Convenience Store Woman
November 11, 2022
Sayaka Murata
Literary Fiction, Contemporary
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Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction ― many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual ― and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action…
A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.
I knew this book would be about a woman who was very different from many other people around her. However, I didn't expect it to turn out like this!
It was kinda sad to see people being frustrated with Keiko for not understanding certain social cues without properly explaining to her what she did wrong. When she was a child, she hit a boy on the head with a spade to stop him from fighting with another boy... because it seemed logical to her.
Eventually after being told her behaviour was wrong, she became quiet and distance throughout her school years.
Luckily she found a place where she belonged, as a convenience store worker where she would at least be told how to interact with others.
'Where morning comes, once again I'm a convenience store worker, a cog in society. This is the only way I can be a normal person.'
There was an instance in the novel where Keiko was hanging out with women her age and they brought up marriage and sexuality and they were very curious as to why Keiko was in her thirties and unmarried.
I was glad Asexuality was mentioned but one of the women stated that 'these days you can be Asexual or whatever you like,' which was kind of annoying. Keiko never mentioned that she was Asexual but she also never really had an interest in finding out her sexuality and neither was she ever interested in having sex.
At one point, she brought the guy Shiraha (who got fired from the convenience store for being lazy and creeping on women) because she felt bad for him for being homeless.
He openly told Keiko that he was going to be a parasite to her AKA freeload but she didn't catch on!
He was freeloading because he had rent to pay. Also he kept mentioning to her about how he doesn't want to sleep with her as if she actually gave a care.
Thank God she got rid of him in the end. Good riddance!
The ending was pretty abrupt but not boring so I think I could recommend it to others.
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Keep it all clean, man. Well, if you really wanna curse, use minor swear words. And I mean the minorest of minor ones.
"Or what?" you ask in indignation.
"Or else."