The Memory Police

by Yōko Ogawa

“If you read a novel to the end, then it’s over. I would never want to do something as wasteful as that. I’d much rather keep it here with me, safe and sound, forever.”

“It seems strange that you can still create something totally new like this—just from words—on an island where everything else is disappearing,”

“most things you worry about end up being no more than that—just worries.”