is a 1994

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by Yōko Ogawa. The novel, dream-like and melancholy in tone in a manner influenced by

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

writer

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ty ...

, takes place on an island with a setting reminiscent of that in

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalita ...

's ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...

''. An English translation by

Stephen Snyder Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

was published by

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved 6/20/2007, from EBSCO Host Business Sourc ...

and

Harvill Secker Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

in 2019. There is currently a film adaptation in the works with

Reed Morano Reed Morano (born April 15, 1977) is an American film director and cinematographer. Morano was the first woman in history to win both the Emmy and Directors Guild Award for directing a drama series in the same year for the pilot episode of The Ha ...

slated as director and

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films '' Being John Malkovich'' (1999), '' Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial ...

as screenwriter.

Plot

The story follows a novelist on an island under the control of the Memory Police. An unknown force causes the people of the island to collectively 'forget' and lose their attachment to objects or concepts, e.g. hats, perfume, birds and ribbon. As the inhabitants move on from the disappearances, the Memory Police enforce the removal of the disappeared objects from the island. The people who continue to remember, such as the author's mother, attempt to escape from the island or hide in safe houses to evade capture by the Police. R, the author's editor, reveals himself to be one of those who still remembers the disappeared objects, and fears that he will be taken by the Memory Police. With the help of an old man, a family friend, the protagonist arranges and hides R in a secret room in her home. While hiding, R then tries to help them recall some of the long disappeared objects to the author and the old man, though to no avail. As the calendars disappear, the winter continues and spring never comes. Food is becoming scarce on the island. The Memory Police raid the author's house as they celebrate the old man's birthday, but fail to discover the secret room, leaving them free. Subsequently, novels disappear as well, and the protagonist works as a typist. On R's insistence, she continues to work on her novel and keeps some books. After an earthquake, some of her mother's sculptures, given back by a family friend, break and reveal more objects that had disappeared, including a ferry ticket and a

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

. She decides to investigate her mother's cabin, which R believes contains more objects that have long disappeared. The author, along with the old man, manage to retrieve the objects and hide them in her home. One day, the old man dies from a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. Soon after, the inhabitants are made to forget some of their body parts, with the Memory Police capturing those who continue to retain their sense of the "disappeared" body parts. The author, despite much difficulty, manages to finish her novel of a love story that took a dark turn. The inhabitants, including the author, slowly began to accept their fate as they forget their own existence and vanish. Before disappearing, the author reassures R that he will be able to come out of hiding along with others who manage to preserve their memories.

Reception

In an article naming it one of the best books of the Summer of 2019, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' wrote, "Ogawa's fable echoes the themes of

's ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

'',

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

's ''

Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ar ...

'', and

Gabriel Garcia Marquez In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

's '' 100 Years of Solitude'', but it has a voice and power all its own." ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' called it: "A masterful work of speculative fiction ..An unforgettable literary thriller full of atmospheric horror." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' compared it to the novels of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic ex ...

and Kobo Abe, saying "Ogawa's ruminant style captures the alienation of being alive as the world's ecosystems, ice sheets, languages, animal species and possible futures vanish more quickly than any one mind can apprehend." Michael Adam Carroll, writing in ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Bost ...

'', was chilled by its timeliness: "Ogawa hits on something real in her novel—we must remember to write and write to remember, to ensure the survival of truth."

Awards and recognition

''The Memory Police'' was named a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature, as well as for the 2020

International Booker Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announce ...

. It was also named a finalist for the 2020

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

Publication history

* 411 pages. * 288 pages. * 288 pages.

Film adaptation

In October 2020,

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed t ...

announced a film adaptation of the novel with

slated as director and

as screenwriter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Memory Police 1994 Japanese novels Novels by Yōko Ogawa Kodansha books Pantheon Books books Harvill Secker books Japanese science fiction novels Novels set on islands