Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori Review

I have a bit of history with this book. I first read it when I picked it up off the new release shelf at my library, I honestly just thought the cover was cute. I had never heard of the author and wasn’t online enough to know that this was a popular or to have any expectations going into it. So I read it and didn’t really understand it as a teen, but shrugged and moved on with my life. Now that I’m on this platform and seen everyone reading and discussing it, I decided to revisit this one and hope to garner more from it now that I’m older and could understand the themes Murata had been hoping to convey.

I suppose this novel is a bit like Animal Farm. Yes, you can read it without understanding the historical context, the meaning and message Orwell was trying to convey. That’s how I read it the first time. But this time, I could understand and see that the protagonist is living in a sort of oppressive Japanese society. Her potential autism and the sexism she faces. The quirkiness, her strangeness, it reads almost a bit like The Stranger by Camus. However, I didn’t really understand what Murata is attempting to present to her reader. Yes, it’s commenting on society and the patriarchy and expectations of workers, especially female, in a capitalist society and system. I just didn’t see what new ideas or insights Murata is trying to offer. We know it sucks. What about it though? I didn’t expect her to solve the system through this short volume, but what is she trying to accomplish? I was a bit underwhelmed, but I enjoyed the journey, I thought the characters were charming and funny and well thought out.

I guess I’m curious why you guys like this, or what you took away, I wanted to see this as amazing or unique or interesting but I walked away feeling sort of ambivalent and that my life is exactly the same as before reading it. It didn’t really make me think about or reconsider how I feel about Japanese or modern society in general, which I was hoping for, and truly, what I hope for with every book I pick up and read.