I just finished The Memory Police, by Yōko Ogawa. Like Piranesi, I selected this because I was looking for something that might be engaging in small chunks while traveling. This novel started off well in that regard, but quickly revealed itself to be a more methodical and slow-paced story. Having recently read Murakami, I wonder if the deliberate and painstaking approach to pacing is a common feature of Japanese literature.

In this novel items disappear from a small island community both physically and in memory, while a secretive police force punishes those who fail to forget. At first, it seemed that Ogawa was writing a science-fiction novel and I looked forward to unraveling the mystery. However, just like her protagonist’s writing style, I am convinced she simply allowed the book to take whatever path it would. Her protagonist started writing a simple romance novel and allowed her wandering mind to transform it into a horror story about a rape-dungeon. Ogawa started writing a science-fiction novel and allowed it to become solely a metaphor for memory loss / aging / loss of power / dementia.

I did find the parallel between the rape-dungeon and the protagonist keeping R locked away from his wife under her floorboards to be interestingly self-aware. She certainly had no qualms about taking liberties with him while he was isolated from the world. But at the same time, it didn’t seem that he would ever see his family again and suffering alone until death may be noble, but perhaps not a great way to live your life.