What a weird little book.
Convenience Store Woman follows Keiko, a 36 year old Japanese woman who seems to have slipped the social ‘norms’ by working as a part time convenience store clerk for the past 18 years. She has no husband, no desire to change her job, and is shunned by a society who deem her behaviour odd, and at worst, disturbing. She speaks at times as though she’s embodying the convenience store, as though it speaks through her, and often describes herself as only truely feeling like a human being when she was ‘reborn’ a shop worker. Within the shop she feels a certain level of order and security that cannot be found outside. Here she has a manual and rules to follow that make her a valuable team member.
Keiko speaks without any real emotion, as though it’s beyond her capacity to feel empathy or comprehend how to function within the wider society outside of the convenience store. We see her emulate the dress sense of her fellow coworkers, as well as adopting their way of talking in order to ‘fit in’ and seem less of an outsider. This makes it difficult to connect with her, as she often just feels confused when confronted with difficult or awkward situations rather than having any kind of emotional response. Sometimes I felt she was like a giant void of darkness, sucking all the humanity out of herself to the point where any kind of ‘normal’ response from the people around her (such as her sister crying in front of her) begins to seem almost alien to the reader - just like it would to Keiko.
The introduction of Shiraha only furthers this disconnection from the reader, as we see Keiko struggle to understand what exactly their relationship is, and what exactly they can gain from each other. I did feel pity at one point that she couldn’t see that Shiraha was taking advantage, but I felt he wasn’t particularly well developed in the short amount of time devoted to him in the novel to really care. He just came across as mean, and insane.
A weird book that at times almost feels like a love affair to the oddballs of the world, and in particular one woman’s love for a convenience store that becomes the centre of her world.
Convenience Store Woman follows Keiko, a 36 year old Japanese woman who seems to have slipped the social ‘norms’ by working as a part time convenience store clerk for the past 18 years. She has no husband, no desire to change her job, and is shunned by a society who deem her behaviour odd, and at worst, disturbing. She speaks at times as though she’s embodying the convenience store, as though it speaks through her, and often describes herself as only truely feeling like a human being when she was ‘reborn’ a shop worker. Within the shop she feels a certain level of order and security that cannot be found outside. Here she has a manual and rules to follow that make her a valuable team member.
Keiko speaks without any real emotion, as though it’s beyond her capacity to feel empathy or comprehend how to function within the wider society outside of the convenience store. We see her emulate the dress sense of her fellow coworkers, as well as adopting their way of talking in order to ‘fit in’ and seem less of an outsider. This makes it difficult to connect with her, as she often just feels confused when confronted with difficult or awkward situations rather than having any kind of emotional response. Sometimes I felt she was like a giant void of darkness, sucking all the humanity out of herself to the point where any kind of ‘normal’ response from the people around her (such as her sister crying in front of her) begins to seem almost alien to the reader - just like it would to Keiko.
The introduction of Shiraha only furthers this disconnection from the reader, as we see Keiko struggle to understand what exactly their relationship is, and what exactly they can gain from each other. I did feel pity at one point that she couldn’t see that Shiraha was taking advantage, but I felt he wasn’t particularly well developed in the short amount of time devoted to him in the novel to really care. He just came across as mean, and insane.
A weird book that at times almost feels like a love affair to the oddballs of the world, and in particular one woman’s love for a convenience store that becomes the centre of her world.
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