村田沙耶香: Convenience Store Woman (Dutch language, 2019)
På Dutch
Publicerades 24 november 2019
Convenience Store Woman (Japanese: コンビニ人間, Hepburn: Konbini Ningen) is a 2016 novel by Japanese author Sayaka Murata. It captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. The novel won the Akutagawa Prize in 2016. Aside from writing, Murata worked at a convenience store three times a week, basing her novel on her experiences. It was first published in the June 2016 issue of Bungakukai and later as a book in July 2016 by Bungeishunjū. The novel has sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan and is the first of Murata's novels to be translated into English. The translation, by Ginny Tapley Takemori, was released by Grove Press (US) and Portobello Books (UK) in 2018. The book has further been translated into more than thirty languages.
Convenience Store Woman (Japanese: コンビニ人間, Hepburn: Konbini Ningen) is a 2016 novel by Japanese author Sayaka Murata. It captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. The novel won the Akutagawa Prize in 2016. Aside from writing, Murata worked at a convenience store three times a week, basing her novel on her experiences. It was first published in the June 2016 issue of Bungakukai and later as a book in July 2016 by Bungeishunjū. The novel has sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan and is the first of Murata's novels to be translated into English. The translation, by Ginny Tapley Takemori, was released by Grove Press (US) and Portobello Books (UK) in 2018. The book has further been translated into more than thirty languages.
This book (as well as another of Sayaka Murata’s books, Earthlings) kind of makes you wonder if the author has done deep research on sociopathy or has some other way of getting inside that world…
The book was frustrating to read, even though some parts were interesting. I liked our main character, someone who genuinely enjoys her job at a convenience store, even though most people don’t see it as a respectable or “normal” job for her age. Her personality feels honest, neutral.... She doesn’t seem to care much about what society expects, but still looks to others for clues on how to behave. I understand why many readers interpret her as autistic or having autistic traits. What I found frustrating was how the story itself feels unsure whether it wants to be a slice-of-life or a “find your purpose” type of book, and that lack of focus weakens it. The character Shiraha was especially frustrating. He comes across as an incel-type who also doesn’t fit into society, but he doesn’t bring anything meaningful to the story. His presence feels mostly negative, and he doesn’t …
The book was frustrating to read, even though some parts were interesting. I liked our main character, someone who genuinely enjoys her job at a convenience store, even though most people don’t see it as a respectable or “normal” job for her age. Her personality feels honest, neutral.... She doesn’t seem to care much about what society expects, but still looks to others for clues on how to behave. I understand why many readers interpret her as autistic or having autistic traits. What I found frustrating was how the story itself feels unsure whether it wants to be a slice-of-life or a “find your purpose” type of book, and that lack of focus weakens it. The character Shiraha was especially frustrating. He comes across as an incel-type who also doesn’t fit into society, but he doesn’t bring anything meaningful to the story. His presence feels mostly negative, and he doesn’t grow or contribute in a deep way. I guess he was there to push Keiko to discover her own purpose, but it felt flat and disappointing. I hoped that part of the story would go somewhere or have some resolution, but it didn’t.
I read this in a day because it just gripped me. Slightly disturbing but in a very strange way.
