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thesunthesunthesunthesun's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I love Furukura, she is so iconic, just let her be!!!! Just let her do her thing!! She deserves to just work at the convenience store ππππ (Dutch translation ftw, it just hits different than the english one)
The story is pretty fast paced, Furukura is an iconic main character and i love her. A truly painfully accurate account of society and the inner workings of some people's minds.
Amazing writing, Shiraha is the most annoying asshole ever and I hate him.
My partners read the book out loud to me and the only reason it took this long is because I needed to have a break three times per page because I had to yell about Shihara.
The story is pretty fast paced, Furukura is an iconic main character and i love her. A truly painfully accurate account of society and the inner workings of some people's minds.
Amazing writing, Shiraha is the most annoying asshole ever and I hate him.
My partners read the book out loud to me and the only reason it took this long is because I needed to have a break three times per page because I had to yell about Shihara.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Ableism, and Sexism
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Sexual harassment
ophycore's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Ableism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Classism and Stalking
Minor: Rape, Violence, and Animal death
rebeccadiv's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was okay. It went in a different direction then what I was thinking but it was a quick audiobook.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Animal death
shelvesofivy's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Bullying
Minor: Rape and Animal death
intrusive thoughtsmichaelion's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Every book has it's autism moment. This books is 163 pages of autism moments. Usually I would love that, but there's a clear commentary here that isn't explored enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Sexism
Minor: Stalking, Animal death, and Child abuse
If eugenics was a tag I'd put it in moderate.cuteling's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was the 3rd, of the only 3 (the other two being Life Ceremony and Earthlings) Sayaka Muratas books translated to english, that i've read.
The book highlights how suffocating it is to live in current society and how nothing you ever do will be good enough. Given the fact that the main character Keiko, despite it never being explicitly said, is most likely autistic or on some kind of spectrum, gives us a unique point of view while reading about her day to day effort to fit into society and never stand out.
The characters in this story are not exactly likeable, but i think that thanks to this it's easier for the reader to sympathize with both Keiko but also other characters in the story.
My favorite part of the book was the ending!
Unfortunately I was a little disappointed at how mild the story and characters were compared to the other two books I read prior to this one, however I still enjoyed both the story and the characters. Reading it, especially the ending, still gave me a sense of satisfaction.
Overall I recommend this book just would suggest reading it second with the order being
Life Ceremony (it gives you the best idea of what kind of a writer Sayaka Murata is, in my opinion)
-> Convenience Store Woman (shorter, milder compared to the other two, cleanses your pallet)
-> Earthlings (the most disturbing and strange of the three, HUGE TW for: pedophilia, incest, cannibalism, rape, domestic abuse, murder).
I rate the book 3.75/5 β , though if it weren't for the ending it might have been lower. It really put a cherry on top.
The book highlights how suffocating it is to live in current society and how nothing you ever do will be good enough. Given the fact that the main character Keiko, despite it never being explicitly said, is most likely autistic or on some kind of spectrum, gives us a unique point of view while reading about her day to day effort to fit into society and never stand out.
The characters in this story are not exactly likeable, but i think that thanks to this it's easier for the reader to sympathize with both Keiko but also other characters in the story.
My favorite part of the book was the ending!
Unfortunately I was a little disappointed at how mild the story and characters were compared to the other two books I read prior to this one, however I still enjoyed both the story and the characters. Reading it, especially the ending, still gave me a sense of satisfaction.
Overall I recommend this book just would suggest reading it second with the order being
Life Ceremony (it gives you the best idea of what kind of a writer Sayaka Murata is, in my opinion)
-> Convenience Store Woman (shorter, milder compared to the other two, cleanses your pallet)
-> Earthlings (the most disturbing and strange of the three, HUGE TW for: pedophilia, incest, cannibalism, rape, domestic abuse, murder).
I rate the book 3.75/5 β , though if it weren't for the ending it might have been lower. It really put a cherry on top.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Minor: Animal death and Stalking
owlribbon's review against another edition
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Animal death, Misogyny, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Sexism
nrogers_1030's review
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Convenience Store Woman gives me Eleanor Oliphant vibes. Funny, awkward and a good quick read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Pregnancy, Animal death, Sexual harassment, and Stalking
bashsbooks's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This book is quirky and charming. I respect that Keiko just has no ability to be normalTM (whatever that even means) and her dedication to her routine and the one thing she likes. But god, Shiraha is insufferable and sometimes reading his bullshit commentary was so grating. And everyone pressuring and bullying Keiko was grating. It seems like that was part of the point, but at times it was difficult to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Ableism, Bullying, Classism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Stalking
Minor: Animal death
erebus53's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was recommended this book by Abigail Melton Munday on the Autistics Worldwide Facebook Group. This is not a person I know, but as the group is public I feel OK naming them.
Seemed like a good idea to read a few titles in aid of Autism month.
The first thing that struck me about this book was how the sales pitch on the cover was completely wrong. As an Autistic reader, perhaps I have a different take on it, but I don't think it's witty or hilarious. I'd go with interesting and perhaps thought provoking. It's definitely much more funny (oh.), rather than funny (ha ha!).
My Japanese is quite sketchy, but as someone who ran the anime club for about a decade I was fairly culturally literate. This is a story set in Japan, and some of its "oddness" is Japanese, and some is neurological. It wasn't until the end of the book that I heard the original title was γ³γ³γγδΊΊι (Kombini Ningen - or convenience-store person). Looking up the Kanji for the protagonist's name, I was amused to find that it could indeed be considered a pun as, I have been told, is common in Japanese literature. Alternate readings of the name "Furukura" do have different meanings and though it could be commonly read as Old "River", it could also be read as "Hideaway", "hiding place" or "storehouse". This is an apt name for a girl who learns early in life that if she acts intuitively, her ways of doing things will get her into in big trouble. She instead becomes someone who masks herself behind walls of affectations and habits learned by copying the "normal" people around her.
This characterisation was interesting to me in a couple of ways. The first is that this girl is depicted as feeling justified for violence. In my experience, denying regret for childhood violence used when you are in the middle of a panic or urgent situation, is less about being remorseless and more about protecting yourself from being criticised. Engaging with negative self-critique can be really difficult when you don't even understand your own motivations. She clearly has some failure to understand the emotions of others, but her disdain for others at times borders on not just Autistic, but callous. Some writeups online suggest that the character might be sociopathic, but her rigid attention to rules and guidelines and her disinterest in lying or manipulation has me convinced that she's Autistic. I do find it a little problematic that this Autistic child is depicted as creepy and dangerous.. but at the same time, it's realistic to demonstrate the fact that when people don't understand you they may want to keep away from you.
The thematics of this book seem quite tongue in cheek. It's a commentary of the cultural ideas that we take for granted. You are an inhuman weirdo if you dedicate yourself to something you are an expert at, passionate about, but that also confers low social status. You are expected to selflessly find a man to dedicate yourself to the service of, maintaining your looks, cooking and cleaning, and bringing comfort with a calm and positive demeanour for the benefit of your household.
But, that's basically the same thing.. only with one of them you are required to also be a bedslave, and if, like this character, you are asexual, then you also come up against the influences of those who tell you that you are not good enough, and that you need to have a baby to be a valid contributing woman within a society.
Keiko feels pressured into finding a human male to affect a relationship with so as to keep the people around her happy with her. As she becomes more and more aware of the masks she feels she has to wear just to have human contact, she realises how false her friendships with others are, and how unwilling they are to accept her. The talk of Curing her difference hit me like an emotional fist. It's been so many years since I faced a person in my sphere who thought I was unworthy because I was strange, and it brought some of that memory back.
Some of the most moving parts in this story for me were Keiko's sense impressions of the Kombini. I know exactly what it is like to sense your environment through its sounds, and the clues and patterns that hint what your next interaction will be. I feel with my house. I am in tune with its rhythms and sounds in much the same way. I know when pets need feeding, and when the traffic will be loud, or quiet. The act of getting off public transport a block before your stop I immediately understood as a chance to figure out what the mood of the day was; is it likely to rain?, is a special event on?, are there roadworks?, will people feel energetic, or low?.. all these would affect the systems in the shop, and the hypervigilance that she channels into managing those systems felt SO familiar to me. Recognising patterns like how a person's body language or sounds can tell you what method of payment they might use, cash or card. Yep, this is how I interact with my world.
I think this book packs quite a bit in for a short read.
Seemed like a good idea to read a few titles in aid of Autism month.
The first thing that struck me about this book was how the sales pitch on the cover was completely wrong. As an Autistic reader, perhaps I have a different take on it, but I don't think it's witty or hilarious. I'd go with interesting and perhaps thought provoking. It's definitely much more funny (oh.), rather than funny (ha ha!).
My Japanese is quite sketchy, but as someone who ran the anime club for about a decade I was fairly culturally literate. This is a story set in Japan, and some of its "oddness" is Japanese, and some is neurological. It wasn't until the end of the book that I heard the original title was γ³γ³γγδΊΊι (Kombini Ningen - or convenience-store person). Looking up the Kanji for the protagonist's name, I was amused to find that it could indeed be considered a pun as, I have been told, is common in Japanese literature. Alternate readings of the name "Furukura" do have different meanings and though it could be commonly read as Old "River", it could also be read as "Hideaway", "hiding place" or "storehouse". This is an apt name for a girl who learns early in life that if she acts intuitively, her ways of doing things will get her into in big trouble. She instead becomes someone who masks herself behind walls of affectations and habits learned by copying the "normal" people around her.
This characterisation was interesting to me in a couple of ways. The first is that this girl is depicted as feeling justified for violence. In my experience, denying regret for childhood violence used when you are in the middle of a panic or urgent situation, is less about being remorseless and more about protecting yourself from being criticised. Engaging with negative self-critique can be really difficult when you don't even understand your own motivations. She clearly has some failure to understand the emotions of others, but her disdain for others at times borders on not just Autistic, but callous. Some writeups online suggest that the character might be sociopathic, but her rigid attention to rules and guidelines and her disinterest in lying or manipulation has me convinced that she's Autistic. I do find it a little problematic that this Autistic child is depicted as creepy and dangerous.. but at the same time, it's realistic to demonstrate the fact that when people don't understand you they may want to keep away from you.
The thematics of this book seem quite tongue in cheek. It's a commentary of the cultural ideas that we take for granted. You are an inhuman weirdo if you dedicate yourself to something you are an expert at, passionate about, but that also confers low social status. You are expected to selflessly find a man to dedicate yourself to the service of, maintaining your looks, cooking and cleaning, and bringing comfort with a calm and positive demeanour for the benefit of your household.
But, that's basically the same thing.. only with one of them you are required to also be a bedslave, and if, like this character, you are asexual, then you also come up against the influences of those who tell you that you are not good enough, and that you need to have a baby to be a valid contributing woman within a society.
Keiko feels pressured into finding a human male to affect a relationship with so as to keep the people around her happy with her. As she becomes more and more aware of the masks she feels she has to wear just to have human contact, she realises how false her friendships with others are, and how unwilling they are to accept her. The talk of Curing her difference hit me like an emotional fist. It's been so many years since I faced a person in my sphere who thought I was unworthy because I was strange, and it brought some of that memory back.
Some of the most moving parts in this story for me were Keiko's sense impressions of the Kombini. I know exactly what it is like to sense your environment through its sounds, and the clues and patterns that hint what your next interaction will be. I feel with my house. I am in tune with its rhythms and sounds in much the same way. I know when pets need feeding, and when the traffic will be loud, or quiet. The act of getting off public transport a block before your stop I immediately understood as a chance to figure out what the mood of the day was; is it likely to rain?, is a special event on?, are there roadworks?, will people feel energetic, or low?.. all these would affect the systems in the shop, and the hypervigilance that she channels into managing those systems felt SO familiar to me. Recognising patterns like how a person's body language or sounds can tell you what method of payment they might use, cash or card. Yep, this is how I interact with my world.
I think this book packs quite a bit in for a short read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Ableism, Grief, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Bullying, Mental illness, Stalking, and Xenophobia
Minor: Chronic illness