Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings is a wild ride. Her previous novel, Convenience Store Woman, catapulted her to international success, but fans of that book will be surprised by her follow-up. It delves into fears about pregnancy, marriage, and sex, refusing to shy away from ugly and often violent truths. Some readers may be put off by the graphic content and themes of trauma and abuse, but anyone brave enough to venture into the mind of Sayaka Murata will be taken on a fascinating and compelling journey, with twists and turns you’d never expect in a million years.
The story follows Natsuki, a precocious eleven-year-old who believes herself to have magical powers. Feeling isolated from her family, she forms a strong bond with her cousin Yuu, who she meets up with on family holidays in the mountains. A traumatic event forces the two apart, and years later Natsuki is in her mid-thirties, living quietly in marriage of convenience to stop her family from pestering her. Seeking an escape from their humdrum existence, she and her husband take a trip to Natsuki’s childhood holiday home, where a reunion with Yuu will change their lives forever.
Murata’s novel is a response to the social pressure that many women feel to marry and have children, even if that’s not what they want. In an interview, she cited Hakuo Yanagisawa, former health minister of Japan, who said in 2007 that ‘women of child-bearing age should perform a public service by raising the country’s birth rate’. This is reflected in Natsuki’s attitude to the world around her; she describes society as ‘the factory’, and resists the pressure to become a ‘baby-making machine’.
The translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori is smooth and fluid, conveying the disconnectedness that Natsuki feels from the world around her. The character development is done deftly and feels natural, ensuring that when the action does take a turn into the horrific and surreal, it comes as a conclusion to a process, rather than existing for the shock factor alone. The tone throughout is darkly comic, the slight ironic distance making the most difficult-to-read scenes more bearable.
What I liked most about the book was its originality. The way Murata approaches her themes is unique, not just in terms of the content, but in the lack of compromise towards attitudes such as the former health minister’s. It was refreshing to read about a female protagonist who is steadfast in her lack of desire for marriage and children, instead of discovering that she secretly does want them after all. The book succeeds brilliantly in pointing out that the ways in which our society views women are bizarre and wrong.
Earthlings is bleak, funny, surprising, and emotional. Its cast of characters are a cracked mirror reflection of how we live now, exaggerated but ultimately believable. Sayaka Murata’s imagination and perspective make it a one-of-a-kind reading experience. It has much to say about gender, conformity, the need to belong, and the barriers we cross to cope and survive.
Review by Charlie Alcock
Murata’s novel is a response to the social pressure that many women feel to marry and have children, even if that’s not what they want. In an interview, she cited Hakuo Yanagisawa, former health minister of Japan, who said in 2007 that ‘women of child-bearing age should perform a public service by raising the country’s birth rate’. This is reflected in Natsuki’s attitude to the world around her; she describes society as ‘the factory’, and resists the pressure to become a ‘baby-making machine’.
The translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori is smooth and fluid, conveying the disconnectedness that Natsuki feels from the world around her. The character development is done deftly and feels natural, ensuring that when the action does take a turn into the horrific and surreal, it comes as a conclusion to a process, rather than existing for the shock factor alone. The tone throughout is darkly comic, the slight ironic distance making the most difficult-to-read scenes more bearable.
What I liked most about the book was its originality. The way Murata approaches her themes is unique, not just in terms of the content, but in the lack of compromise towards attitudes such as the former health minister’s. It was refreshing to read about a female protagonist who is steadfast in her lack of desire for marriage and children, instead of discovering that she secretly does want them after all. The book succeeds brilliantly in pointing out that the ways in which our society views women are bizarre and wrong.
Earthlings is bleak, funny, surprising, and emotional. Its cast of characters are a cracked mirror reflection of how we live now, exaggerated but ultimately believable. Sayaka Murata’s imagination and perspective make it a one-of-a-kind reading experience. It has much to say about gender, conformity, the need to belong, and the barriers we cross to cope and survive.
Review by Charlie Alcock
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