Memory Piece
by Lisa Ko

Ambitious in scope and immensely profound, this is a book about friendship and nostalgia that has kept me awake over the past few nights, digesting the ways we intersect with others that we call friends and how individual memory and shared memory layer to form the pieces of our lives that define who we are, where and what we come from and shape who and what we become.

Structurally interesting, I found this incredibly difficult to get into, despite the 1980s setting which I crave in my reading. The performance art of the first third just wasn't capturing my interest and the characters felt narcissistic and stroppy, but I'm so glad I stuck with it, because the second section, set in the 90s tech growth world is so on the nose, it evoked a surge of nostalgia that I want prepared for. I was definitely not a person who gave anything technological to that world changing era, but socially I was tech-nerd adjacent, and I recognise all the characters that are on display here.

As the story takes a dystopian turn in the last third I simply couldn't stop reading. The 2040s that Ko predicts is believable and tangible. The arc from algorithms and data analytics to extreme gentrification and checkpoint controlled zones has enough legs to stand on.

With so much to unpack, witty so many thought provoking ideas this would make a fantastic book club pick.

Protect your data privacy, save your memories and value your friends.

Publication date: 21st March 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and #DialogueBooks for the ARC

We get three big sections concentrating on the three main characters - Giselle Chin, who becomes a performance artist then stages her own disappearance, Jackie Ong who is right there in the early, optimistic days of the internet, and Ellen Ng, who becomes an activist and squatter - in the 80s, around the turn of the millennium and then in the 2040s, when they're in their 70s. They all crop up in each other's stories and the narratives are closely and cleverly woven together. The art, the tech and the activism are all carefully portrayed in detail and the community Giselle, Jackie and Ellen have in their respective lives is examined.

What is it to live a good life? Should you give your art prize to your mother / sell your ethical business to a high bidder but then turn to helping people avoid surveillance / stay on in a crumbling co-op or escape, talk or remain silent? Big questions like these are asked, and others about friendship. This is essentially a book about friendship, with lovers and partners coming and going, and it sometimes reminded me a little of "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" with its long story line and technology development thread.

And of course it's about memory, about preserving memories and histories, from time capsules buried by schoolchildren to bigger projects. This seemed pertinent to me as I finished this last holiday read and set about photographing all our receipts so I only had a photograph and not a load of receipts! And although the third, post-apocalyptic, section seems grim, there is hope as we travel to the end of the book but not the end of the world. An unexpectedly original, wonderful and absorbing read which I very much recommend.

Blog review will be published 24 March https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2024/03/24/book-review-lisa-ko-memory-piece/

Thanks to Netgalley and Dialogue Books for my free digital ARC of Memory Piece! I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this expansive novel which manages to fit so much into just over 300 pages. It has a really interesting structure. It moves from the 1980s to the near future 2040 and follows three Asian-American women who are trying to make their lives matter.

I thought it was interesting in that their stories are not told at the same time - or rather, we don't get a picture of their lives in the same time. Giselle's story is told mainly in the late 90s/early 00s, Jackie's starts around the same time and then (I think) into the 2010s. But then Ellen's section jumps far into 2040. The women weave through each other's lives at various points, so we do get a sense of where they're all at at each stage, but I just thought that was such a unique way of telling the story!

Judging from other reviews, it seems like people either prefer the first two narratives or Ellen's, in the nigh-on dystopian world where gentrification has made New York unrecognisable, with checkpoints to get from various neighbourhoods. I'm in the first camp. While Ellen's section was still good, it was Giselle's art journey and Jackie's experience with the dot.com that really had me gripped. I wouldn't go so far as to say Ellen's section felt like a different book... But almost.

Covering everything from class, sexuality, gentrification, policing, environmental activism, tech, the gig economy and art, this is an ambitious novel to say the least. I think it had the potential to be longer and better for it.

The writing is stunning as well. I haven't read The Leavers yet, but you can bet I'll be making it a priority for 2024!

A great story about female friendship, identity, art, the early Internet and activism. The fast forward to 2040 felt a bit out of place, but apart from that a well paced and very enjoyable read.
Thank you Dialogue and Netgalley UK for the ARC.

This was really interesting - it functions almost as a piece of art in its own right and I really liked the inclusion of 'archive footage' amongst the text. The scope of this novel is huge but I though all three characters and time periods were well served and reading it was a really immersive experience, though I found the ending a little abrupt. Highly recommened and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ko’s writing is the strong point of this book - this story is split into 3 parts where we follow 1 of 3 friends in each part. sometimes this storytelling style can get murky but Ko does a great job of distinguishing the voices of these girls. it’s told in a bit of past/present/future format, and my only issue with the book is that I wished the future section was a little more fleshed out, we kinda jumped right into what the world is like in about 20 years from now - interesting concepts for sure but the potential wasn’t fully reached for me.

Intriguing tales of 3 separate Asian American girls through their childhood, early adulthood and old age.

All three girls can be considered artists in their own right, their lives running parallel yet intertwining at certain points.

The novel can get confusing in the third section however when trying to visualise America of the 2040's but this attempt is very admirable.

Memory Piece traces the lives of Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong and Ellen Ng as they grow from teenagers in 1980s America, through the technological and artistic explosions of the 1990s, and onto their old age in a dystopian future of the 2040s .Meeting initially because of their common identity as second generation Asian immigrants to America, their friendship becomes an abiding thread that ties the women together throughout their lives.

The novel explores their individual ambitions and aspirations: Giselle's struggle to create original art from her own life experiences, Jackie's rise through her engagement with the development of computer technology, and Ellen's concerns with environmental issues. While their friendship shifts through time, their lives are always intertwined.

Divided into three main sections, each woman's story is told in turn. The opening section, focusing on GIselle, seemed a little slow to me, but as I became more invested in the women's story, the pace picked up. The final section, in the dystopian future, read like a thriller, as Ellen sought to escape from a Manhattan ruled by a repressive political and policing system, and to reconnect with a freer community outside the enclave.

I'd recommend the book to friends, and as a lecturer in Creative Writing at BA/MA level, to students in an informal way. If relevant to future courses, I would certainly suggest it for inclusion as recommended reading.

An interesting, thought-provoking read. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of performance art and the feelings of alienation and guilt when not meeting parental expectations. While I didn't relate to the characters personally, I cared about them and their relationships. The portrayal of urban life in New York City worked very well. The dystopian future ending was an original yet realistic twist.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dialogue Books for an e-ARC.

This book is such a interesting and unique book. I got a bit confused in what gender this book is, is a dystopia? A romcom?. Is a very weird book because I do Belive this book will be interpreted by the reader and you as a reader will give it a meaning to the book. I find interesting how the author make such a interesting writting from common and trivial life situations. The way this book is written and the prose she use for describe places for me is breathtaking and such a beautiful thing to see in our contemporary literature. In the end for me the book is about identity, about friendship, and about love. This book isn’t easy to read, you need your whole attention on it. Isn’t a book easy to digest but is important to read it

After loving Lisa Ko's "The Leavers," I was excited to dive into "Memory Piece," expecting another impactful read. However, I found myself giving it a solid 3 stars. The book started on shaky ground for me; halfway through, I was still trying to figure out the main point and direction of the story. Although it's a fast and somewhat enjoyable read, the plot felt scattered and overly ambitious, almost as if it was trying to be two different novels at once.

The second half of the book, which focuses more on a "future" scenario, definitely caught my interest more than the first, but by then, it felt like a bit too much to process all at once. I was hoping for more hidden connections throughout the story to tie everything together and add layers of depth that would make the reading experience more engaging and meaningful. In the end, "Memory Piece" seems to lack the tight plot and immersive depth I was looking forward to, making it feel less cohesive than I had hoped. Despite this, it's not without its fun moments and could be a good pick for someone looking for a quick read without diving too deep.

Lisa Ko’s Memory Piece follows three American women of Chinese heritage who first meet in 1983, aged twelve, and maintain a connection into their seventies in a dystopian near future.
Each of the friends has a lengthy section following the very different directions their lives take. Giselle’s thread follows her career as an artist from her early work through to her reemergence as a reluctant cult figure years after her Disappearance Piece which neatly gave the finger to the art world. Jackie guides us through the development of the internet and its eager, rapacious exploitation by big tech companies, developing her own application for people to record their lives in the way Giselle did with her notebooks. Ellen is the inveterate activist on the fringes of their lives, faced with a bleak dystopia which feels not too far around the corner given the current rise of populism. Tough to keep these three narratives from diverging too far - there was a point in Ellen’s when I wondered if Ko might be losing her way but she brings her characters satisfyingly back together with their final project. Her ambitious novel left me both impressed and with a great deal to think about.