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A review by pangnaolin
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
Note: this review has some slight spoilers, but none are plot relevant or important-- just cool moments and/or details you might want to discover and experience on your own.
Convenience Store Woman honestly shocked me regularly in the best way. Murata is a beautiful writer, and I loved her use of motifs and repetition in this. Not only did it tie everything together so well, but I think it emphasized Keiko's need for consistency and the convenience store she considered her calling.
I remember the way my eyes sort of shot open when I heard her describe her rebirth as a convenience store woman and how everything before it was sort of fuzzy-- I loved the straightforwardness, and the choice of words was so perfect. It really added to the sense that this is what she is made for. She didn't repeat this idea much, the way she repeated her sense of needing to be a 'cog in the machine of society', but it still stuck with me.
I was sort of conflicted about Keiko's dedication to the store. It's respectable and interesting, and she obviously cares so wonderfully much that it's sort of nice to see her get to exist in it, but it's also just sort of sad to me. Not in that she doesn't get to be fully normal, but in that I wish I could see what she would've been had her parents known how to acknowledge and approach neurodivergence, and had she never been so utterly shut down by the people around her in elementary school. Of course, violence needed to be curbed, but she didn't get to explore her self and the world around her in a real way, and that hurts.
In a way, as an adult, she becomes sort of the ideal capitalist subject-- the most comfortable and happy simply serving her corporation. I wonder if the people closest her dislike it for the wrong reasons, though. What worries them? Are they even worried? I imagine that if they truly felt worried, and not just disgusted or freaked out, they would have invited her into their circles-- asked her to be their friend and try to participate in her life. They wouldn't have invited her in only when they finally felt she was starting to fit a mold. It's a big question this book left me with, and I love sitting with it. What is the motivation behind their dislike of how Keiko lives?
We got to see a lot of why Keiko likes living like she does-- not because she's particularly capitalist, but because the sense of getting to play normal & finally understand how to act, keep things in order & be useful, and aid those around her in a familiar environment really just make her life better. I was really happy with that, honestly, but I think I wish I had seen just a little bit more examination of how we account for the capitalist structures that create these situations and who they benefit-- and not just from fucking Shiraha.
He was such an absolutely infuriating character to listen to, and it made it even harder for me that Keiko never blew up at him-- just did as he asked and explained things calmly to him. It was kind of interesting to see how she described her relationship with him-- describing how she adopted him, how she has to feed him, and even telling him to his face that she's never had a pet in the house before him. I wanted to strangle him sometimes-- seriously. I never want to hear someone talk about 'the village' and how they won't let you exist again. It's like some awful, mutilated version of almost understanding oppression, but not being able to get your head out of your ass enough to see you're not the one it's targeting.
Aside from all these thoughts Convenience Store Woman left me with that proves Murata's amazing writing capabilities, she really just has an incredible capacity to write small phrases that stick with you. Nowhere in the book was it important, but I can't get the moment where Keiko describes touching her nephew's soft head as stroking a blister out of my head. It's such an odd comparison, and I love it so much.
I wouldn't say this book touched my heart, really, but it did leave me thinking a lot [clearly], and I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone who asked. Nancy Wu's narration got a little grating sometimes, but I got used to it and loved the voices she did for other characters. It's a short enough read, too, so I'd say it's especially worth it! If you check it out, I hope you enjoy.
Convenience Store Woman honestly shocked me regularly in the best way. Murata is a beautiful writer, and I loved her use of motifs and repetition in this. Not only did it tie everything together so well, but I think it emphasized Keiko's need for consistency and the convenience store she considered her calling.
I remember the way my eyes sort of shot open when I heard her describe her rebirth as a convenience store woman and how everything before it was sort of fuzzy-- I loved the straightforwardness, and the choice of words was so perfect. It really added to the sense that this is what she is made for. She didn't repeat this idea much, the way she repeated her sense of needing to be a 'cog in the machine of society', but it still stuck with me.
I was sort of conflicted about Keiko's dedication to the store. It's respectable and interesting, and she obviously cares so wonderfully much that it's sort of nice to see her get to exist in it, but it's also just sort of sad to me. Not in that she doesn't get to be fully normal, but in that I wish I could see what she would've been had her parents known how to acknowledge and approach neurodivergence, and had she never been so utterly shut down by the people around her in elementary school. Of course, violence needed to be curbed, but she didn't get to explore her self and the world around her in a real way, and that hurts.
In a way, as an adult, she becomes sort of the ideal capitalist subject-- the most comfortable and happy simply serving her corporation. I wonder if the people closest her dislike it for the wrong reasons, though. What worries them? Are they even worried? I imagine that if they truly felt worried, and not just disgusted or freaked out, they would have invited her into their circles-- asked her to be their friend and try to participate in her life. They wouldn't have invited her in only when they finally felt she was starting to fit a mold. It's a big question this book left me with, and I love sitting with it. What is the motivation behind their dislike of how Keiko lives?
We got to see a lot of why Keiko likes living like she does-- not because she's particularly capitalist, but because the sense of getting to play normal & finally understand how to act, keep things in order & be useful, and aid those around her in a familiar environment really just make her life better. I was really happy with that, honestly, but I think I wish I had seen just a little bit more examination of how we account for the capitalist structures that create these situations and who they benefit-- and not just from fucking Shiraha.
He was such an absolutely infuriating character to listen to, and it made it even harder for me that Keiko never blew up at him-- just did as he asked and explained things calmly to him. It was kind of interesting to see how she described her relationship with him-- describing how she adopted him, how she has to feed him, and even telling him to his face that she's never had a pet in the house before him. I wanted to strangle him sometimes-- seriously. I never want to hear someone talk about 'the village' and how they won't let you exist again. It's like some awful, mutilated version of almost understanding oppression, but not being able to get your head out of your ass enough to see you're not the one it's targeting.
Aside from all these thoughts Convenience Store Woman left me with that proves Murata's amazing writing capabilities, she really just has an incredible capacity to write small phrases that stick with you. Nowhere in the book was it important, but I can't get the moment where Keiko describes touching her nephew's soft head as stroking a blister out of my head. It's such an odd comparison, and I love it so much.
I wouldn't say this book touched my heart, really, but it did leave me thinking a lot [clearly], and I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone who asked. Nancy Wu's narration got a little grating sometimes, but I got used to it and loved the voices she did for other characters. It's a short enough read, too, so I'd say it's especially worth it! If you check it out, I hope you enjoy.