As a Book addicted I have the overwhelming urge to constantly buy books, so here is a relatively sizeable addition of books to my already massive collection
Let me know in the comments section what books you’ve recently purchased and what book you’re going to read next.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata is one this summers most buzzed about books. At only 176 pages it’s a perfect read, and if you can’t get away this summer then, you’ll find yourself transported to Japan for a short while.
いらっしゃいませ! This phrase is a mantra for Keiko Furukura who has spent the past 18 years of her life working at a convenience store. She is a bizarre protagonist, she studies those around her and imitates them so that she can fit into society. And this is chiefly the basis of the story, Convenience Store Woman is a study of people that society deems different and how they are often marginalised or expected and even coerced into normalisation.
At the Convenience Store Keiko encounters perennial slacker Shiraha, like Keiko he is an outsider, but he is also her exact opposite, he has literally no purpose in life. For, Keiko working at the Convenience Store is her life, she doesn’t need anything else. However, she dabbles with the idea of partnering up with Shiraha as that is what is expected of her, and when she tells her friends that she is living with another man they are all ecstatic for her. However, Shiraha is an absolute jerk, he uses Keiko and babbles on pretentiously about how modern society is still exactly like “Stone Age” society. Having a character like Shiraha come into Keiko’s life is essentially a way for the author to help make Keiko realise that being normal is overrated, she unlike many others doesn’t need the traditional, get married and have kids lifestyle, her job is satisfaction enough, and it keeps her going and feeling like she has a purpose. And in life surely that is enough?
Overall, Convenience Store Woman is a fascinating read, it makes you realise how judgmental people are! And I found it to be quite a funny quirky little read with a good-hearted message, which is always nice to find in a book.
And as always, let me know in the comments section what you thought of Convenience Store Woman and while you’re here check out my other book reviews.
As you all may know I absolutely love Japanese Literature, so this latest read should be of no surprise. I received a copy of The Last Children of Tokyo, a newly published translation of Yoko Tawada’s book 献灯使 from NetGalley, and I was blown away by how good it was.
The Last Children of Tokyo is set in a post-apocalyptic Japan that has closed it’s borders to the outside world and reverted back to a pre-tech age living style, where farming and other honest work is all carried out by older generations as the Children of Japan are becoming weaker and more sickly as years go by. It’s an intriguing premise that also stands up as a commentary on Japan’s current ageing population which is seeing the nations workforce decrease year after year.
The writing style of this short story is both sparse and rich in imagery and is told from the points of view of Mumei (one of the sickly children) and those around him, including his great-grandfather Yoshiro. These differing points of view between Mumei and Yoshiro study the implications of how the passing of time changes society. Throughout the story, Yoshiro tells Mumei much about the world before he was born and teaches him words that have long been abandoned.
I would like to say that this novella is most definitely not for everyone, plot-wise not much happens other than everyday life in this future society. The story evokes an atmosphere that is hard to explain but that’s definitely where the experience of reading The Last Children of Tokyo lies, so if subtle and meaningful literature is your style then this is a must read and it will leave you a little puzzled and disorientated after reading.
Check out our first Book Haul of 2018!! I am an avid reader so this haul should be no surprise but I think I may have convinced Charlotte to take reading up as a hobby too.
As someone who loves international Cinema and TV Shows I probably watch more foreign language content than I do English. And it’s suffice to say that that has also influenced my reading too as I am a massive fan of Japanese and Korean literature. Murakami fast became a favourite author (Check out Sputnik Sweetheart, Norwegian Wood they were the two books that started my journey into Japanese Lit) as did Han Kang (The Vegetarian is one of the most interesting novels I’ve ever read). And I love the prose of Hiromi Kawakami’s The Nakano Thrift Shop which is a charming slice of life novel.
So it should come as no surprise that Sweet Bean Paste and The Travelling Cat Chronicles were in this haul. While we are on the subject of The Travelling Cat Chronicles, I found out after I bought it that they are doing a film adaptation this year with Sota Fukushi who is one of my favourite Japanese actors since I watched I’m Taking the Day Off (which to this day and after several re-watchings is still one of my favourite dramas). So that has made my interest in this novel increase tenfold and I will probably be picking it up very soon.
My interest in A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers came about when I was browsing for books on Goodreads and the premise sounded rather interesting and has unique format and writing style when you consider that the very structure of the writing shows the characters progress with the English language. As I’ve read a whole lot of Korean and Japanese Literature I was intrigued by this book by Chinese author Xiaolu Guo as it’s her first book written in English. So I’m intrigued to read the story as it probably has parallels to the authors own journey as she immigrated to England in her late 20’s. This then gives the story so much more of an authentic feel which I guess is what I love about international literature, you get to be transported into different cultures and explore then from a native’s point of view which is so much more genuine.
Let me know in the comments section whether you’ve read any of the titles we mentioned in the book haul or any of the ones that I mentioned in this mini essay of sorts.
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Spring Garden or 春の庭 (Haru No Niwa) was first published in 2014 in Japanese and has now been translated into English, the novella also won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize upon its release.
Spring Garden follows two characters Taro and Nishi. Both live alone in an apartment building that is to be demolished as soon as the last tenant’s lease is up. Taro and Nishi form a bond with each other as their temporary lives intertwine, and Nishi’s fixation with a Sky Blue House across the street brings them on a journey of self-discovery and realisation of how fast the world around them changes.
Spring Garden is an unusual read and while the book is only 154 pages the story stays with you long after. Nostalgia is a theme that runs deep through the story, especially for Nishi, her life has very much evolved around the Sky Blue house and it’s a strange but utterly human moment when she finally steps inside the building and realises that it’s not what she always hoped it would be and that the house has changed over the years just like the whole city around her.
That’s the core of the story, the idea of change and evolution, the characters change the city changes and even the interior of the Sky Blue house changes over time. This is something I love about novellas, their ability to tell a short but moving tales. And as someone who loves Literature, I must say that no one can beat Japanese writers for these intimate and odd little stories.
A captivating story of Nostalgia and how the world around you will always keep evolving whether you’re ready for it to or not.
