PositiveThe Times Literary Supplement (UK)The novel is crammed with unnecessary detail, and reading it can also be a job that brings on mental fatigue. But it somehow manages to be consuming. Polly Barton’s translation skilfully captures the protagonist’s dejected, anxious voice and her deadpan humour, as we are lulled into the rhythm of her daily worries and concerns – what to eat, where to buy what – which then hit up against her workplace dramas. Tsumura has produced an imaginative and unusual contribution to a wave of Japanese literature by authors (see also Hideo Yokohama and Sayaka Murata) exploring work culture in Japan.
