Synopsis :
Keiko Furukura is an ordinary woman at face value but there is more to her than meets the eye. She works at a convince store in Japan. She is 36 years old when we meet her. Why is she still work at the store in here 30’s ? Is she married ? Does she have a good set of friends ? We get answers to all of these questions and more as Sayaka Murata takes us on a journey of what a human should do and not do with their life, with this beautifully written store.
How is the story ?
I am not going to wait. I’m just going to say it. Sayaka Murata just opened my eyes to the way I view the world with this one.
Sorry, just had to get that out of the way. This books truly was an amazing story. Firstly I would like tot talk about the characters. Furukura, our main character is simply spectacular. If she existed and if I ever met her I would certainly tell her she should just enjoy life just the way she is. At every step as Furukura keeps pondering about how to interact with people I would immediately have a small smile as I could very easily relate to that same question in my head. While I don’t necessarily have such deep and extreme thoughts as Furukura I still felt very akin to her thought process.
The description of how she logically would conclude her the best course of interaction to take in any conversion was so refreshing, entertaining and funny. On the other hand we have Shiraha who pardon my language is absolutely the worst leech I’ve ever seen. The nerve of the guy to treat any woman that way simply because he believed we humans haven’t evolved since the stone age. Behind my mist of rage against this character I did notice some unnoticed realities.
The realities lead me to my second point about this story which I thoroughly relished was the breakdown of what is considered a “normal” human in today’s world. I have not come across many books that have explored the steps we must take to be good herd citizens of the community unlike this book. A major reason for that is the fact that I usually stick to fiction and very rarely pick a literary masterpiece such as this book.
A normal human blue-print according to many of us follows these steps :
1. You are born
2. You study well
3. Get a high paying job
4. You find a partner
5. Have a child
6. Take care of your family
7. Die in peace knowing that you did your part for society.
And that is okay for most people but maybe not for everyone. Many of us enjoy many of these steps, including moi, but even I can admit it is not for everyone. There will be outliers and that is ok. We should never ostracize them. This story explores and very neatly concludes exactly this reality. We are all different and yet we are all forced to conform to this blue print in order to avoid being isolated from society.
When you read the story you may notice Shiraha spews a lot of hate towards this blue-print and constantly criticizes it. That is probably why he treats everyone, especially woman so poorly. Back to my favorite character, Furukura, she knows she is a bit of an outlier but she tries her best to be a part of the community by adjusting that very blue print. That is why I love her character so much!
She doesn’t seek to hurt anyone. Her ambitions are not the same as everyone’s. She just wants to work at a convenience store and help as many customers as she can even though the world continuously tries to change her. Her life revolves around the convenience store and we get to see how the store and she are in sync with each other and live off each other. Now that is admirable in way. Because unlike many of us, she found her calling in life.
So, yes, this is a pretty fantastic story which do recommend you read whenever you get a chance.
Conclusion:
Finding our place on this green earth is really hard. Not many of us have found it. Some of us may never find it. But Furukura does. That is what I appreciate about this character and this story. It doesn’t have too many layers to peel. It is just a story about a woman who enjoys working at a convenience store. That is what I admire and took away from this story. We all deserve to be happy doing the job we like. Especially if it doesn’t harm anyone and instead serves the community.
Now, that I finished my long winded back and forth reasons for why I like this book I will admit that the final chapter and the letter by Sayaka Murata simply melted my heart like butter on a hot pan. It was simply beautiful. I hope that as you finish this article you may also be convinced at least by 0.5% to read this story. If not, then thank you for your time. If you have read this story then I hope you felt and enjoyed it as much as I did. Thank you for your time. Really appreciate it.