mood, and the corrupt government organization is shared as well. The Memory Police stands out, however, through the utilization of the novel as a form. Also, not to mention that the women in 1989 are written with many stereotypes.
Overall, I would highly recommend for any dystopia fans, and I look forward to picking up The Housekeeper and the Professor in the future.
As always please check trigger warnings before reading!
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death
junheechuu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence
savvylit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
At its core, this novel is a terrifying parable about the extreme duress and gaslighting inherent in police states. The citizens of the island are constantly surveilled by the titular memory police. Folks who have retained memories of the disappeared items are forcibly taken away from the community to meet unknown fates. Such scenes are all too accurately reminiscent of the treatment of radicals during extreme fascist regimes. Perhaps that's the scariest aspect of this novel - the way that Ogawa's dystopian world closely mirrors our own reality.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
bonnienoire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Dementia and Gaslighting
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual assault
tiennguyen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality
Minor: Rape, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
nila's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent
pclairx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Gaslighting