The Memory Police by yoko ogawa, stephen snyder (translator)
This started out so strong - I was intrigued about the concept of the disappearances and was excited to see where the story went. But... the story went nowhere. It seems unfinished, almost. As I was getting closer to the end, I kept checking how many pages left because I didn't know how it could wrap up in thirty pages.. it kind of doesn't. There seemed so much left unsaid, and there's no way for a reader to fill in the blanks given the very limited information.
The premise of the novel was very 1984-esque; every so often, random items would disappear. Like perfume, or candy. When this would happen, the inhabitants of the island would forget about those things themselves, and get rid of any of the disappeared items they still owned. The memory police ensured the disappearances, and took care of any individual who could still remember the items once they were gone. The novel builds the suspense and curiosity throughout the pages, and the reader stays on the edge of their seat waiting for the climax that reveals the reason/purpose of everything that happened — but this is never revealed. It seemed very anti-climactic to me, and I was very disappointed with the amount of explanation given. There is not very much speculation room, only very vague instances that never become clear.
All of this being said - I did enjoy the novel. I was invested and engaged, but it is like the author leaves you empty handed. Just like the yellow candies that the characters eat that dissolve instantly, but are sweet while still solid. While actively reading the novel, it is very entertaining and engaging, but upon reflection there are many many holes and bothersome aspects.
SPOILERS BELOW:
The main character never ends up developing the ability to remember. She just.. disappears? And the author is not very specific on how the inhabitants of the island moved when their leg disappeared, and then their arm. I can't imagine how they would be able to walk at all, but they keep going to work like nothing happened.
I thought that the parallels drawn between the novel she was writing about the typist and her own story were an interesting addition; both the character in the story and the main character of the novel ended up being nothing in the end.
I really was hoping for more connection to the characters, but it didn't seem very character-oriented and did not dredge up much emotion besides curiosity. The writing itself was very poetic, even the way that the characters spoke were as if they were spouting prose about beautiful things - but it was missing the emotion. The description of emotions and such were subpar, making it difficult to relate to and connect with the characters.
Overall, the concept seems foolproof, but the novel was a skeleton. It was missing so much that really creates a well-rounded novel (in my opinion, of course), and I kept thinking that the author would drop the bomb on why the memory police exist, where the disappeared things go, if anybody who was taken lived, what happened when the old man was stuck with them, etc etc. Sometimes good books don't have to be well-rounded, because they are done well enough and focus on the specific message it is trying to send; this novel was too vague to be attributed strongly to one aspect of literature.