Guardian described this book as irresistibly quirky. Well I can understand that but to me this book seemed normal. And probably that's why I loved this book so much. What this book deals with is how someone can 'normally' exist in the society. While we can go on about how there's no particular way to live a life, we know that is so not true. There really is a manual that describes what normal means in society. And Sayaka Murata describes it perfectly. What really sets this book apart is that she chose Keiko to tell her story and reading about her we can sympathize with her thought at some point in our lives we all have judged any form of Keiko we might have encountered. And then there's Shiraha who really is a foreign object and who I really wanted to hit on the head with a spade. 

This book talks about what it is to be a cog in the society. 

I wanted to shout at Shihara saying that you just want to mooch off of someone and live your life luxuriously without doing any work and you hate that because you're a man society will judge you for that while you think women have it easy as society has deemed them to low standards and okayed them to be dependent on their husband's income. Well news flash Shihara : Even your sister-in-law works a lot while she's managing her house while the only thing you do is sit in the bathtub with your tablet and ask what's for dinner. 
Such a despicable character but through him Murata threw light on a lot of matters! 

1. People are so enamored with the concept of coupling that no one is even bothered with what Shihara does or how is he as a person. So what if he's mooches off of Keiko and contributes nothing, at least Keiko is not alone!! The convenience store workers knew what kind of rut Shihara is but that is no matter to them as Keiko is finally not single! The way Sayaka Murata breaksdown the behavior of people and their perceptions of how a life is to be led in the form of dialogues and actions is amazing and also heartbreaking. 

2. Shiraha's thought process is laced with so much misogyny that it shows how women are perceived as, in the society. 

3. Once you find a partner, it seems like that becomes your description of who you are. Now you're a wife or a husband and to people around you that only matters. Soon you're known only as a mother or a father and while there's nothing wrong with that, there's equally nothing wrong if someone chooses to not define themselves through their children or their partners. 

4. The harmful notion that you simply cannot exist as a single person and if you do so you must have a grand job paying you huge bucks that would explain why you aren't married.

In terms of literature, this book was fantastic. I especially liked the various ways the author described how Keiko saw herself as a convenience store worker. Her hands and legs and even the water in her body, all were used to relay the fact that Keiko cannot live if she wasn't a store worker. I previously had no idea that so much thought was given into managing a store. I merely thought saying good morning politely and cheerfully was all it needed. However I was proved wrong. I liked how Keiko came to the understanding of who she is and firmly put her foot down to walk down that path only. She's not abnormal and I hope someone comes along and tells her so!