Yoko Ogawa

Though I’ve tried, I’ve found no way to fill in the voids left by the Memory Police.

The mention of money was probably nothing more than a smoke screen.

they were almost off-putting.

he believed that mistakes were often as revealing as the right answers. This gave us confidence even when our best efforts came to nothing.

I couldn’t hear him clearly, but I decided not to ask him to repeat himself, in case it had been something less romantic

Jealousy seems to make me suffer in the most unexpected ways

I must have had a good reason for wanting to kill myself, but I’ve forgotten what it was

No matter how much I tried to sleep, worries seemed to form like so many bubbles, but unlike bubbles they floated about forever in my head, refusing to pop

No one knows and no one needs to know. Time is a great healer. It just flows on all of its own accord.”

The words lined up on the page felt quite different from those that were spoken.