Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and … and she copies her coworkers’ style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society’s expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko’s contented stasis—but will it be for the better?
Sayaka Murata brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan. With some laugh-out-loud moments prompted by the disconnect between Keiko’s thoughts and those of the people around her, she provides a sharp look at Japanese society and the pressure to conform, as well as penetrating insights into the female mind. Convenience Store Woman is a fresh, charming portrait of an unforgettable heroine that recalls Banana Yoshimoto, Han Kang, and Amélie.
more
This is a weird little book, but I can’t stop thinking about it.
Anyone who has ever felt weird or like an outcast, a loner or marching to his own drummer, this is the book for you. Despite being set in the mind of a 36-year old, single, Japanese woman, Keiko Furukura, whose life is completely dedicated to working in a convenience store, her reflexes and attitudes won’t be foreign to someone who thinks for himself. How can you argue with being a cog in the huge machine of a corporation or trying to decipher the hidden codes of gender? You’ll cheer at her small successes, laugh at her humorous insights, wonder with her at the inanities of her fellow humans. Although never stated as the basic challenge for the cause of her maladjustment, she displays all the traits of someone “on the spectrum” as it’s so. carefully stated nowadays. Flat affect, mimicking people around her for hints on how to behave, confusion over people’s unstated meanings, challenges in abstract reasoning, you’ll cheer as she accepts herself for who she is. This book is a diary of a stranger in a strange land, and like several precursors, including Heinlein’s scifi book, in her innocence she’s closer to an angel than a human. If she were your employee, you’d value her. If she were your romantic partner (and one person does try), you’d throw up your arms in dismay. Murata is a well-known Japanese author, but this is her first book to be translated into English. The list of its awards is as long as a yardstick and deservedly so.
This charming, short novel tells the story of a woman’s journey to simply be herself. A Japanese woman on the autism spectrum finds happiness and fulfillment working as a convenience store clerk. Her life is simple and good, only those around her don’t understand why. As an American reader, I appreciated the look into another cultural perspective. As a woman, I felt the character’s stress of wanting to meet societal and family standards. This quirky story of humanity and truth is expertly translated and shows how we all want the same joys in life.
What an original way of telling society that their game plan for life doesn’t work for everybody! Convenience store worker Keiko seems to be at the functioning end of the autism spectrum. She has a hard time recognizing other people’s feelings, actions, and expressions. So she’s learned to “act normal” by imitating them–only to find out that it’s not enough. She must also follow the rules of polite society: have sex, get married, have children, and get a better job than the one she loves (and that loves her back)–that of being an efficient store clerk. Murata tells the story in first person, so it doesn’t take long for the reader to empathize with the bewildered Keiko. I found myself getting angry at her friends and relatives who wanted her to fit in just so they could feel better about their lives. I also found myself frustrated with the pressure society places on all of us to fit in and how hard it is for those who can’t meet those expectations. When an author can get me that riled up, I know it’s a book worthy of a solid recommendation!
Love the character of the story and how she handle society influences in her daily life.
Good, slim little weird novel.
What would happen if a psychopath had a normal childhood.
Great book! I searched for more like it after reading ! Love it. Totally different than other books I’ve read.
I knew from the Books and Bao review of Convenience Store Woman that the main character would be a bit odd, but I think the cute cover art threw me off, and I didn’t realize just how odd.
Mid-thirties Keiko works in a convenience store, where she’s worked for the last 18 years. As much as she takes joy in anything, she enjoys the routine, familiarity and clear rules in her store. Human interactions confuse her, and not in the usual adorably-awkward kind of way. Adult Keiko is still unsure why hitting a classmate over the head with a shovel or wanting to eat a dead bird upset her mother so much, but she does know that people get upset when she doesn’t copy their behaviors. So, when her coworkers greet each other cheerfully in the morning, she does the same. When they gripe about work frustrations, Keiko repeats their comments, pretending that she too feels emotions, and noticing that others seem to enjoy sharing certain complaints. She copies her coworkers’ style, sometimes by creepily checking the labels on their clothes in the locker room, in order to present herself as a normal human female.
When acquaintances ask about her status a long-serving part-time cashier, she lets her coworkers believe she takes care of her parents in her off hours, and lets her classmates believe she has a chronic illness and can’t work too much. These excuses are crafted by her sister, since Keiko is quite content to be a part-time store clerk, even if she does occasionally notice that she’s isolated from the whole world of marriage and children.
Convenience Store Woman is told by Keiko, and here our unreliable narrator is awkwardly attempting to tell the truth, a bit like in The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time or a more recent read, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. And, just like in Eleanor Oliphant, Keiko’s internal monologue sometimes felt uncomfortably like my own. Just like Keiko, I get so much of my life satisfaction out from my efficiency at work. At certain times in my life, I’ve enjoyed just being good at my job, and not being a human disaster outside of work.
Through work — of course — she meets a man who’s basically a walking incel message board. Like Keiko, he feels socially isolated and overage for part-time cashiering, but unlike Keiko, he blames others and lashes out. The story is very Japanese… until we see yet another example of male rage turned outward, and it starts to feel universal. Ugh, I just wanted him to go away, and I was even sort of hoping Keiko would quietly and efficiently hit him over the head with a shovel. (No luck.)
I often see a certain kind of inspirational p0rn on social media. You know that type of post, sunsets and mountains with slogans in soft fonts saying follow your bliss or do what you love, for people who are bored at work to like. But when Keiko works in the convenience store, she really is following her bliss (or at least as close as she gets to having such an emotion). When she hears the song of the drink coolers and promo endcaps, and decides to work in a new store, I felt as happy as if a romance had concluded with a fairy-tale wedding.
This novel made me laugh. It was the first time for me to laugh in this way: it was absurd, comical, cute . . . audacious, and precise. It was overwhelming.
A quick read, kind of one note though it’s an interesting idea and fun to occupy the thoughts of someone so dedicated to working in a convenience store. I felt like I was going to discover something different from the reviewers that complained they didn’t know what to make of this book upon finishing it, but I feel the same.