Dragons & Jetpacks discussion

This has been on my radar for quite a while. Her other book The Housekeeper and the Professor might be my favorite read of 2023 so far. It's not sci fi or fantasy, but just a lovely story. I'm really looking forward to reading The Memory Police.

I'm starting this one today. I have been looking forward to reading another by Ogawa for a while too; so glad for the mod pick!

It's not fast paced, but I'm enjoying the eerie, otherworldly feel to the book. And I like the idea of the book within the book. I'm at about 40% done right now.

I don't have a perfect feel yet for what she's getting at with the central metapor of the disappearances and losses of memory, but I'm hoping that I get more of a feel for that by the end. I'm hoping it's more than a 1984 authoritarian sort-of thing and that the central metaphor starts to collect some deeper meanings as I get further.

But it's an interesting book, and I'm glad to be reading it.

I didn't come away with any concrete ideas and look forward to hearing your insights. The ending did hit me though, and I'll save that for when you're finished.

I'm a bit further now, about 2/3 done. At first, I liked the idea of the book within the book, but I wasn't sure how it fit with the story, but the book within the book (the typing school story) took quite a turn! It's highly disturbing and eerie, and I love the way those parts are written. It feels a bit like a fairy tale and is beautifully done.

I am getting a little better feel for what the forgetting might mean, though I'm still not too precise on it yet. :)

There are so many striking mini-stories surrounding losing one's voice, like the strange tale of the servants who polish and can't speak lest their breath disturb the polishing. It's a haunting idea. And it fits with the woman at the typing school whose voice is stolen, literally trapped and sealed off inside of the typing machine. And it also fits with the disturbing detail about insects who go silent when their antennae are cut off, as though losing the ability to sense the world for themselves makes them unable to articulate their own needs. When they can no longer interact with the world naturally, they forget to speak.

I like the part where the typing school instructor tells the woman: "When you lost your voice, you lost the ability to make sense of yourself."

And I guess this is part of it.

And I think it's also telling when R tells her, "The music continues to play, before the disappearance and after. It plays on faithfully, as long as the key is wound. That's its role, now and forever. The only thing that's different is the hearts of those who once heard it."

What is happening is not physical but internal; it's psychological and a matter of changes in the heart. And I guess maybe it's the crazy circumstances these people are living under with the constant threat of the Memory Police that is making them change in this way? Maybe they are losing contact with precious things inside of themselves by not being able to tell the truth about who they are? Like the polishers, by being forced not to speak for much of the time, they lose the ability to speak. And by losing the ability to speak, maybe they are losing the ability to make sense of themselves and the world.

Like the horrifying story of the circus freak who is stuck in a box and whose limbs freeze in contorted positions . . . except they are psychologically frozen and contorted by being stuck in a box of the mind.

Not sure, but that's kind of the way I'm thinking about it so far. I really am loving the book as I get further, but I think this book is not going to appeal to everyone. It has such a weird, nearly plotless way of working. In some ways, it reminds me a little of Blindness by José Saramago, where the book dwells mostly in details and much is metaphorical or unexplained.

I don't know if this book is really fantasy or sci-fi exactly? It feels more like magical realism to me maybe, or mythology, or perhaps something all of its own. I like that it blurs boundaries and mixes genres in such a way that it's hard to define.

I agree, I can see how it wouldn't quite be sci fi. It was startling how they knew when their memories were lost because they couldn't identify a thing anymore. When they lost the memory of birds, it was sad. They gathered and released all the birds. As more things were lost, I came to see it as losing the small things that aren't important to surviving but are important to experiencing meaning and joy inl life. Gradually, as they lost more and more, the lost things became their very voice. I found it unnerving.

The typing instructor story was more and more horrible as it unfolded and as she lost more function. I saw him as a metaphor for possible real people in our life who will cause that kind of damage over time if left to their controlling ways. Little bits and pieces over time.

Shawnie wrote: "I agree, I can see how it wouldn't quite be sci fi. It was startling how they knew when their memories were lost because they couldn't identify a thing anymore. When they lost the memory of birds, ..."

Completely agree Shawnie, and I found it unnerving too. I like your interpretation of the typing instructor - her descriptions of him become so perfectly creepy!!

I'll let you know when I finish so we can discuss the end. :)

Well, nothing was explained in the end! Not totally unexpected, though. Lots of metaphors and imagery; more literary than SFF.

Audrey wrote: "Well, nothing was explained in the end! Not totally unexpected, though. Lots of metaphors and imagery; more literary than SFF."

Yes, more literary than SFF. Genre tagging isn't as reliable as I'd like!

I think it still fits in the SF/Fantasy umbrella though, even if it's more toward the literary end like some books by Ishiguro or St John Mandel. I think it's nice that some books that stretch the genre are still included here in the group. The boundaries between genres can be so fluid and hard to define.

Thanks for choosing it as the mod special too; I loved the book!

I agree, Greg, about the fluid boundaries. You're welcome, and I really wanted to read another of her books this year.