The Memory Police
A Novel
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4.0 • 321 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Finalist for the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award
A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor.
On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . . . Most of the inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few able 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 writer discovers that her editor is in danger, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards, and together they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past. Powerful and provocative, The Memory Police is a stunning novel about the trauma of loss.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * TIME * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * THE GUARDIAN * ESQUIRE * THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS * FINANCIAL TIMES * LIBRARY JOURNAL * THE A.V. CLUB * KIRKUS REVIEWS * LITERARY HUB
American Book Award winner
Customer Reviews
What was so good...
SEMI SPOILER ALERT
This was a 5-star book for 96% of the story. The meta ending turned me off so violently it gets significantly dinged. I felt like I was reading a true classic then all of a sudden it goes RL Stine on me.
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A beautifully written book that I want badly to recommend to others so much but can’t because I don’t want them to experience its one huge flaw. Gotta keep my recommendation cred intact.
What the heck did I just read?
Though poetically written with great narrative flow, this story has a lot of plot holes. Like, who is the memory police? What’s their origin and ultimate goal? And what is the significance of the typist story (beyond evidence of Stockholm syndrome)? This was different to say the least.
Original and Powerful
I’m in awe of the mind of the author. Such depth, imagination and empathy. Not a happy book, and I can imagine that it’s not for everyone. The dystopian aspects meld with the complexity of the experience of being human. Touching, terrifying, and moving.