In Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings, the submissive, the witch, and the rebel all deal with society’s expectations in their own way. A mix of humor, fantasy, and survival on top of everything that is wrong with society.
Earthlings synopsis
Natsuki isn’t like the other girls. She has a wand and a transformation mirror. She might be a witch, or an alien from another planet. Together with her cousin Yuu, Natsuki spends her summers in the wild mountains of Nagano, dreaming of other worlds. When a terrible sequence of events threatens to part the two children forever, they make a promise: survive, no matter what. Now Natsuki is grown. She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal. But the demands of Natsuki’s family are increasing, her friends wonder why she’s still not pregnant, and dark shadows from Natsuki’s childhood are pursuing her. Fleeing the suburbs for the mountains of her childhood, Natsuki prepares herself with a reunion with Yuu. Will he still remember their promise? And will he help her keep it?
Book review
Earthlings starts as a story about two kids with a wild imagination spending summer at what seems like a lovely family gathering. Yuu and Natsuki promise each other to “Survive, whatever it takes.” This sentence seems innocent at first but gets a whole new meaning as the story progresses. Yuu goes along with everything Natsuki suggests, while Natsuki hides in her fantasies. Without the support of her family, she has no defense against the abuse she suffers.
She feels like she has to “Survive, whatever it takes”, like a proper Earthling and member of the baby-making Factory. Japanese authors sure like to compare their society to a factory (Hiroko Oyamada’s The Factory comes to mind). The burden to live up to society’s expectations is a central theme in Earthlings. How does one escape from society and the watchful eye of family and friends? By going back to the basics…
A small word of caution: Earthlings contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse and young kids exploring sex and it doesn’t shy away from discussing incest and sex without consent. Things that are actually happening in society but are often considered not an acceptable topic in fiction. If you don’t want to come across scenes like that, then you shouldn’t read this book.
Through these scenes, Sayaka Murata indirectly discusses real issues in society; issues to which many turn a blind eye because they can’t imagine someone would do something like that. Toyama, Natsuki’s husband, seems like a caricature whenever he opens his mouth. At one point, Toyama’s comments had me laughing out loud before I reread the paragraph and once again realized that what he said was so not done. The absurdness can’t hide that he has no moral/ethical boundaries: as long as it is the opposite of what society stands for it feels right to him. He is the rebel, and like the others, he feels alienated from society.
I liked the scenes where Natsuki channeled her inner witch to deal with her problems (magic realism!) – which is totally the opposite of Yuu’s submissive way of dealing with his problems – and I think this book could have been a fairy tale or fable if the subject were different. What I liked less is the constant comparison of society with the Factory in both the thoughts of the characters and the dialogues. It could have been a bit less.
Half-way the book the story takes an interesting turn. I had not expected this at the beginning, so I was pleasantly surprised and it kept me on my toes as I was increasingly wondering where the characters would lead me next. The synopsis doesn’t give away what kind of book you are gonna read at all.
I really enjoyed reading this novel and the rich fantasies, entertaining dialogues, and messed up characters played a big role in that. At the same time, I was constantly aware of the seriousness of what the main characters had to deal with. Sayaka Murata manages to discuss a heavy topic in a light way without it feeling any less serious. Despite the topic, the book is easy to read. Compared to Murata’s earlier novel Convenience Store Woman, Earthlings has more spirit and emotion.
Translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
Interested?
You can pre-order your copy of Earthlings from Amazon. Available October 6, 2020.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!
