mlewis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
The prose often felt flat to me, and I wonder whether it's because -- at the risk of sharing too much and in an odd venue -- I've spent the pandemic feeling an increasing sense of derealization. I think this novel was doing something that I didn't appreciate until too close to the end, a feeling reinforced by reading “How ‘The Memory Police’ Makes You See,” a great review by Jia Tolentino. I’m also still learning to read deeply, and may still struggle with the stylistic choice to give a narrator a diegetic voice that doesn’t resonate with me immediately.
I think it’s still a great testament to a book’s force that you know you’ll continue thinking about it and want to revisit it, even if you can’t speak glowingly of it right away.
Moderate: Blood, Injury/injury detail, and Police brutality
Minor: Body horror
winterlily'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
5.0
While this book isn't technically a "favorite" in the way which I'd be in love with the characters and absorbed in their world. I can't rate this anything leas than 5 stars.
UPDATE:
[ I've sat with it a little longer and seen other people's reactions 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 appreciate 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
Spoiler
the characters don't resist or try to change their fates.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.
Spoiler
The fact that no one comes to save them 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
Spoiler
the characters weren't able to save themselves,Another thing I wanted to mention is that it might take several reads or more consideration for some readers used to the western perspective to fully appreciate the text!
- I really liked rincey read's youtube review on this The Memory Police! ]
Wow, this got me out of a decade long reading slump. I struggle to have words for this book. It was extremely emotional at times and at others I was pushed to that deeply sad state of the calm acceptance similar to the main character in the book. I adore the writing of this book- it's not needlessly complicated or convoluted. It's beautiful and intentional - the type of writing that flows so well in your mind that the story seems to play like a movie in your head. The Memory Police has a lot of special and unexpected qualities to it- the heartwarming depiction of platonic friendship and love, normal people instead of chosen one/super important characters, and a silent depiction of trauma that hit deep.
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 might want to read analysis on the book to see if there are any specific issues the book touched on that I didn't pick up on but the themes are unmistakable and extremely relevant. 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 & definitely explored in the book, if not in this context.
If you're interested in the book, you should read it. Everyone will walk away with some important to carry with them.
Graphic: Confinement, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Body horror, Infidelity, Injury/injury detail, Police brutality, Medical content, Ableism, Blood, and Death
gillbethkinder'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
4.5
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Grief, and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Eating disorder and Blood
leapyear_reader'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
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Stalking, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Dementia, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Murder, and Terminal illness
katymat18'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood
suzannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Grief, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, and Death
sassyshark's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Confinement and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Eating disorder, Gore, and Medical content
darbo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The book has a slow start, and it may feel slow all throughout for some due to its mundane, everyday tasks, but it picks up eventually and just leaves you baffled and shocked at every turn. Especially so the ending. I truly love this and wholeheartedly recommend this to any dystopia and Orwell fans out there.
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Abandonment, Blood, and Death
marleyhua's review
4.5
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Confinement
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, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual content