Q U I C K S T A T S
Characters: ⭐⭐. 5
Setting: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Writing style: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
T H E B O O K
// Content Warning: Blood / Cheating / Confinement / Death of animal (remains found) / Death of parent / Disappearances following arrests / Earthquakes / Fire (controlled) / Oppressive regime / Police brutality / Police raids/ Tsunami //
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Age rating: 17+
Genre(s): Dystopia
Pub date: August 13th 2019 (first published January 26th 1994)
P R E M I S E
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.
M Y R E V I E W
↬ PRE-THOUGHTS
When I say Jack Edwards influences my TBR, I mean the guy could literally release one video doing some weird shit and I'd add every single book title he mentions.
In case you're wondering what video this book shows up in, I got you :)
↬ PLOT
The Memory Police is a dystopia (shocking) and follows a young woman? (I don't remember if she even had a name) as she navigates adulthood and along with her added grief of losing both parents to some unknown causes, the most random objects keep disappearing. Hats, birds, perfume, calendars, you name it. But the thing is, nobody remembers them after their disappearance.
However, one day she comes across this person who has never forgotten anything and that's none other than her editor, R. No but his name is actually R. Anyways, stuff keep disappearing but he has never forgotten any of them. Desperate to save him from The Memory Police™️ and along with her kind old neighbour, they hide him in a well-furnished basement he ends up spending the rest of the novel in.
↬ WRITING AND SETTING
The concept was very unique and that's one of the reasons why I love Japanese literature. I recently got into this genre and let me tell you, one of the best decisions I've ever made (the others are pretty questionable so let's not talk about that) and you should definitely try it too.
The story takes place on an unnamed island isolated from the rest of the world. And at some point, maps and ships disappear so these citizens can't ever escape and don't know how to.
Honestly, I would love to learn Japanese just to read these books in the original language.
(Original title- 密やかな結晶 /Hisoyaka na kesshō/).
Here's a New Yorker review that you might find useful.
↬ CHARACTERS
The protagonist was a writer and keeping up to date with her work was a hassle from her side; halfway through a novel one of the objects she had included might have vanished and she has absolutely no recollection of its purpose.
The other characters were quite alright I suppose and the only critique I have is that the act of rebellion never comes. Like why would you go great lengths to hide this man whose wife is literally pregnant and just... leave him there? I was expecting a let's-overthrow-the-government moment but then the story just ends. And correct me if I'm wrong, did R just kiss her (the protagonist) while his wife was having his child? Sir, you've got the wrong woman.
I was quite disappointed because we are never explained about the police. At all. As the end grew nearer, I kept hoping that this would be the chapter the author would finally explain about the whole jazz behind the disappearing objects and the Police. I also have this theory that The Memory Police are people just like R and there's instances in which the police capture people with memories and arrest them. What if they actually trained them to become police officers like themselves to carry on the legacy?
↬ CONCLUSION
Pros: Unique storyline
Cons: Build up feels useless
Overall rating: 4/5
R E P R E S E N T A T I O N
Japanese main and side characters
S I M I L A R B O O K S
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
↬ To Winston Smith, a young man who works in the Ministry of Truth (Minitru for short), come two people who transform this life completely. One is Julia, whom he meets after she hands him a slip reading, "I love you." The other is O'Brien, who tells him, "We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness." The way in which Winston is betrayed by the one and, against his own desires and instincts, ultimately betrays the other, makes a story of mounting drama and suspense.
A D D I T I O N A L R E S O U R C E S
F I N D M E
Kommentare