Ginny Tapley Takemori's Novel "Convenience Store Woman" - A Story of Everyday Life

G: I will think about this story for days. Highly recommended for those who enjoy sharp writing and unexpected character perspectives. One of my new all-time favorite stories.

United States on Oct 08, 2023

Areli Meza: Buena historia, de fácil lectura y si eres neurodivergente puede que te sientas identificado.
Mi libro llegó con un poco de pegamento en la portada (supongo que es de la etiqueta de precio o algo así) pero fuera de eso todo estuvo perfecto (a tiempo y protegido)

Mexico on Jul 24, 2023

MirandaMiranda: Book arrived in good condition it’s pretty small lol. Also, interesting read.

United States on Jul 03, 2023

Cliente Amazon: Es un ensayo de crítica a la sociedad, expectativas, lo que "debería de ser" escrito en una novela donde hace muchas analogías a la zona de comfort, autoestima y seguridad con el supermercado. Un libro que invita a cuestionarnos si hacemos lo que hacemos porque queremos o porque "así debe de ser". Me gustó bastante, la historia es sencilla pero funciona perfecto para explicar los puntos de la autora.

Mexico on Jan 27, 2023

ambrose: This book provides a fascinating and sometimes sad and unsettling look at what it's like to live as a neurodivergent person in Japan. Modern Japanese culture has a strong emphasis on conformity, even more so than over here in North America. Minimum wage retail and restaurant jobs are looked at as temporary stepping stones to the "good jobs" and there is a lot of societal pressure on young folks to rise up the wage ladder, get married, and have children before a certain age, and Furukura's story is unfortunately all too common among Japan's neurodivergent community. Thank you to Sakaya Murata for writing this story.

Canada on Jul 24, 2022

Kindle Customer: I was very fortunate with my immediate family. I knew from the age of eight that I didn't want to have babies. When I played house with the children across the street, I went to work and my "husband" stayed home with the kids. This feeling never changed, and no one in my immediate family ever tried to get me to "see sense". They were willing to let me be me even if it meant no husband and no babies. For several years in my working life, I supervised dozens of teenagers. Perhaps it was my way with them that made everyone think I was married and had at least six children. Even if it wasn't, at least no one bothered me about my lack of marital status and children; they already "knew" I was married. I was very lucky indeed because I saw many others being harassed by their families to conform.

Poor Keiko Furukura was not as fortunate as I. She's spent her entire life being the square peg everyone tries to pound into the round hole. Keiko tends to take everything literally, and when Murata described some incidents in her childhood, they made me laugh-- which has to be another indication that I'm a fellow square peg. Keiko is perfectly happy, but her family insists on her being...

United States on Jul 24, 2021

Alejandro: Esta es la traducción de la primera obra de Sayaka Murata. El libro cuenta el punto de vista de una persona que es incapaz de actuar de manera natural en la sociedad, la cual nos presiona para lograr ciertas cosa en la vida (tener una carrera, trabajo, hijos y ser felices); sin embargo ella se siente muy cómoda siendo la empleada de una tienda de conveniencia.

La edición de pasta dura tiene una presentación muy bonita, aunque el cubre polvos le queda un poco grande. Es un libro bastante corto y muy fácil de leer ya que es de letra grande.

La historia puede resultar familiar para muchas personas que tienen el problema existencial de no saber que hacer con sus vidas. Creo que pueden sentirse identificados con la protagonista y encontrar la manera de empezar a encontrar la respuesta a esos problemas que les aquejan.

Definitivamente lo recomiendo y espero que Sayaka Murata se convierta en una de mis autoras favoritas.

Mexico on Nov 20, 2020

Damian Lacombe: I had finished reading this book around April 3rd and I was really surprised how good it was!

This book was originally released in Japan two years before it was released for English language readers, in 2016. It sold really well because the story holds a fascinating take on a person, who is considered strange and weird, working on a convenience store in Japan.

I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end because it intrigued me, and I was really surprised to hear some adult language in a book written by a Japanese author. Also, it made me wanna go to a convenience store in Tokyo if I ever have a chance.

I totally recommend this book for those who are interested in Japanese literature or you want to have a short fun read after reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles (which I could try out, despite being a popular book and a long one by another Japanese author, Haruki Murakami)

Rating: 10/1

Canada on Jul 09, 2020

Phred: 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...

United States on Apr 12, 2020