She somehow explains the concept of the book really well, but I can’t help feeling through her giggles and faraway gaze that there is more to her explanation, she just can’t put it fully into words. It really reflects the strong meaning behind the book.
She's so empathetic towards others in society. Although she is talking about Convenience Store Woman in this interview, I'm guessing based on the interview date that her mind was more involved with ideas from Earthlings, with her talking about feeling like an alien. Earthlings is a wild book that addresses so many taboos, but she speaks about it so rationally as a service to her fellow humans. Truly inspiring author. Thanks for the interview!
Maybe it has already been explained somewhere, but when reading Convenience Store Women (not finished yet) I wondered if the main character was on the autistic spectrum. A number of times they talk about not knowing how to be a "person", so they have to copy others to blend in. That sounded a lot like the masking people on the autistic spectrum often do. The sensitivity to sounds was also interesting. I love the book so far and will definitely look for others by her.
she's probably on the spectrum as well as her writing (main character) is technically on the spectrum. refusing to join conformity. which is not a bad thing bc that is how they were born/experience
There was roundtable with miss Murata and translators of the book from different countries, and she said that she's been asked this question a lot, and she created the main character as normal person who simply approaches everything from very rational point of view.
Yes, but as someone on the spectrum, having been around a lot of people who found out about being on the spectrum quite late: people write what they know. If hey ironically just don't know they're on the spectrum, they'll explain it quite differently.@@aleksandrausolova4804 One thing I would like to add: whether the subject (Keiko) or the writer are on the spectrum doesn't matter. It's so wonderfully written that both neurotypical and neurodivergent people can find something in it they relate to. And as such, it shows that there is a binding factor between being on the spectrum or not, and that this book has swiftly opened up the conversation of just not being "typical" or "normal".
Her feeling of being "really restricted by the idea of being a woman or a human being" strikes a deep cord within me; I likewise, a fiction writer myself, never identified as a 'woman', 'straight' though I am. Womanhood for me is a cage lined with absurd narratives spun to serve men & children while my human-ness is a mere shell, a temporal flesh-and-bone vehicle designed to facilitate my soul's earthly journey, nothing more. Basically, what Sayaka has plugged into, consciously and with impunity, is her own Truth, her authentic Self, hence her concern that young women find the motivation & courage to follow their own dreams rather than make fear-based choices in a blind pursuit of security. As a former convenience store robot of an employee with a perfect attendance record, Sayaka knows well what Self-betrayal looks & feels like, & ironically, how alien-like & bizarre a "normal" (brainwashed) person truly is in a traditional Japanese society (in which SHE is the unmarried, child-free freak). Her pensive face & sincere way of speaking here convince me she's living deliberately & peacefully in the current of her true Self; she's free, a "creature in [her] own right." I feel her Light; she's a beacon of clarity, a breath of fresh air!
Powerful and contain many social issues that still lives in any society around the world. Convenience Store Women, one of best novel which I read this year. Thanks a lot Sayaka Murata.
Best book I've read in a while....loved the quirkiness of Furukura. She's very relatable... I have suspected for a while that I may be on the spectrum.
She somehow explains the concept of the book really well, but I can’t help feeling through her giggles and faraway gaze that there is more to her explanation, she just can’t put it fully into words. It really reflects the strong meaning behind the book.
She's so empathetic towards others in society. Although she is talking about Convenience Store Woman in this interview, I'm guessing based on the interview date that her mind was more involved with ideas from Earthlings, with her talking about feeling like an alien. Earthlings is a wild book that addresses so many taboos, but she speaks about it so rationally as a service to her fellow humans. Truly inspiring author. Thanks for the interview!
Maybe it has already been explained somewhere, but when reading Convenience Store Women (not finished yet) I wondered if the main character was on the autistic spectrum. A number of times they talk about not knowing how to be a "person", so they have to copy others to blend in. That sounded a lot like the masking people on the autistic spectrum often do. The sensitivity to sounds was also interesting. I love the book so far and will definitely look for others by her.
I was thinking the same thing
I was thinking the same thing when I read Earthlings!
she's probably on the spectrum as well as her writing (main character) is technically on the spectrum. refusing to join conformity. which is not a bad thing bc that is how they were born/experience
There was roundtable with miss Murata and translators of the book from different countries, and she said that she's been asked this question a lot, and she created the main character as normal person who simply approaches everything from very rational point of view.
Yes, but as someone on the spectrum, having been around a lot of people who found out about being on the spectrum quite late: people write what they know. If hey ironically just don't know they're on the spectrum, they'll explain it quite differently.@@aleksandrausolova4804
One thing I would like to add: whether the subject (Keiko) or the writer are on the spectrum doesn't matter. It's so wonderfully written that both neurotypical and neurodivergent people can find something in it they relate to. And as such, it shows that there is a binding factor between being on the spectrum or not, and that this book has swiftly opened up the conversation of just not being "typical" or "normal".
Her voice matches that of her writing... "it's heavenly!"
Her feeling of being "really restricted by the idea of being a woman or a human being" strikes a deep cord within me; I likewise, a fiction writer myself, never identified as a 'woman', 'straight' though I am. Womanhood for me is a cage lined with absurd narratives spun to serve men & children while my human-ness is a mere shell, a temporal flesh-and-bone vehicle designed to facilitate my soul's earthly journey, nothing more.
Basically, what Sayaka has plugged into, consciously and with impunity, is her own Truth, her authentic Self, hence her concern that young women find the motivation & courage to follow their own dreams rather than make fear-based choices in a blind pursuit of security. As a former convenience store robot of an employee with a perfect attendance record, Sayaka knows well what Self-betrayal looks & feels like, & ironically, how alien-like & bizarre a "normal" (brainwashed) person truly is in a traditional Japanese society (in which SHE is the unmarried, child-free freak).
Her pensive face & sincere way of speaking here convince me she's living deliberately & peacefully in the current of her true Self; she's free, a "creature in [her] own right." I feel her Light; she's a beacon of clarity, a breath of fresh air!
Powerful and contain many social issues that still lives in any society around the world. Convenience Store Women, one of best novel which I read this year. Thanks a lot Sayaka Murata.
Loved her book 👍🏽
Smart woman who is brilliant at observation.
What an insight to her mind.
Best book I've read in a while....loved the quirkiness of Furukura. She's very relatable... I have suspected for a while that I may be on the spectrum.
Thank You 🙏 Beautiful sharing of how Novels & Stories help us re~Imagine our lives~Ourselves 🦋
Enoyed reading the book in Korean. Now reading her second book Earthlings.
She's amazing
her books' amazing..
Я думал автор кыргыз Саяк мурат, оказывается это женщина, о боже
Жизнь никогда не будет прежней...
....too much details...good to make a movie
What an awful way to view literature of any kind