Review of “The Memory Police," by Yoko Ogawa, 1994, reprinted 2020. Translated by Steven Snyder. {London: Penguin-Random House}

By Stephen Wilson, one of our reporters abroad

This book has been called “A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance…” (Amazon)

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“I sometimes wondered what was disappeared first—among all the things that have vanished from the island.”

"Long ago, before you were born, there were many more things here," my mother used to tell me when I was still a child, transparent things, fragrant things...wonderful things you can't help imagine," begins the Japanese writer Yoko Ogawa's novel {page one}.

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The novel is set on an unnamed island in an unknown country where an authoritarian state is forcefully depriving local people of all kinds of valuable possessions they disapprove for inexplicable reasons.  Not only do people lose things but also the words, memories, and sensuous properties linked to them and finally, their own physical bodies.

The main plot of the novel centers on an authoritarian dystopia where the state, via 'the Memory Police,' who appear all pervasive and formidable, are attempting to thoroughly control people by banning many things and the words associated with them.  They are constantly stopping people on the streets and carrying out raids on homes to check whether any fugitives are being hidden.

Although this novel reminds you of George Orwell's '1984,' the author expresses exceptionally her own voice and perception of things.  A female writer, knowing that it is only a matter of time when her publisher will be arrested, decides to offer a secret hideaway to him in her home.  She is also aided by a close friend, an old man who knew her family, who constantly helps both of them by fixing things and consoling her.  

Part of the suspense in the novel follows from wondering 'Will the fugitive be arrested?'

What will happen to the ‘trio?'  The book can also be understood as a kind of love story as the female author falls in love with her publisher.  The novel also appears to have been influenced by the 'magical realism' of South America as well as 'The Diary of Anne Frank.'

The author superbly captures the tense atmosphere of living in a cramped, and claustrophobic secluded room where you have to bend your head just to avoid hitting it against the ceiling.  The fugitive feels guilty about putting his host in danger.  The novel explores the complex relationship between the three main characters and how they attempt to preserve their sanity in such a stifling repressive atmosphere.  The author is afraid she will lose her ability to write and indeed suffers more and more from writer's cramp.  

Another persistent theme of the novel is about truly valuing the beauty and feel of small things we take for granted such as sculpted figurines, pebbles and even perfume.  When the writer can't recall the names of things which have vanished, her publisher poignantly says, "Don't apologize," he said.  "It is very hard to recall things that have disappeared."  He blinked and closed the "perfume" drawer.  "But I remember," he added.  "The beauty of the emerald and the smell of perfume.  I haven't forgotten anything" {page 63}.  

The Memory Police order the burning of all books.  This calls to mind the book-burning ceremony practiced by the Nazis.  'The library was completely engulfed by flames. Never before had I seen anything burn as bright or as beautifully, and the intense light and heat chased away all traces of the fear and sadness I had been feeling,' declares the female author. {page 183}.  An earthquake takes place where the old man's home is damaged leaving him homeless.  The female author puts him up and so all three of them dwell in the house.

One of the constant themes explored by Japanese writers is the threat of traumatic events or aging to a person's very personal identity through a loss or distortion of memories. For instance, if you read the Japanese writer Kazuo Ishiguro's novel 'An Artist of the Floating World' the main narrator, reflecting on past events keeps asking, 'Did this happen according to his or my words? ' and 'Did it really happen or did I imagine it all?  'In Yukio Mishima's Sea of Fertility Novels, Honda, a lawyer, wonders if his recollection of past events is partly invented by 'a phantom memory.'  Honda finally comes to an old woman over whom his friend had committed suicide because of unrequited love 60 years ago.  Honda is shocked to discover she has forgotten the name of this man.  Honda is horrified to discover that 'He had come to a place without memories.'  

Writers such as Haruki Murakami, Yukio MIshima, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Yoko Ogawa—to name but a few—are often exploring how to best to come to terms with Japan's dark past and where to go from there.  Many of the characters of those novels don't feel at home in a country they view as too materialist and absorbed with consumerism.  Those authors are not afraid to ask very awkward questions about cruelty to children, bullying, past and present fascist trends, and the complacency of many Japanese who seem too comfortable and at ease.  What is worse is the submissiveness to those in authority.  

Many events have had an unsettling impact on Japanese society indeed.  Consider these: the impact of many natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, nuclear accidents, plus horrific terrorist acts such as the 1995 Tokyo gas attack committed by a religious sect in an underground station which left 14 people dead and thousands injured.  Many Japanese writers seek to draw readers out of their relative safety zone to reflect on those alarming social undercurrents.

I highly recommend reading this book.  I enjoyed the deft use of dialogue, the tense atmosphere aroused by the actions of the Memory Police and the poignant and moving words and deeds of the characters who are always attempting to comfort each other.  Yoko Ogawa herself thinks that learning literature can inspire people to become more empathetic and understanding of other people.  I think she certainly understands the plight of a person becoming homeless if this novel is anything to go by!  

But don't read only 'The Memory Police.'  She has also written thoughtful and arresting books such as 'The Housekeeper and the Professor' and 'Revenge.'  The reader lucky enough to acquire those books is in for a treat!