For this class we have been asked to read two novels. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa is the first of the two. This novel tells the tale of an island that is affected by objects that disappear. Not only do objects disappear, so too do the memories and feelings that are associated with them. The narrator is a person who doesn’t remember the things that have disappeared, much like the others on the island, but there are people who do remember, and they have to be protected and hidden. The back of the book states that it is a novel about the trauma of loss, and I couldn’t agree more. The narrator’s editor, R, is a person who remembers many of the things that have been forgotten, so his process when it comes to loss is something that many can relate to, but the narrator along with others on the island can also be related to as well. Some people lose things but have no memories or feelings towards what they have lost. This can apply to objects and people, so I think this book covers both realms of the loss/grieving spectrum. I really enjoyed this novel and the fact that there were so many details in it.
The novel inside a novel was also a great touch on the author’s part, and it got me very immersed into both stories that were being told. I also thought that the narrator’s novels were reflections of her and how she was feeling. She may have found it easier to write her words and give her feelings/emotions to another person than to explain them for herself. This can also be a way to cope with loss or hard emotions so to me it was like watching her learn how to feel things and have emotions.
Ashanti: You write, “I also thought that the narrator’s novels were reflections of her and how she was feeling.” I’d love to see you discuss your sense of the ways in which the narrator’s novels “were reflections of her and how she was feeling.”