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A review by eline1701
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Keiko Furukura get behind me 😤 Everyone else can get fucked.
But, also found myself having certain hopes/expectations throughout the book, so it was good to confront those and break them down a bit. I also really enjoyed reading Keiko's voice. As a friend mentioned, seems like really good autistic representation without even saying so. She also reminded me a lot of a colleague I used to work with who was similar in so many ways.
I thought the translation was interesting especially in that the translator retained certain words in their romanised form, such as "irasshaimasé" or occasionally "hai". Especially the former made a lot of sense to me in the context of what must be standard store greetings.
All in all, I enjoyed reading it, and Keiko and all people who don't fall within "the norm" deserve better.
But, also found myself having certain hopes/expectations throughout the book, so it was good to confront those and break them down a bit. I also really enjoyed reading Keiko's voice. As a friend mentioned, seems like really good autistic representation without even saying so. She also reminded me a lot of a colleague I used to work with who was similar in so many ways.
I thought the translation was interesting especially in that the translator retained certain words in their romanised form, such as "irasshaimasé" or occasionally "hai". Especially the former made a lot of sense to me in the context of what must be standard store greetings.
All in all, I enjoyed reading it, and Keiko and all people who don't fall within "the norm" deserve better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying
I think the reactions to Keiko's life can be hard to read with people forcing their expectations on her and calling her all sorts of things for being a 36-year old female convenience store worker, so that might be something to be mindful of.