Welcome to Litsy!

It feels really weird to have red this in the current social and political climate of today. Finishing this I could see a couple of different ways to interpret this book but I think what stands out to me is commentary of the disappearance of truth in regards to memory.

#25Alive!

Two dystopian books involving #Memory I‘ve read. 🧠

Having trouble settling into any one book, so have at least six started and in various states of progress. Three of these are library books, which at least adds some pressure to keep reading. Memory Police will be finished first. Flamethrowers next. Braiding Sweetgrass is an audiobook, maybe it‘ll take a week. Case File Compendium is awful; I‘m using it as a sleep aid.

HAPPY #BOOKSPIN DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE!!!

It's 2025 so that means I am no longer behind on my BookSpin picks. I am excited to get started and keep on track.

Not tagged book, I'm not sure if this one's been translated into English.

If this was my first Ogawa, I wouldn't have read any other of her books. Hiroyuki is way too perfect, which makes a dull character. Then there whole plot is too “male-centered“, even though we have different female characters the book would not pass the Bechdel test.

#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks
#BacklistReadathon @Clwojick

Another book ticked off for #roll100 #hauntedshelf #skeletoncrew this was really unsettling, very sparse, but really built tension. Enjoyed it!

Is this book about the want of erasure of history in books, authoritarian government, or is it a look at dementia and old age?

I finished this on Saturday and I still haven't recovered. What a fascinating book.

#aboutabook #setonisland

This book has been widely read and recommended on booktok etc but it was not my fave. Felt like a slog sometimes. I also don‘t love when books contain excerpts from a book that the protagonist is writing - it irks me the same as when authors use dream sequences to propel the narrative forward or to inject some symbolism or push a theme. That‘s just my thing.

Loving this so far. Keep rereading passages because the writing is beautiful. Had to use a b/w filter for the photo because my office is aggressively beige. Ick.

I can't believe it's already time for August #BookSpin lists! New the the list this month is the tagged and Amatka. Looking forward to what the draw is.

What a great book! Beautifully written and very thought provoking. Set on an island where the Memory Police control everything. Everyday items are made to ‘disappear‘ overnight and the population adjusts by disposing of said items which are then erased from their memories. Anyone who retains their memories are arrested and never seen again. Interesting concept that is conveyed really well in this novel. Well worth reading

Scoop! Martin Scorsese and the author are executive producers for the American film version! Will star Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon.) should be awesome. Link: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lily-gladstone-to-star-in-me...

This is a dark, haunting, existential novel which evokes similar feelings as Kobo Abe‘s The Woman in the Dunes with a bit of 1984 thrown in. The story conjures questions such as: What is a memory? What is it good for? Does existence depend on memory or in other words if no one remembers a thing any longer, does it exist? As things are forgotten and slip out of existence, does it even matter? Or should efforts be made to preserve what can be?

#Rushathon #DashingDecember

Read along with #SheSaid I‘m still processing & unpacking this literary dystopian story about an island (one assumes it‘s in Japan) where things & people‘s memories about them disappear & the Memory Police are there to ensure they do. It‘s beautifully sparse & hauntingly written. A bit bleak for holiday reading, but it drew me in. There‘s also a story within a story with a novel the MC is writing. While I didn‘t ⬇️

Hello #SheSaid!

Can‘t wait to discuss this in the comments!

Hello #SheSaid!

I don‘t know about you, but the more they all forget, the more questions I have come to mind… I‘m really curious where and how this story will end!

Hello #SheSaid!

How are you “enjoying” our fiction this month? It‘s a nice change from non-fiction, but I‘m not sure enjoying is quite right. 😱 so far I‘m sucked into it though, very curious on where it‘s going next.

Repost for @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Up Next #SheSaid!

Sorry for the late schedule post!

Are we ready for some fiction?

Up Next #SheSaid!

Sorry for the late schedule post!

Are we ready for some fiction?

“A heart has no shape, no limits. That's why you can put almost any kind of thing in it, why it can hold so much.“

In a society where everyone is made to forget, how do we remember who we are? I loved the stillness and quiet suspense that hangs over this novel; and the secondary tale that is woven throughout adds an interesting parallel. 6/10

This is my second Yoko Ogawa novel, and I couldn‘t put it down. Semi-dystopia. Ogawa‘s ability to weave precious moments of love and human connection into the most desperate and hopeless situation is exquisite. The book raises and answers so many questions: how far can a system go in its determination to oppress? how much can people really put up with? do tiny acts of rebellion matter? Powerful read

An interesting concept... Things on the island disappear and all memories of the objects disappear too. There is a gene that prevents people from forgetting and The Memory Police are tasked with rounding them up as enemies. Really odd because the scare tactics are power of suggestion. Lots of layers here but it's super sloooow, which I struggle with when reading Japanese writing. This book is really cerebral.

I love that this book brought up questions but didn‘t provide answers; it‘s been a while since I‘ve read a book that allows a lot of room for interpretation and it had me thinking even long after I‘d finished it. I liked the writing, the characters, the atmosphere - glad to have finally read it! #titlesandtunes #islandvibe

This was amazing ♥️💔
Great story, great cover. Will be thinking about this for a while.
#titlesandtunes #islandvibes

#titlesandtunes #islandvibes
My thinking- book set on an island off Japan- one of my fave 80s groups Japan- awesome song Taking Islands in Africa 😁
I was hopeful no one else would choose this one.
About a 1/3 of the way through the book and loving it.

#titlesandtunes #islandvibes
Great first line.

I finished this yesterday and I'm still mulling it over. It didn't end the way I thought it might, but got darker than I expected--in a good way. Thought provoking and tender.

I really like this but I feel like I missed something. But sometimes it's literally just a dung beetle. It's compared to Kafka and Orwell but definitely totally its own thing also. I'm going to just let other people analyze the shit out of it.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Probably one of the most bizarre and disturbing dystopian books I‘ve read in a long time. The one thing I‘m left wondering is how and why the society came to create the memory police? #AuthorAMonth

I finished this book on my plane ride. Honestly this was so well imagined and terrifying. I loved this author‘s voice and the family these people found from each other.

On an unnamed island things just disappear, and the Memory Police make sure it stays that way. This book was haunting. I wasn‘t sure what to expect, but I really liked this book and will read more by this author. #AuthorAMonth

This is one I‘ll be thinking about for a long time. The style is experimental, and the larger metaphors and allegories seem to me to point to more than one thing. I think some people would find that frustrating, but I find it fascinating. I‘m definitely planning on reading more by Ogawa, though not during #AuthorAMonth as I want time to digest this one, (and time for some seasonal reading). @Soubhiville

I had a really hard time following this. The premise seems interesting but I just couldn‘t connect the story.

#AuthorAMonth

@Soubhiville

Originally written in Japanese in 1994 & translated into English in 2019, this book still manages to feel fresh & relevant. On an unnamed island, in an unknown time objects simply begin to vanish, where eventually the islanders can no longer recall the item or it‘s purpose. Our narrator, a novelist is terrified that one day words will begin to disappear not realizing there could be much greater worries. Not perfect but very thought provoking.

I started listening last night for #AAM and WOW!!!! It‘s really good. Mysterious and unsettling, sci-fi? dystopian? fantasy? Not sure how to classify this book but I‘m in!!

Here's my #bookspin #bookspinbingo for December - trying to finish a couple challenges and read what I received around this time last year! Looking forward to extra time off at the end of the year to read. @thearomaofbooks

I really like the premise of this novel, but I‘m bailing. Either it‘s the translation or the writing itself, but it‘s choppy making it hard to stay in the story. The narrator isn‘t helping either. 🫤

On to the next!

A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of a surveillance state. On an unnamed island, 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.

OCTOBER 2022 Wrap Up

I read 36 books, here are 16 of my favorites. I‘d say there was only 1 or 2 that were merely good, the rest were amazing!

The Stephen King readathon was fun! Some great books this month!

🎧 📚 I loved this book. I wasn‘t sure what to expect, I went in blind. A deliciously creepy story that‘s left me thinking. Well written & narrated! I got Fahrenheit 451 vibes. An Orwellian tale? Enjoyed it! A keeper!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️3/4

I really wanted to enjoy The Memory Police, and find the meaning in it that others seem to, but I couldn‘t shake the feeling that it was missing something the whole way through. There‘s no explicit reason given in the story for the existence of the Memory Police, or why they make the whole population forget these apparently random objects. It was hard to get invested. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-memory-police-yoko-ogawa/

Wow. This was incredibly thought provoking and I enjoyed it in a sense. And now I really have to find something lighter to read!

“Men who start by burning books end by burning other men.”

“Still,” began the ex-hatmaker, “I wonder if spring will ever come.”
The rest of them nodded in agreement.
“Perhaps it never will again,” murmured the woman with bad knees. 😱😱😱

“A heart has no shape, no limits. That‘s why you can put so much in it, why it can hold so much. It‘s much like your memory, in that sense.”

One of the characters goes to the library just to make sure the narrator‘s books are on the shelf as they should be 💕