The Memory Police
Will be published approx. on 6. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-5299-8841-3 (ISBN)
Description
On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . .
To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river, or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed.
When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn't forget, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next?
VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - nine masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.
'Beautiful... Haunting' Sunday Times
'This timeless fable of control and loss feels more timely than ever' Guardian
'A dreamlike story of dystopia' Jia Tolentino
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
'I cried. . . cracking ending' 5* reader review
'I loved it!' 5* reader review
'A must read' 5* reader review
'Worth 6 stars... what a novel!' 5* reader review
'Dark and unsettling - a fantastic read' 5* reader review
TRANSLATED BY STEPHEN SNYDER
To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river, or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed.
When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn't forget, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next?
VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - nine masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.
'Beautiful... Haunting' Sunday Times
'This timeless fable of control and loss feels more timely than ever' Guardian
'A dreamlike story of dystopia' Jia Tolentino
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
'I cried. . . cracking ending' 5* reader review
'I loved it!' 5* reader review
'A must read' 5* reader review
'Worth 6 stars... what a novel!' 5* reader review
'Dark and unsettling - a fantastic read' 5* reader review
TRANSLATED BY STEPHEN SNYDER
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 190 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
200 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5299-8841-3 (9781529988413)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2019
Vintage Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Persons
Yoko Ogawa (Author)
Yoko Ogawa has won every major Japanese literary award. Her fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, A Public Space and Zoetrope. Her works include The Diving Pool, The Housekeeper and the Professor, Hotel Iris and Revenge. Her dystopian novel, The Memory Police, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.
Stephen Snyder (Translator)
Stephen Snyder is a translator and professor of Japanese Studies at Middlebury College, Vermont, USA.
He has translated works by Kenzaburo Oe, Ryu Murakami, and Miri Yu, among others. His translation of Natsuo Kirino's Out was a finalist for the Edgar Award for best mystery novel in 2004, his translation of Yoko Ogawa's Hotel Iris was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2011 and The Memory Police was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020.
Yoko Ogawa has won every major Japanese literary award. Her fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, A Public Space and Zoetrope. Her works include The Diving Pool, The Housekeeper and the Professor, Hotel Iris and Revenge. Her dystopian novel, The Memory Police, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.
Stephen Snyder (Translator)
Stephen Snyder is a translator and professor of Japanese Studies at Middlebury College, Vermont, USA.
He has translated works by Kenzaburo Oe, Ryu Murakami, and Miri Yu, among others. His translation of Natsuo Kirino's Out was a finalist for the Edgar Award for best mystery novel in 2004, his translation of Yoko Ogawa's Hotel Iris was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2011 and The Memory Police was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020.