Earthlings

Review

Well, where to start? I liked this book a lot, post-bubble Japanese malaise fiction is certainly a lot of my reading these days and this was one of the bleaker books in that non so happy genre. I will say to avoid it if you don't want to read a book that deals with several very dark subjects. This did very much connect to the themes of Convenience Store Woman, a woman approaching middle age who does not connect with or want to participate in society. However I think this diverges in a couple interesting ways. First, much time is spent on Natsuki's childhood, however anyone hoping for an easy answer to why she turns out this way won't find it here. Second, the book is framed around Natsuki being an alien, wanting to fit in with humans. And as time goes on the line between that being a fantasy and something more tangible moves from one side to another. I very much enjoyed this novel but it's hard to recommend. However if a bleak, unusual story of people rejecting the expectations of modern society appeals to you I can recommend it. And to discuss more details from the book: I think the tension between Natsuki's innate disconnect from society and childhood trauma is very interesting. It's easy reading a plot summary to think that her abuse at the hands of a teacher, and her being ripped away from the boy she loved resulted in her later problems. And I think there is some truth to that. But thinking she is an alien predates these events. What would her life be like without them? It's hard to imagine it would have been as a conventional part of the Factory. The final chapter of the book was also fascinating. In retrospect it makes a lot of thematic sense with the book, and some parts of it are signposted, but it really did come as quite a shock to see them devolve to cannibalism. Because after all, that is just another taboo to be discarded by aliens. What I did not expect and loved was the turn toward magical realism in the final pages. I think it's hard to take the words written in those pages as the literal truth in the world we live in. So what happened, are we seeing events as Natsuki imagined? Did they in fact transcend humanity? I don't know, and I think ending the novel on this uncertainty and doubt is the perfect conclusion.

Consumption history1

1. Nov 8, 2021

   Completed★ 4 / 5

   physical