Read The Memory Police: Amazon | Goodreadsīerserk by Kentaro Miura, translated by Duane Johnson and Jason DeAngelis Anyone looking for some Japanese fantasy novels that will creep you out should definitely pick this one up.Įxplore even more books set on islands, big and small. The more you think about this simple premise, the more unsettling it gets. The unnamed protagonist’s mother is one such person she can only be kept hidden and safe for so long. There are a few that remember the smell of perfume, or the color of roses.īut those people live in fear of the Memory Police, who routinely patrol the streets, rounding up those who haven’t forgotten what they were supposed to forget. It’s a curious phenomenon, made more so by the fact that no one remembers that these things were ever there. What if there was an organization in charge of what you could and couldn’t remember? That’s the premise of Yōko Ogawa’s intriguing and unsettling fable.įor the residents of an unnamed island off the coast of an unnamed land, life is normal, except things keep disappearing.įirst hats, then ribbons, then birds seemingly cease to exist – and it gets more serious from there. The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder Read Kafka on the Shore: Amazon | Goodreads With a sometimes dreamlike quality to its proceedings, it often leaves readers free to decide their own interpretation of the book. Kafka on the Shore has some relatable and likable characters. Like many of his other Japanese fantasy novels, there’s plenty of magical realism and a lot of quirky “miracles” to enjoy here, as well as some particularly dark moments. Kafka on the Shore serves as a good introduction for newcomers to Haruki Murakami’s books. Since a mysterious incident in his childhood, he has been seen as something of a simpleton, but in addition to the mental difficulties, he has also become something of a cat whisperer. Our second main character is the aging Nakata.

Both are separate, yet both are indelibly linked.įirst, we are introduced to Kafka, a 15-year-old runaway fleeing from the dark implications of a prophecy against his father.Īs he searches for the rest of his missing family, he may just find a new one who will take him in.

Two protagonists, two odysseys of discovery. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel

The Stories of Ibis by Hiroshi Yamamoto