These Memories Do Not Belong to Us
A Novel
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to Cart failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Please try again
Unfollow podcast failed
Please try again
Get 30 days of Standard free
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Buy for $24.30
-
By:
-
Yiming Ma
When I was a boy, my mother used to tell me stories of a world before memories could be shared between strangers . . .
In a far-off future ruled by the Qin Empire, every citizen is fitted with a Mindbank, an intracranial device capable of recording and transmitting memories between minds. This technology gives birth to Memory Capitalism, where anyone with means can relive the life experiences of others. It also unleashes opportunities for manipulation: memories can be edited, marketed, and even corrupted for personal gain.
After the sudden passing of his mother, an unnamed narrator inherits a collection of banned memories from her Mindbank so dangerous that even possessing them places his freedom in jeopardy. Traversing genres, empires, and millennia, these memories once belonged to sumo wrestlers and social activists, armless swimmers and watchmakers, all struggling to survive amid the backdrop of Qin’s ascent toward global dominance. Determined to release his mother's memories to the world before they are destroyed forever, the narrator will risk everything—even if the cost is his own life.
Powerful and provocative, These Memories Do Not Belong to Us masterfully explores how governments and media manipulate history to control the collective imagination. It inspires us to see beyond the sheen of convenient truths, revealing stories of sacrifice and love that refuse to be eradicated.
Critic reviews
“Stunning. A deeply imaginative debut of a near-future dystopia, profoundly humane in its exploration of memory and the stories that make us who we are.”
—Vincent Lam, Giller Prize–winning author of Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
“Chilling, poignant, and uncomfortably timely. Ma’s braided memory dispatches explore a future in which the shifting concepts of safety, loyalty, and truth lead nowhere except condemnation.”
—Tessa Hulls, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Feeding Ghosts
“Mesmerizing. A deeply felt and meticulously crafted novel that entrances the reader from the first sentence to its last.”
—Jason Mott, National Book Award–winning author of Hell of a Book
“This isn’t just a novel. It’s a revolutionary experiment in how our memories and histories can save us. By turns heartbreaking and eerily prescient, Ma’s ambitious debut breaks open the hidden parts of us and scatters them across the night sky for you to discover.”
—Sequoia Nagamatsu, author of How High We Go in the Dark
“Yiming Ma’s gripping, kaleidoscopic debut marries our current anxiety around
surveillance, technology, personal data, and geopolitical unrest with a world where
stories remain a tool for connection and revolution.”
—Lillian Li, author of Number One Chinese Restaurant
“Extraordinary. A melancholic mosaic of lives brilliantly bearing witness to the ways
memories shape and reshape individuals, nations, histories, and futures.”
—Ai Jiang, Nebula and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Linghun
"A chilling dystopian novel in stories. . . . Throughout, Ma bravely and lucidly portrays how an authoritarian regime seeks to control people's minds, and how people's lives can be commodified by technology. This timely work leaves readers with much to chew on."
—Publishers Weekly
"Ma is a brilliant mind with a shining voice. His writing is spellbinding, and his plot and characters are innovative and engaging. Reading it was reminiscent of . . . Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life. It made me believe that books can change my brain's chemistry."
—Debutiful
"Powerful and provocative, These Memories Do Not Belong to Us masterfully explores how governments and media manipulate history to control the collective imagination. It forces us to see beyond the sheen of convenient truths and to unearth real stories of sacrifice and love that refuse to be eradicated."
—Electric Lit
—Vincent Lam, Giller Prize–winning author of Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
“Chilling, poignant, and uncomfortably timely. Ma’s braided memory dispatches explore a future in which the shifting concepts of safety, loyalty, and truth lead nowhere except condemnation.”
—Tessa Hulls, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Feeding Ghosts
“Mesmerizing. A deeply felt and meticulously crafted novel that entrances the reader from the first sentence to its last.”
—Jason Mott, National Book Award–winning author of Hell of a Book
“This isn’t just a novel. It’s a revolutionary experiment in how our memories and histories can save us. By turns heartbreaking and eerily prescient, Ma’s ambitious debut breaks open the hidden parts of us and scatters them across the night sky for you to discover.”
—Sequoia Nagamatsu, author of How High We Go in the Dark
“Yiming Ma’s gripping, kaleidoscopic debut marries our current anxiety around
surveillance, technology, personal data, and geopolitical unrest with a world where
stories remain a tool for connection and revolution.”
—Lillian Li, author of Number One Chinese Restaurant
“Extraordinary. A melancholic mosaic of lives brilliantly bearing witness to the ways
memories shape and reshape individuals, nations, histories, and futures.”
—Ai Jiang, Nebula and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Linghun
"A chilling dystopian novel in stories. . . . Throughout, Ma bravely and lucidly portrays how an authoritarian regime seeks to control people's minds, and how people's lives can be commodified by technology. This timely work leaves readers with much to chew on."
—Publishers Weekly
"Ma is a brilliant mind with a shining voice. His writing is spellbinding, and his plot and characters are innovative and engaging. Reading it was reminiscent of . . . Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life. It made me believe that books can change my brain's chemistry."
—Debutiful
"Powerful and provocative, These Memories Do Not Belong to Us masterfully explores how governments and media manipulate history to control the collective imagination. It forces us to see beyond the sheen of convenient truths and to unearth real stories of sacrifice and love that refuse to be eradicated."
—Electric Lit
No reviews yet