A review by stellabyproxy
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

“Survive, whatever it takes.” 

“The Baby Factory produces humans connected by flesh and blood. Eventually we children will also leave the factory and be shipped out. Once shipped out, male and female humans are trained how to take food back to their own nests. They become society’s tools, receive money from other humans, and purchase food. Eventually these young humans also form breeding pairs, coop themselves up in new nests, and manufacture more babies.”

never in my 19 years of life have i read a book so brutally grotesque. a book so vulgar and violent and unexpected, yet so well written that i could do nothing else if not push through and keep reading. i urge all future readers to look at the content warnings before subjecting themselves to this fever dream…

earthlings was not what i was expecting! the cover portrayed a cute novel and it was anything but. being so different from convenience store woman, yet having similar themes of conformity and culture coming through in both (murata has a clear infatuation with society and it’s rules). at 65 pages i closed the book and cried. everything in me wanted to leave the book closed forever, to never again read another word. however, self destruction is my favourite past time and so i persevered against my better judgment. a visceral curiosity kept me going, while my entire body screamed for freedom. i guess in that way murata connects the reader to natsuki, the protagonist. just as we observe her story and her desperate attempts at escaping the abuse she endures in her childhood, every fibre of my being desperately fought to look away, to gain peace.

the concept of “earthlings” and brainwashing is perfectly formulated, as the reader is thrown into the deep end of natsuki’s philosophy, which she later shares with her husband tomoya. their marriage of convenience falling under the mutual understanding that they wish to reject the ways of the world, to be defiant in not subscribing to the “baby factory”. although, we also see that natsuki wishes nothing more than to be an earthling and have a simple existence, devoid of pain or awareness. 

the dialogue between natsuki and tomoya brought a sense of humour to the story that was definitely needed, if not to give the reader a break from the seriousness of the content. however, the satirical aspect of the storyline is slightly overshadowed as i spent very little time contemplating how we are societally programmed and more time in utter shock at the places murata is willing to take their story, as every new plot point just adds to the disturbing, traumatic existence that is natauki’s life. 

yuu bluntly tells natsuki that she is “frozen in time” and this is an ideal that is repeated by multiple characters. though subtle, murata is able to perfectly integrate the reality of child abuse and sexual assault victims as we see natsuki rationalise her world through the eyes of a child and question the morality of earthlings as their laws and rules directly contradict what she was subjected to by her mother and her teacher. we see how this shapes her view of adults, especially having not been believed by her own mother (an experience which many rape victims go through). though unsettling in how raw her depiction of natsuki’s abuse is, murata draws attention to an issue that has always and continues to be a part of society, giving a voice to the voiceless. 

this is a book that i wish to never catch a glimpse of ever again, a book that i wish i had never laid eyes on, but ultimately a book i am glad to have finished.
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