Convenience Store Woman: A Novel

A quick read, and I couldn't put it down. Keiko is very different from other humans, and she's aware of that and tries to fit in, not wishing to rock her family's boat. Her younger sister adores her and as they get older, gives her phrases to use in certain social situations. They protect Keiko by helping her fit in, but since the book is written in first person, and Keiko never mentions a diagnosis, we're left to wonder what exactly is her problem. Some readers have suggested she's a sociopath, and in the non-lethal sense, I lean that direction too. Keiko isn't malevolent, but there are a couple of scenes that carry great foreboding, and you see how she could be very dangerous.The author does a great job of not telling us what the truth is, but rather letting us walk around in Keiko's skin as she observes the other humans around her. From this we pick up hints that Keiko isn't passing for normal as much as she believes. When she gets a man in her life, the metaphoric aspects of the story deepen. For all her weirdness, and for all his toxic unsuitability, the people around her relax and accept her more. They celebrate that she is now part of a couple.The entire theme of the story, in my mind, and as some other commentors have said, is "what we have to do to meet societal expectations." A subtext of this theme is gender roles: what men and women are expected to do. As a flesh-and-blood human adult with the emotional capability of a 2-year-old, Keiko is nevertheless adept at mimicry. So she studies humans and copies their sentences, their voices, and their behaviors in order to fit in. Failure to do so will result in expulsion from the body, much like a bad meal. Over and over again, Keiko sees her existence as a cell within a body (her immediate social surroundings), and compliance means she gets to remain within the body. The metaphor is almost chilling, but the story while dark isn't unhappy. It even has a happy ending, a nice positive (if abrupt) character arc for Keiko.What I took away from CSW is that we need to be more accepting of those humans among us who aren't "normal." What I enjoyed the most about it was walking around inside the head of a sociopath. An intriguing, compelling short novel.

Sayaka Murata’s brief, but to the point Convenience Store Woman took me more places than its 163 pages might promise. It is a very easy read and mostly family friendly admitting to a few ‘bad’ words and some mostly negative sexual suggestions. Then there is what happens when you let your mind delve into the depth of the novella. Highly recommend as a good use of a few hours.At various time I thought I knew the deeper meaning of the book only to realize there was more and more ways to think of it. On the surface we have a mid-thirties, underachieving woman who has failed to be much of what society (Japanese) expects of its friends, family and neighbors. Because she does not conform she is held as a sympathetic figure in need of curing or of suspicion.First stop: This is about a very Japanese middle-class suburban world but it is far more universal than one time and place. Anyone one too long single in most countries is going to garner some amount of suspicion. Try being the too long single Uncle and notice the almost unsaid concerns about you being around children. Listen to how you might speak about people who may not be striving for promotion, who are making do in jobs that appear to be beneath them and others who, on the surface do not seem like ‘us’.Our protagonist and narrator Keiko Furukura is, for the last eighteen years and has only ever been a part time employee of the Smile Mart Convenience Store. We cannot be sure that she is happy there as we can be sure she is using it as a safe place where she knows what she is doing and being who she is expected to be. She has never dated, been married has no children or pets. As far as we know she experiences no sexual interests, habits or even private thoughts. She did not complete her education and lives in polite squalor in a tiny apartment. She has family in the form of a very supportive sister and loving mother.Since her childhood people have wanted to cure her and help her become more like what they think would make her life a happy one. Her supportive sister would be relieved to find her sister dating, or seeking a better job. Everyone with whom Keiko comes into social contact either wants her to not be herself, or to get sufficient explanation to determine if she is a threat.If you read no more deeply than that the book is about the how unfair it is of us (Japanese or not) to expect others to live and believe and aspire as we do. But we also have evidence that Keiko is coldly analytical and not very empathetic. Some would place her on some scale of autistic. This point is deliberately left vague. It is possible to argue that left to her uncontrolled instincts, she would be dangerous. Given another theme of the book, it is an instinctive habit of humans and animals to spend a certain amount of time deciding if a stranger is a threat. This is not just a Japanese thing it is universal.The question of Keiko being happy in the Smile Mart is also subtle. What makes this a natural home for Keiko is that it comes with a written set of instructions. There is a correct time and place for everything. There is a evan a requirement to live outside work in such a way to insure you arrive ready and rested, for work. At some point the reader is expected to realize that living in a society also requires living by certain rules. Keiko ultimately realizes this, but the lack of written instructions is what might have left her coldly analytical personality unable to cope.Late in the short story she meets one of the most unsympathetic, unlikable characters in almost any story. Keiko does not like him, but her analytical mind understands that he is a mirror of herself.The ultimate conflict of this book is the problem or choice Keiko must make between a world of people like herself, or a world of people not like her. This is a very different thought problem for the reader than, why cannot we accept people for what they are.Least you conclude that this is a heavy book, darkly philosophical and cerebral- The story is told with a very light hand. We meet many people that we like. We can share Kieko’s frustrations and her victories. She is an admirable person and her world is one that, for all its lack of fairy tale trappings is one not that different from or hostile towards the one we inhabit.

This quick read gives insight into the pressures of society. The unique perspectives in the book open a lot of conversations. If you're into grounded stories with interesting characters then this book is for you!