Book Review: The Memory Police

Yoko Ogawa’s latest novel to be translated into English is The Memory Police, Originally published in 1994, it is quite perplexing as to why it’s taken 25 years to get this story to us considering that Ogawa is one of the most popular authors in Japan. However, just like how Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale feels arguably more relevant now than when it was published, The Memory Police is an important piece of literature that feels very current.

The Memory Police follows an unnamed woman as she navigates life on an unnamed island, she is a writer whose only friends are an Old Man (also without a name) and her editor R. She leads a simple life under a totalitarian regime where things disappear: people, flowers, food - nothing is permanent and can be erased from existence and memory.

Evocative of Orwell’s 1984, but pretty much any piece of literature that has any modicum of paranoia gets dubbed as Orwellian. However, I do feel that The Memory Police goes a step further than standard dystopian novels, it explores the idea of how Memory is so integral to our existence and that without it our identity is compromised. It’s allegorical quality also means that the novel can have multiple different meanings, one person could read it as purely a political novel, another could see it as meditation on life itself, as how we get older things disappear, our memories get tarnished or lost completely. The disappearances could also become a metaphor for climate change, Mother Nature succumbs to the will of man and her bounty depletes after the greed of humanity squanders what she has given us.

As I worked my way through the novel it made my heart feel tender and with each disappearance I felt the novel become a little more tragic and by the last page I was in tears. It is an emotional read and I feel like it has left me thinking upon is contents long after I finished it. But I feel like its power to move the reader is exactly what makes it an enjoyable (if somewhat melancholy) read.

Disclaimer: I received a e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

July Books

Monstress vol 2: The Blood - Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

I read the first volume of this comic book a few years ago and I really enjoyed the artwork and the complex but compelling storyline. But for some reason I only got round to reading the next instalment this July and I am rather annoyed that I didn’t read it sooner, but I guess it’s better late than never.

Monstress is an epic fantasy series set in a Matriarchal world and follows Maika Halfwolf who is learning to come to grips with the fact that a demonic entity resides within her. She is also navigating a world that is at war while trying to avenge the death of her mother. Its a complex but beautiful story.

Europa - Han Kang

I love Han Kang’s writing, she is a master at her craft (whenever I write this word I always write my surname Crafter, and then have to delete the extra letters and de-capitalise the C! I literally can’t help it!). Europa is a very short story but it is brilliant nonetheless. The story touches on gender identity, the break down of marriages and friendship all in 36 pages.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

I am so getting in to the Harry Potter books, and I guess it’s better late than never. But to be honest the main reason why I didn’t read the books or watch the movies when I was younger was because some mean girls at school said that I looked like Dobby the house elf and in the P.E. changing rooms they would throw dirty socks at me. It was traumatising to say the least. But I can now put the distance between that time and now and enjoy this series at last.

Milena, Milena, Ecstatic - Bae Suah

Bae Suah is another Korean author who I love reading and this little novella is in the same series of Korean short stories as Europa by Han Kang published by Strangers Press as part of the 여유 (Yeoyu) collection. The story follows a lonely filmmaker as he navigates life and when his indie film is wins a grant his life gets a little weird. This short story kinda reminded me of A Painful Case from James Joyces’ short story collection Dubliners. I don’t know if thats just me but I did.

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This was the Books & Bunnies Book Club pick of the month and while it was an enjoyable read I feel like I made a misstep reading it after watching the TV series, I should have read it years ago when I first bought it!

This past month was a rather good reading month but I am still behind on the Goodreads challenge to read 50 books this year so I think August will be a hectic month of catching up!

May and June Books

Silly me, I haven’t got a photo of for this post as I have passed on most of the books that I read to a charity shop before I finished writing this post!

Questions of Travel - Elizabeth Bishop

This May I had to hand in my last essay of the year (excluding that juicy 3hr exam in June) and after deliberating between writing about a play I thought was lacklustre but probably quite easy to write about and a collection of Bishop’s complex poetry that I rather enjoyed, I chose Bishop. It worked out I got a good grade and I rediscovered my love for reading and analysing modern poetry. This collection is thought provoking and lays Bishop’s soul bare. I really enjoyed it so it’s more than likely that I’ll be delving into more of her work in the future, or at the very least revisiting this collection. The book is not pictured as I was fortunate enough to have the collection provided by my university in an anthology.

Another Man’s City - Choi In-ho

Orwellian? Kafkaesque? Perhaps a dash of both but there is also a little The Matrix added in for good measure. Another Man’s City follows K (oh look a casual Kafka reference) as he tries to find out why his world suddenly feels like its populated with fake versions of the people around him, including his Wife and Daughter. Personally, I felt like the premise was interesting, but the execution felt a little underwhelming, and I found myself stopping and starting the book rather than getting hooked and devouring a short 190 page novel in one sitting.

The Duchess of Malfi - John Webster

A Renaissance Play that isn’t Shakespeare! Yes they do exist, and The Duchess of Malfi is a rather good one. As I had to read this play for uni I have of course analysed the play to the moon and back so I’ll keep it brief as I could quite easily write a rather long essay on it! The play is set in Italy and follows a Duchess who breaks societal expectations and decides to re-marry for love not status…of course being a tragedy expect death…lots of death.

When Adam Opens His Eyes - Jang Jung-il

This Korean novel was rather controversial on its publication back in the 90’s, but from a modern western perspective it’s not really that shocking which makes for an interesting read. Adam is on the cusp of adulthood and while he waits a year to retake a university entrance exam so that he can get into a top university he uses this time to find freedom and to learn about the world around him. When Adam Opens His Eyes is quite clearly a bildungsroman but it is also a story about a country on the edge. In the late 80’s Korea hosted the olympics and found itself struggling to uphold democracy while still reeling from the horrors of the Gwangju Massacre of 1980. In short it was a testing time and this is reflected in Adam’s navigation of his life and the encounters he finds himself in.

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling

Not going to lie I didn’t read this book…Stephen Fry read it to me. Yes I have finally jumped on the Audible hype train. Previously I have always felt like I just didn’t have time to add audio books into my life but my morning makeup routine has become the perfect moment to delve into audiobooks as its a relaxing and therapeutic process that is also a productive use of time. Perfection! And I have already started listening to Chamber of Secrets!

Book Club: July is Good Omens

"‘Let’s start the book club again,’ Cate said for the fourth time with a knowing smile on her face.

Yes I am rebooting the Book Club because I need to force Charlotte (my sister who I used to share this blog with) to read as she only picks up a book once in a blue moon. So it goes without saying, I need to save her from the bookless life she is currently living! So each month we will pick a book to read and you can read along with us, on the first Sunday of each month we will then make a video about the past months book where we discuss what we think of it and you can join in with the discussion too!

Yay, sounds like fun? Stay tuned for the book reveal which has technically already been revealed in the title of this blog post.

This month we are reading…Good Omens!

March and April Books

Oh it has been a rather busy two months, I am nearing the end of my second year of university and the pressure is mounting up. I feel like Atlas crumpled under the weight of the world, oh what i would do just to release the tension for a short while. Alas I only have until the second week of June and then I am free for the rest of summer! I can do this!!

here are my March and April reads

Conversations With Friends - Sally Rooney

I made it my mission to finish the last chunk of this book off as soon as possible, which I achieved which then gave me some time to read a million and one poems for uni (I exaggerate, which should be no surprise, a million and one…no university could be that cruel). I enjoyed the book but I think it wasn’t as good as Normal People, which is to be expected really as in anything people get better as they gain experience, and seeing as Conversations with Friends was Rooney’s debut novel, it would be weird if it was better than Normal People.

The Strange Library - Haruki Murakami

Murakami is my ride or die author, when I want to read something I know I’ll love it always has to be one of his books, and because I was feeling rather bored with all the texts I was having to read for uni I took a short respite in the pages of a Murakami. The Strange Library is a very short book (can’t be spending too much time away from studies now can we!) and the edition I have is beautifully designed with a plethora images that make this book a whole experience to read.

The Lonely Londoners - Sam Selvon

This book is a succession of snapshots of immigrant life in London during the 20th Century and it’s written in a Caribbean dialect to reflect the characters the book focuses on. And while I can appreciate the innovations Selvon makes I found it rather boring, and the constant flitting between characters was rather jarring for me personally. I had to read this book for uni and I think its safe to say I won’t be reading it again and I probably wont check out Selvon’s other works either.

Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino

Invisible Cities is not just a novel by any means. It’s a poetic study of the human experience. Framed by a conversation between the famed Venetian explorer Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, Invisible Cities explores 55 different cities that may or may not be imaginary or in the very least a description of Polo’s hometown Venice. This novel isn’t for everyone, and at first it wasn’t even for me as it had remained on my bookshelf for about 3 years prior to me picking up again this April! But as I’m in the midst of a creative writing module for my degree I decided to give it another go and I loved it. If you want to read abstract literature that doubles up as a masterclass in description writing then get reading.

The Dubliners - James Joyce - A Solid 85% of the book!

Bleak, haunting and unrelenting The Dubliners is a collection of short stories that follows the disenchanted inhabitants of the Irish capital at the beginning of the 20th century. Another uni book but unlike most of the texts I’ve had to read this year I actually really like The Dubliners, and the stand out story for me has to be A Painful Case which I actually wrote and essay about (simply because I liked it the most and somehow my tenuous link to the essay subject paid off). I haven’t quite finished all of the short stories as I have had to write my own short story for uni this month which has taken a little longer than I thought it would (I had to do quite a lot of research for it!).