Hooked on Books discussion

Welcome to the August "Main" Buddy Read!
starts 1-August-2025, ends 30-August-2025

As we enter August, let’s slow down and turn inward with Obon. This month, we reflect on the threads of memory and the weight of loss, how stories connect us across time, honoring those we’ve loved and the echoes they leave behind. Whether whispered in quiet grief or shared in celebration, these narratives remind us that remembrance is its own kind of legacy.

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses—until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.

When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.

A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.

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This was an interesting read. I'm still trying to figure out my thoughts!

I started this today. Read the first chapter. Not sure if this is going in the same direction as The Dream Hotel but I'm getting that vibe; that book was more the Dream police - I recommend it, it was five stars for me.

I just started listening to this today. I'm interested. Has that Japanese air of placid melancholy.

I've got The Dream Hotel on hold at the library - glad to hear its good!

"And what will happen if words disappear?"

Do we make new words to replace them? New words are being made every day and many become antiquated and unused, but it is a thought I don't want to consider.

I'm just about halfway through. A few thoughts at this point:

▪️it's interesting that people don't know what has "disappeared" right away. It's not until they are together the next day and they signs - the rose petals in the river as an example.

▪️The typist story is odd and I'm not sure what the connection is the rest of the story. The student's way of speaking was through typing. (view spoiler)[After taking away her typewriter, the teacher tells the student, "You'll forget you ever had a voice". Her voice had disappeared and she will never remember she had one if she can't type again. I think this may be the story's author way of telling the story of the disappearances. (hide spoiler)] As an aside, I used to know how to change the ribbon in a typewriter!

I thought the typing teacher (or whatever he was) was very odd! That's a great point you made about why the author incorporated the typing teacher and the typing.

a few thoughts as well:
- perhaps it is because I find the narrator slightly robotic sounding, but I am quite detached from the characters. Like they are merely devices to build out the metaphor of erasing the past, striping a culture of its history, etc.
- I feel like this would have been an amazing short story
- on a personal note, with a parent who is slowing showing more cognitive issues, the pain only occurs when she realizes she forgot something -- but the color in her life quietly fades day by day.

Pg 184 - I remember hearing a saying long ago: “Men who start by burning books end by burning other men.”

Of course I had to look this up. The actual statement was ‘Wherever books are burned, men also, in the end, are burned’ and it belongs not to the twentieth century but to the nineteenth. The author who wrote these words was a German Romantic named Heinrich Heine. It has become famous as a kind of warning statement about the dangers of extreme forms of censorship.

Good points, Teddie.
I have experienced the same with my mom.

I didn't love the book, but didn't hate it either.

Finished. I agree with both of you. I did like the "old man".

But the book did make me think at times.

It definitely made me think - playing out the idea of people literally forgetting who they are, parts of their histories, while the artists and a scant few of others retain their memories - I love the concept. And its message is all the sharper in these days when our museums are under attack, and text books are being rewritten, etc.

I read another short book this month that pairs very well with The Memory Police:

(Thanks to TT for making me look for a book with a Tunisian author :) )

I had a very similar thought as I was reading. It's like they are rewriting the history - when people begin forgetting things and the very existence is erased, then only the very few people who retain all their memories would even know that things were not as they had been. Of course those few are branded as outlaws and hunted.

Angie ☯ wrote: "I had a very similar thought as I was reading. It's like they are rewriting the history - when people begin forgetting things and the very existence is erased, then only the very few people who ret..."

That strategy is definitely in the playbook - tragic, the number of ancient artifacts destroyed by radical groups who are trying to erase the memory of what was before. Rewrite history then teach the updated version. Scary really.

Finally starting this, hopefully I'll finish before month end - first chapter is bizarre, such an interesting concept.

Ashley - I felt the entire book was a bit bizarre!

Alright, here's my "breakdown" of Chapters 1–7

The idea of collective forgetting is such an unusual (and frightening) concept. What unsettles me most is how casually the island’s people seem to accept it. They just release their memories, like the birds they set free, and move on as if nothing mattered.

I also found it strange that when things are “disappeared,” people still refer to them. The objects are gone, but the words and faint traces remain. It leaves behind this uneasy sense of absence that lingers in the story.

A few quotes that stood out to me:

📖 “If you read a novel to the end, then it’s over. I would never want to do something as wasteful as that. I’d much rather keep it here with me, safe and sound, forever.”

📖 “I mean, things are disappearing more quickly than they are being created, right? ..... If it goes on like this and we can’t compensate for the things that get lost, the island will soon be nothing but absences and holes, and when it’s completely hollowed out, we’ll all disappear without a trace. Don’t you ever feel that way?”

YIKES!

Chapters 8–17

So, R. I thought at first he might be set up as a love interest, and then—surprise—he’s married with a baby on the way. Now that I’ve finished Chapter 17… yeah, I’m irritated. (view spoiler)[It just feels icky. And not in the "ooh, complicated and layered" way, more in the "ugh, really?" way. (hide spoiler)]

Her decision to hide him does show her empathy, but I can’t shake the weird vibe. Something about R just feels off, and I don’t know if it’s him, the situation, or both. Either way, I’m side-eyeing.

Meanwhile, I am much more interested in the ferry man. He’s got this grounded, steady presence that I like way more than R’s strange, lurking energy. More ferry man content, please.

Also, that novel-within-the-novel? I’m assuming it’s hers, and the parallels are… a lot. Almost too on the nose, but in a way that makes me curious to see where Ogawa is going with it.

Side Note: I will absolutely finish this before the month end - if I have to stay up late, I'm finishing!

Ok, I finished... I think 3 stars, but I'm going to ponder it overnight before writing a review. This was... very strange.

Alright, I left it at 3, because it was nice, but....


The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


So, I went into this one expecting a classic dystopian-authoritarian story... and we got that, at least at first. The setup is chilling: disappearing objects and memories from the world, and a Police force ensuring everyone toes the line. I was confused but captivated.

But as the story progressed, it became increasingly odd in a way that (for me at least) didn't seem to work. I found myself more confused than horrified. My connection to the main character stayed strong throughout, but R, who I initially found intriguing, became an icky romantic subplot I didn't want. At times, I really wondered if I was missing something.

I do like the concept, and the prose is actually quite nice, but ultimately, I feel like I, like the characters, just mentally floated away.



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