Omar Ashmouni’s Reviews > The Memory Police > Status Update

"Men who start by burning books end by burning other men,"

“Perhaps this was just evidence that his body was adapting to the secret room. Perhaps it was necessary to rid oneself of everything that was superfluous in order to immerse completely in this airless, soundproof, narrow space shrouded in the fear of discovery and arrest. In recompense for a mind that was able to retain everything, every memory, perhaps it was necessary that the body gradually fade away.”

"Sometimes I put my hand on the wall and try to imagine what's going on outside. It almost seems as though I can sense it-the direction of the wind, the cold, the damp, where you are, the sound of the river, all the vague signs. But in the end, it never works. The wall is just a wall. There's nothing on the other side, no connection to anything else. This room is completely closed off."

"The new cavities in my heart search for things to burn. They drive me to burn things and I can stop only when everything is in ashes. Why would I keep them when I don't think I will be able to recall the meaning of the word 'photograph' much longer,”

"My memories don't feel as though they've been pulled up by the root. Even if they fade, something remains. Like tiny seeds that might germinate again if the rain falls. And even if a memory disappears completely, the heart retains something. A slight tremor or pain, some bit of joy, a tear."

"It's true, I know, that there are more gaps in the island than there used to be. When I was a child, the whole place seemed... how can I put this?....a lot fuller, a lot more real. But as things got thinner, more full of holes, our hearts got thinner, too, diluted somehow. I suppose that kept things in balance. And even when that balance begins to collapse, something remains. Which is why you shouldn't worry."