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A review by alexiacambaling
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
5.0
TW/s: Ableism, Aphobia
Contains spoilers.
Convenience Store Woman is a novella about a woman named Keiko Furukura who works in a convenience store. Actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that. She’s 36 years old and still works in the same convenience store she worked at when she was eighteen. She doesn’t know how to act like a normal person, although she tries to mimic how to act like one because it’s what’s expected from her in society. Essentially, she finds comfort in working at the convenience store because there are logical rules, it’s predictable, and the structure is good for her. There, she can pick up social cues from others and mimic them so that she could be “normal.”
It’s not explicitly stated in the story, but I thought that Keiko read as neurodivergent and asexual. She’s not interested in relationships and perfectly happy where she was, but it’s not quite good enough for the society she lives in- which is the real tragedy here.
There were many instances in the story where the people she knows kind of pushes her to find a boyfriend, be normal, start a family, and this pressure is eventually what drives her to enter into a relationship of convenience with an ex-coworker. There are no feelings involved, just them using each other even though he wasn’t really a good person. It was just that the pressure to conform had gotten too much at that point.
I saw a lot of reviews and blurbs that said that this story was lighthearted, humorous, and quirky, but that’s not how I found the story. I think it’s quite sad because it shows a lot how the most hurtful things can come from the people she loves and loves her, but because Keiko was quite self-conscious and observant, she thought that she had to conform in order to please them.
I felt really sad for Keiko when the way people treated her changed when they thought she entered into a relationship with someone. Things changed when she said she had a boyfriend and suddenly, she’s facing even more pressure to get married and have kids. She even mentions that her sister was happier thinking that she’s normal even if she has a lot of problems, than an abnormal sister who’s perfectly fine. To them, being normal is more understandable, more comforting than an “abnormal” Keiko who’s perfectly content. I think that she would have remained that way and been perfectly fine if it wasn’t for the people so intent on poking their noses into her business.
That said, I liked how the story ended with Keiko gaining a sense of self-acceptance. She is who she is and in her own way, she feels a sense of fulfillment from what she does. I think that the story was very interesting as it shows the viewpoint of this neurodivergent woman who’s perfectly okay, but still has to contend with people who cannot understand that because it doesn’t fit within their definition of normality. It’s a good book, although I felt that it’s a little sad, but it’s quite poignant and compelling.
I enjoyed the writing and the translation. It’s simple, but powerful. There’s actually more quotes I’d like to share from the book, but I think the ones I chose fit this review. It’s a short novel but really packs a punch and made me think a lot more about how society works and how we treat people we perceive as being different. Highly recommended.
Contains spoilers.
Convenience Store Woman is a novella about a woman named Keiko Furukura who works in a convenience store. Actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that. She’s 36 years old and still works in the same convenience store she worked at when she was eighteen. She doesn’t know how to act like a normal person, although she tries to mimic how to act like one because it’s what’s expected from her in society. Essentially, she finds comfort in working at the convenience store because there are logical rules, it’s predictable, and the structure is good for her. There, she can pick up social cues from others and mimic them so that she could be “normal.”
It’s not explicitly stated in the story, but I thought that Keiko read as neurodivergent and asexual. She’s not interested in relationships and perfectly happy where she was, but it’s not quite good enough for the society she lives in- which is the real tragedy here.
There were many instances in the story where the people she knows kind of pushes her to find a boyfriend, be normal, start a family, and this pressure is eventually what drives her to enter into a relationship of convenience with an ex-coworker. There are no feelings involved, just them using each other even though he wasn’t really a good person. It was just that the pressure to conform had gotten too much at that point.
I saw a lot of reviews and blurbs that said that this story was lighthearted, humorous, and quirky, but that’s not how I found the story. I think it’s quite sad because it shows a lot how the most hurtful things can come from the people she loves and loves her, but because Keiko was quite self-conscious and observant, she thought that she had to conform in order to please them.
I felt really sad for Keiko when the way people treated her changed when they thought she entered into a relationship with someone. Things changed when she said she had a boyfriend and suddenly, she’s facing even more pressure to get married and have kids. She even mentions that her sister was happier thinking that she’s normal even if she has a lot of problems, than an abnormal sister who’s perfectly fine. To them, being normal is more understandable, more comforting than an “abnormal” Keiko who’s perfectly content. I think that she would have remained that way and been perfectly fine if it wasn’t for the people so intent on poking their noses into her business.
That said, I liked how the story ended with Keiko gaining a sense of self-acceptance. She is who she is and in her own way, she feels a sense of fulfillment from what she does. I think that the story was very interesting as it shows the viewpoint of this neurodivergent woman who’s perfectly okay, but still has to contend with people who cannot understand that because it doesn’t fit within their definition of normality. It’s a good book, although I felt that it’s a little sad, but it’s quite poignant and compelling.
I enjoyed the writing and the translation. It’s simple, but powerful. There’s actually more quotes I’d like to share from the book, but I think the ones I chose fit this review. It’s a short novel but really packs a punch and made me think a lot more about how society works and how we treat people we perceive as being different. Highly recommended.