Grab your earbuds before they disappear and listen to our discussion of The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. We talk about the setting, character development, memory and loss, and why this novel feels so timely even though it was originally published in 1994. Then we dig into some listener feedback for our Circe episode and tell you what’s on the #BookSquadBlog. Read along with us for our next #othersode, a spooky time with special guests Lisa Kroger and Melanie Anderson. We’ll be covering the Shirley Jackson classic We Have Always Lived in the Castle on September 23. Then grab a copy of Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers for our next #bookpisode on October 7. In the meantime, keep up with us on social media (@booksquadgoals), and send your thoughts to [email protected].

TOC:
0:46 - Introductions / what would you be happiest to see disappear from your life mysteriously?
6:47 - Goodreads summary & bonus info about Yoko Ogawa
13:00 - Setting & specificity
16:24 - Mary brings up Annihilation again, drink
20:20 - The nontraditional protagonist; is the narrator passive?
26:42 - Making sense of the disappearances
30:34 - Dying on the hill of genre
31:50 - The novel within the novel
38:57–the end of the novel
50:30–is this book psychic?
55:05–ratings and last thoughts
1:04:31–a piece of feedback on Circe
1:07:02–what’s on the blog? What’s up next?


Articles referenced:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/books/yoko-ogawa-memory-police.html

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/12/749538789/quiet-surreal-drama-and-disappearing-objects-in-the-memory-police