Reader Rendezvous – May Buddy Read

Are you looking for a virtual bookish space to connect and share your love of books with? Look no further than Reader Rendezvous!

Visit the Reader Rendezvous webpage for more information about the book club, how to join, your hosts and the monthly reads.


MAY BUDDY READ

THE MEMORY POLICE by Yōko Ogawa 

Originally published in 1994 in Japanese and an English translation was published by Stephen Snyder in 2019. 

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.

*Description from Goodreads.

The Memory Police was named a finalist for the following awards: 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature, 2020 International Booker Prize and 2020 World Fantasy Award.


Genre: Dystopian

Themes: loss, isolation, identity, freedom vs. oppression

Setting: nameless island

Content Warnings: confinement, police brutality, death, kidnapping, death of parent, emotional abuse, grief, body horror, gaslighting, infidelity, domestic abuse, ableism, deportation, animal death, torture, rape, dementia, slavery


Reading Breakdown:

Discord channels are organized by part to minimize spoilers and keep the chat going while reading.

Chapter 1 - 13

Chapter 14 -  20

Chapter 21 - 28


Grab a copy to read with us this month!

The Memory Police

The Memory Police

The Memory Police