Convenience Store Woman: A Novel
Shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award
Longlisted for the Believer Book Award
Longlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation
A Los Angeles Times Bestseller
The English-language debut of an exciting young voice in international fiction, selling 660,000 copies in Japan alone, Convenience Store Woman is a bewitching portrayal of contemporary Japan through the eyes of a single woman who fits into the rigidity of its work culture only too well.
The English-language debut of one of Japan's most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of "Smile Mart," she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction-many are laid out line by line in the store's manual--and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a "normal" person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It's almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action...
A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.
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Readers say *Convenience Store Woman* offers a minimalist yet impactful look at societal pressures and the struggle to fit in. Many admire its insight...
good commentary on what we are “supposed” to do as a member of society
The book follows 36 year old Keiko Furukura, a social misfit from childhood but when she finds herself a job at a convenience store, keiko believe that there is no world beyond that convenience store and she would never fit in with the normalcy of the world and can never be fixed.
Convenience store woman is a tiny book with a big meaning. This book does convey the message of how important it is to be normal and fit into the world rather then being a misfit like keiko and being nudge all the time by family, friends, colleagues and more over the society.
The subject that the author hits on, in this tiny book made me stop and think, "Don't we all sometimes in our life struggle to fit into societies normalcy and that there is always a pressure to do something, be somewhere, become something or follow normal social traditions like find a job, get married at the right age, make more money, have children etc, it's like we always have to jump from thing in life to another & if we fail at even one of societies normalcy, we are termed as a misfit or as someone who needs to be fixed."
This book is surely very high on social commentary as I could personally relate to many of the social behaviours, expectations and pressures mentioned in this book.
The book does start of in a quirky and laugh out aloud manner but is much much more then that. The writing style is easy going as well as the characters, though the Character of Shiraha was sometimes annoying and manipulative but he always ended up stating relatable facts about the way society behaved. I also quite loved the convenience store setting and how it functioned 24/7 and how much hardwork and attention to detail went into running a convenience store.
There was only one tiny problem that I had with this book, was that I was hoping for a different kind of ending, so it fell a little flat for me.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading more Japanese translations.
I would definitely recommend this book and I feel everyone should read it atleast once in a lifetime.
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