Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

First Line: A convenience store is a world of sound.
 
Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura has never "fit in", has never felt normal even in her own family, but when, at the age of eighteen, she starts working at Smile Mart as a convenience store worker, she finds peace and true purpose in her life. She understands the rules of social interaction because most of it is spelled out in the employee manual. She learns how to copy her fellow workers in how they dress and speak so well that she appears normal, and her younger sister helps her in crafting "normal" responses to questions her friends and co-workers may ask.
 
This has been Keiko's life for eighteen years. It's hard to tell where the convenience store ends and she begins. She's happy. She knows her place in the world. She contributes. But her family and those close to her aren't happy. Her family want her to be "cured" and to become a normal functioning part of society. They pressure her to find a husband. To get married. To have children. To be like everyone else. And this pressure leads Keiko to take desperate measures.
 
~
 
I was very fortunate with my immediate family. I knew from the age of eight that I didn't want to have babies. When I played house with the children across the street, I went to work and my "husband" stayed home with the kids. This feeling never changed, and no one in my immediate family ever tried to get me to "see sense". They were willing to let me be me even if it meant no husband and no babies. For several years in my working life, I supervised dozens of teenagers. Perhaps it was my way with them that made everyone think I was married and had at least six children. Even if it wasn't, at least no one bothered me about my lack of marital status and children; they already "knew" I was married. I was very lucky indeed because I saw many others being harassed by their families to conform.

Poor Keiko Furukura was not as fortunate as I. She's spent her entire life being the square peg everyone tries to pound into the round hole. Keiko tends to take everything literally, and when Murata described some incidents in her childhood, they made me laugh-- which has to be another indication that I'm a fellow square peg. Keiko is perfectly happy, but her family insists on her being "cured", on her meeting their expectations for her life. 

Convenience Store Worker is a little gem of a novella that sucked me right in. I knew that Keiko would bow to her family's pressure, and I hated that. I hoped that she would be strong enough to survive her attempt to please others and that she'd be able to return to being her kind of happy. I can see why Sayaka Murata is such a popular writer in Japan, and I will be looking for more of her work. Now if only more people would abide by her message in Convenience Store Worker: Don't stick your nose in someone else's business. Square pegs do have a place and a purpose in this world.
 
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
eISBN: 9780802165800
Grove Atlantic © 2018
eBook, 135 pages
 
Novella, Standalone
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

14 comments:

  1. This sounds really engaging, Cathy. The feeling of wanting to be accepted resonates with us all, I think, and what an interesting way to explore family and social dynamics, too. And I couldn't agree more with the lesson about square pegs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, acceptance is important to almost all of us, but each of us has the right to find that sweet spot where we're as accepted as we want to be while still being who we are. Murata does an excellent job of showing this.

      Delete
  2. This is on my list. I've seen so many positive reviews that make me want to read about Keiko! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think this is something you will enjoy, Jen.

      Delete
  3. This has been on my list for awhile. I appreciate your personal reflections here too. If you want a chuckle, I, too, had ideas about how I would end up as an adult. From age five I said I would never get married but be the mistress. How horrible for a five year old. I did get married. Had kids the whole shebang. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think most of us have similar experiences, Ti. As for me, I didn't want babies and I could care less about marriage. No babies and I didn't get married until I was 47 (and I wouldn't have even then if it hadn't been the easiest way to get Denis over here). What I was really off the mark about was my occupation. I never did make it to vet school! LOL

      Delete
  4. I've heard such good things about this book! It's definitely going on my TBR list. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good! I enjoyed it so much that I almost wish it had been longer.

      Delete
  5. Thank you for this review. I have been curious about this book. Now for sure it goes on my TBR list!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I read this when it came out and enjoyed it too. I love quirky characters and Keiko definitely qualifies. I haven't tried any of Murata's other books, but have heard good things about them. It is interesting how we can know at a young age what we want the direction of our lives to be. I always wanted to be a mom and carried a doll with me everywhere I went up. Thanks for sharing part of your story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'll get a laugh out of this. When I said I played house with the kids across the street and I went to work while my "husband" stayed at home with the kids, Mom asked me if my "husband" had had the babies. "No," I replied. "We adopted them."

      Delete
  7. Ha. I want to read this book, has tempted me for awhile. This clinches it.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!