Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Memory Police

I was not the biggest fan of the narration style chosen by the author/translator. It does not make sense within this dystopia for a first person present tense narration when this person is continuously losing her memory for things but the narrative still references these things in her voice. She shouldn’t be able to point out that she has no idea what a bird is because she is acknowledging the loss of a named thing.

Anyways, this book deals with themes of loss, memory, confinement, and censorship, just like many well known and loved dystopias. There were clearly many interpretations/allusions to a wide variety of real-life issues, which managed to be both vague and pretty obvious. It’s giving Anne Frank. It’s giving Alzheimer’s and neurodegenerative diseases. It’s even giving abusive relationship. Obviously, it’s giving police state — that’s literally what this is.

It’s like someone took Ishiguro’s favorite themes (memory, time, loss) but forgot the nuance and subtlety.

Don’t get me wrong, I still liked the book despite my qualms. I don’t think it’s anything particularly special and only time will tell if it has had a true effect on me. While it felt kind of slow and repetitive at times, I did listen to it in two sittings over the course of 24 hours. And I’ve been in a reading slump. I’d call it a success.

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taibreakfast's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

A quiet novel following the largely mundane day-to-day details of living under a dystopian, authoritarian government. The skill in the writing is in showing us how people try to move on with their lives even as more and more of their world is disappeared from their memories. Lots of fascinating reflections on the importance of memory in the act of making art. Highly recommend.

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alaasenouci8's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

It’s a beautiful story just I’m still in awe. Memory ,something that most people don’t think much about, is so important to peoples sense of being and this book shows that. It’s shows how something so twisted as everyone forcibly getting their memories taken away as a normal part of life. It strangely gave me a hopeful feeling like that after all that happened the characters still held on and moved on.

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serendipity421's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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oceanwriter's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Though I wouldn't quite label this Orwellian, The Memory Police certainly was haunting.

Somewhere in the ocean off Japan, there's an island run by the Memory Police who can make objects (and people) disappear forever at a whim. One day there are birds, the next day they're ordered to be set free, and soon enough, the people of the island can hardly recall the word 'bird' let alone what they looked like or any memories associated with them. Disappearances are a common occurrence and compliance is expected. Most people are able to erase their memories without effort. Unfortunately for those few who can't, it means their lives are in danger and they must go into hiding. Such is the case for R who is hidden by the unnamed narrator of the book.

Lacking in world-building, we don't learn exactly how the Memory Police operate, only that they are stoic figures who think nothing of barging into people's homes and tearing the contents apart in search of disappeared items or evidence of resistance. We don't know how these people came to power, what their origin is, or how long they've been in power. It's been a while at least, and several hold out hope that they will someday be the ones to disappear.

The story itself has a slow pace for a dystopian novel but it worked for me. Less focus on the technicalities of this universe allowed for a lot of attention on the characters. I especially loved the narrator's friendship with the old man. Their scenes were my favorite parts of the book. I also liked R's efforts to try and get the two to remember items they'd long forgotten, even if it's just one of the associated memories.

The narrator is a novelist and some sections of the book follow the book she's writing. While these passages give a deeper look into the narrator's mind and how she's internalized life beholden to the Memory Police, I would have traded them for more world-building. So many questions go unanswered. Perhaps this is fitting for a book about people losing their memories (and in turn knowledge), however as a reader, it's difficult not to crave more build-up for a full understanding of the islander's lives. Nevertheless, the ideas of this book — manufactured memory loss — are too intriguing not to enjoy.

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lageante's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

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