The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
meshaeel_'s review against another edition
4.5
Leave the damn girl to work at a convenience store if she wants damn
tallahasseefloyd's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
kpatrice362's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it, although not as much as I thought I would. Furukura is a great main character and I loved seeing the world through her eyes. It was a decent commentary on work culture from a unique perspective. And I loved the ending.
Just one bad thing: The translation is poor- I could see that right away from just the accented E in “Irashaimasé”, and honestly the inclusion of Japanese words at all. Compared to other translations I have read, it seemed awkward at times. It made me wonder if the original Japanese text had simple language, or the translation was dumbed down.
Just one bad thing: The translation is poor- I could see that right away from just the accented E in “Irashaimasé”, and honestly the inclusion of Japanese words at all. Compared to other translations I have read, it seemed awkward at times. It made me wonder if the original Japanese text had simple language, or the translation was dumbed down.
felifelidae's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
_nayla_'s review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars!
I'm a fan of morally gray characters, and I found it interesting how no matter how badly I wanted to categorize Keiko, fit her into the grayscale like everyone else did in her life, I found that I couldn't. She simply exists in a role she carved out for herself. She is fed, rested, busy, and content. So why are we so discomfited?
Morality, whether religious or created through an unspoken social contract, simply does not have a place in Keiko's life. She has a job, an apartment, and friends — however, she has the lowest level of any given "mandated" milestone. Her job is part time in a convenience store, her apartment is shoddy, and her friends barely know her at all.
It's baffling to many how Keiko is content to live on her futon, eating best by date-expired food, and staying meticulously up to health standards for the good of the store. She's the basic package; she's supposed to upgrade, to want more, to climb the hierarchy. Even if out of spite or incel jealousy, like Shiraha! But she is uninterested, and that lack of drive can be frustrating to a society so focused on personal growth and checking boxes.
I see the appeal of wanting to divorce yourself from the real life social ramifications of not following the predetermined path — or better yet, not even feeling the pull. Her whole life, Keiko wanted to be 'cured' of her strangeness and sought ways to do so: adapt speech patterns from friends and coworkers, offer to marry a smarmy man to get everyone off her back, and even go so far as to seek a 'real job' she definitely doesn't want. Not to mention thinking of 'breeding' with Shiraha just to fulfill humanity's procreational urges! (I mean, I've seen people have kids for more selfish reasons, such as "I just love him so much I want to be attached to him forever!" or "I need to give my parents grandkids" or "I must have a mini-me". Some excuses are more socially acceptable than others.)
'Normal' people don't think of these things as abnormal until we see it through the eyes of people like Keiko. But we are Keiko, facing the same issues with many more strings attached. We worry and we worry and we hope our friends still like us and our parents won't be disappointed. She asks questions and brings up issues those around her, so caught up in the humdrum of daily life, don't even consider. Like, why can't a convenience store worker not take pride in their work? Why must she feel ashamed of herself, discontented, unworthy?
Is it odd to marry a disgustingly misogynistic, unlikable, parasitic man simply because you want your family to stop pestering you about ending up alone, despite you not loving (or even liking) him at all? Maybe. But isn't it just as, if not more, weird to marry a disgustingly misogynistic, unlikable, parasitic man because you can't handle the shame and anguish of ending up alone? Because all your friends are getting married and are sinking deeper into their married little bubbles? Because soon, you'll lose the baby-making race and forfeit your safe spaces forever? Have they ever really been safe spaces if they are conditional on your cooperation?
Keiko is simply acknowledging that these fearful actions (living with a man, marrying a man, breeding with a man) of a woman so scared to be on the outskirts of society that she'll do anything, are no different than the the rational action of a woman so annoyed to be on the outskirts of society, so inconvenienced by it (and in Keiko's world, inconvenience is a dirty word. She lives for the convenience store, her only purpose is to be convenient, to understand the customer. It's just that this time, the customer is society) that she just decides to go through with them with 0 fanfare. And that's the thing — they're identical steps!
We're all in similar gilded cages, Keiko's is just uncovered; she sees the restraints for what they are. She acknowledges their unfairness yet still attempts to 'fix' herself. Isn't that what everyone wanted anyway, for her to play the part? WRONG!
This tentative societal glue, something everyone is opted into from the beginning a la Social Security, is convoluted and absurd. It isn't enough to play the board game, it's about pretending like you're enjoying it so immensely, you just can't imagine picking another. And you're supposed to look at other people crazy when they suggest playing anything different.
The thing is, Keiko is technically right: "Who cares how I got there — I got there. I fulfilled my societal obligations, or was about to, anyway. Now leave me alone!" Yet people continue to be perpetually unsatisfied of her satisfaction. They want her to not only get her husband, but have to suffer his infidelity as well. She's got to start having children so they can gossip about their dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and sleepless nights together. She must feel insecure about her terrible job so she'll go to any lengths, grovel and beg, to be employed elsewhere. But instead the world is united in misery while Keiko has opted out.
This is, uncomprehendingly to Keiko, the greater sin. She's defied the grayscale. She cannot be easily categorized within the 'human experience' — one that we've been told, quite repeatedly, has persisted since the Stone Age. How frustrating it must be for the people who weren't shown any different!
Overall: When I first read it, I thought it was trivial and kind of boring. But then I let it sink in a few days, and all this word vomit came out! So, I look forward to reading more from Murata, and will probably think about this book more often than is healthy.
I'm a fan of morally gray characters, and I found it interesting how no matter how badly I wanted to categorize Keiko, fit her into the grayscale like everyone else did in her life, I found that I couldn't. She simply exists in a role she carved out for herself. She is fed, rested, busy, and content. So why are we so discomfited?
Morality, whether religious or created through an unspoken social contract, simply does not have a place in Keiko's life. She has a job, an apartment, and friends — however, she has the lowest level of any given "mandated" milestone. Her job is part time in a convenience store, her apartment is shoddy, and her friends barely know her at all.
It's baffling to many how Keiko is content to live on her futon, eating best by date-expired food, and staying meticulously up to health standards for the good of the store. She's the basic package; she's supposed to upgrade, to want more, to climb the hierarchy. Even if out of spite or incel jealousy, like Shiraha! But she is uninterested, and that lack of drive can be frustrating to a society so focused on personal growth and checking boxes.
I see the appeal of wanting to divorce yourself from the real life social ramifications of not following the predetermined path — or better yet, not even feeling the pull. Her whole life, Keiko wanted to be 'cured' of her strangeness and sought ways to do so: adapt speech patterns from friends and coworkers, offer to marry a smarmy man to get everyone off her back, and even go so far as to seek a 'real job' she definitely doesn't want. Not to mention thinking of 'breeding' with Shiraha just to fulfill humanity's procreational urges! (I mean, I've seen people have kids for more selfish reasons, such as "I just love him so much I want to be attached to him forever!" or "I need to give my parents grandkids" or "I must have a mini-me". Some excuses are more socially acceptable than others.)
'Normal' people don't think of these things as abnormal until we see it through the eyes of people like Keiko. But we are Keiko, facing the same issues with many more strings attached. We worry and we worry and we hope our friends still like us and our parents won't be disappointed. She asks questions and brings up issues those around her, so caught up in the humdrum of daily life, don't even consider. Like, why can't a convenience store worker not take pride in their work? Why must she feel ashamed of herself, discontented, unworthy?
Is it odd to marry a disgustingly misogynistic, unlikable, parasitic man simply because you want your family to stop pestering you about ending up alone, despite you not loving (or even liking) him at all? Maybe. But isn't it just as, if not more, weird to marry a disgustingly misogynistic, unlikable, parasitic man because you can't handle the shame and anguish of ending up alone? Because all your friends are getting married and are sinking deeper into their married little bubbles? Because soon, you'll lose the baby-making race and forfeit your safe spaces forever? Have they ever really been safe spaces if they are conditional on your cooperation?
Keiko is simply acknowledging that these fearful actions (living with a man, marrying a man, breeding with a man) of a woman so scared to be on the outskirts of society that she'll do anything, are no different than the the rational action of a woman so annoyed to be on the outskirts of society, so inconvenienced by it (and in Keiko's world, inconvenience is a dirty word. She lives for the convenience store, her only purpose is to be convenient, to understand the customer. It's just that this time, the customer is society) that she just decides to go through with them with 0 fanfare. And that's the thing — they're identical steps!
We're all in similar gilded cages, Keiko's is just uncovered; she sees the restraints for what they are. She acknowledges their unfairness yet still attempts to 'fix' herself. Isn't that what everyone wanted anyway, for her to play the part? WRONG!
This tentative societal glue, something everyone is opted into from the beginning a la Social Security, is convoluted and absurd. It isn't enough to play the board game, it's about pretending like you're enjoying it so immensely, you just can't imagine picking another. And you're supposed to look at other people crazy when they suggest playing anything different.
The thing is, Keiko is technically right: "Who cares how I got there — I got there. I fulfilled my societal obligations, or was about to, anyway. Now leave me alone!" Yet people continue to be perpetually unsatisfied of her satisfaction. They want her to not only get her husband, but have to suffer his infidelity as well. She's got to start having children so they can gossip about their dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and sleepless nights together. She must feel insecure about her terrible job so she'll go to any lengths, grovel and beg, to be employed elsewhere. But instead the world is united in misery while Keiko has opted out.
This is, uncomprehendingly to Keiko, the greater sin. She's defied the grayscale. She cannot be easily categorized within the 'human experience' — one that we've been told, quite repeatedly, has persisted since the Stone Age. How frustrating it must be for the people who weren't shown any different!
Overall: When I first read it, I thought it was trivial and kind of boring. But then I let it sink in a few days, and all this word vomit came out! So, I look forward to reading more from Murata, and will probably think about this book more often than is healthy.
sar4h_reads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mdesch's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Buurtsupermens is een boek over doen wat je graag doet, over doen wat je kunt doen, ondanks wat andere mensen ervan denken. Het is geen hoge lectuur, maar een aangenaam kort boek. Zeker eens waard om te lezen.
screaminginside's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
_jorjalewis's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
violetness's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5