Convenience Store Woman

“When something was strange, everyone thought they had the right to come stomping in all over your life to figure out why. I found that arrogant and infuriating, not to mention a pain in the neck. Sometimes I even wanted to hit them with a shovel to shut them up, like I did that time in elementary school. But I recalled how upset my sister had been when I'd casually mentioned this to her before and kept my mouth shut.”

This is such an odd wee book. A quick read, ultimately because not a lot happens and there's not much of a character arc to speak of, but Murata's writing is compelling and Keiko's story is endearing and relatable, despite her bizarre personality quirks. Her constant enforced cheerfulness and unabashed bluntness reminded me an awful lot of May Kasahara from Murikami's The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. An interesting look at the role of the individual in the machinery of society, and society's expectations, and often insistence, of conformity.