![]() ![]() ![]() Agent: Kohei Hattori, the English Agency. This is a moving, funny, and unsettling story about how to be a “functioning adult” in today’s world. Murata’s smart and sly novel, her English-language debut, is a critique of the expectations and restrictions placed on single women in their 30s. ![]() She strikes a sham marriage deal with a lazy and shifty ex-coworker, which, though it finally makes her “normal” in the eyes of others, throws her entire life and psyche into turmoil. The older she gets, and the further she drifts from milestones like having a “real” job, marrying, and having children, the more her friends and family push her towards change. In fact, she thinks of herself as two Keikos: her real self, who has existed since she was born, and “convenience-store-worker-me.” But normalcy is not static, as Keiko discovers. Where someone else might find the expected behavior for convenience store workers arbitrary and strict, Keiko thrives under such clear direction, finally finding a way to be normal. 6 CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN by Sayaka Murata translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori RELEASE DATE: JA sly take on modern work culture and social conformism, told through one woman’s 18-year tenure as a convenience store employee. Keiko, who has a history of strange impulses-wanting to grill and eat a dead bird, pulling down a hysterical teacher’s pants to get her to be quiet-applied to work at the Hiiromachi Station Smile Mart on a whim. Murata’s slim and stunning Akutagawa Prize–winning novel follows 36-year-old Keiko Furukura, who has been working at the same convenience store for the last 18 years, outlasting eight managers and countless customers and coworkers. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |