June 11, 2021

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this book from either a literary or language-learning perspective. Whether you are just attempting your first Japanese novel or you're already native-level fluent with hundreds of books under your belt, this needs to be next on your to-read list.

After reading just a few of Murata's works, I've come to regard her as one of my favorite authors (English or Japanese). Her prose is blunt and direct, devoid of flowery language while at the same time bringing the scene and environment to life in a way that even the most poetic writers rarely achieve. Not only is her sparse style beautiful in its own right, but it makes her books very accessible to Japanese learners. After getting used to Murata's style and a some of コンビニ人間’s repeated vocabulary, I found this book very easy to read even though it was only the second book I attempted in Japanese.

恵子 (けいこ), the protagonist, is one of the most unique and interesting characters I've come across. I was also shocked that a story about a convenience store worker could be so difficult to put down, constantly throwing new surprises and forcing me to hold my breath with the turn of each page.

Of every WaniKani bookclub I've participated in, the コンビニ人間 book club had hands-down the most active and interesting discussion, as participants were regularly emotionally moved, fascinated, or eager to put their thoughts into words. Over the course of the two-hundred or so short pages I'm pretty sure that I both shed tears and laughed out loud on multiple occasions.

Gradings:13
2
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jhol graded
on November 21, 2022
jhol graded
on June 6, 2022
jhol graded
on June 4, 2022
similar in difficulty toかがみの孤城L28
jhol graded
on March 22, 2022
easier than地球星人L29
jhol graded
on March 1, 2022
similar in difficulty toコンビニエンスストア様L28
jhol graded
on November 24, 2021
easier than授乳L34
jhol graded
on August 9, 2021
similar in difficulty to殺人出産L30
jhol graded
on July 9, 2021
harder than日常 (1)L23
jhol graded
on June 11, 2021
jhol graded
on June 11, 2021
easier than君の名はL29
jhol graded
on May 24, 2021
jhol graded
on May 24, 2021
easier than魔女の宅急便 1L24