DNF. Sometimes, I wish I could capture the joy I felt when I read Convenience Store Woman. And every time I pick up a new book by this author, I'm praying for something even vaguely close. I feel like the literary girlies will love this one. It feels like a book for people who are much cooler than me and don't have Catholic guilt still swirling around back there despite lapsing years ago. I don't even know if there's a word to describe why I put this book down, but it was like a roiling tide and I felt kind of seasick. Not for me.

Sayaka Murata is an auto-read author for me, so I was beyond thrilled to get an ARC of her upcoming Vanishing World. It is a literary sci-fi novel with little plot and a lot of meandering. Amane lives in a world where sex is rapidly vanishing. Everyone is conceived through artificial insemination, people marry platonically and have lovers (most of whom don't actually engage in sexual acts) outside of marriage, and reserve most of their affection for idols and anime characters. Unlike a Western dystopian protagonist. Amane is not here to challenge the system - instead, she is a vehicle for the author to demonstrate the different angles of the system.

Murata's novel belongs to a long line of literary responses to some of the most acute demographic issues plaguing Japan - alienations and low birth rates. Think The Last Children of Tokyo, Breasts and Eggs (the Eggs part) or Diary of a Void as some of the recent examples avaiable in English. Vanishing World is rather repetitive and muddled. Every single page of it discusses sex in some way, shape or form, be it in relation to sexual satisfaction or procreation, so be prepared. However, as many things which claim to be about sex, this one seemed to me to be about something quite different - the sense of normality, societal rules and conformity. Some of the changing norms of Amane's world might seem outlandish, but each of us has lived a version of Amane's lifem witnessing a transformation of ideas of what is and is not normal in marriage, sex and relationships. In my case, coming from quite a conservative family in a different country, I went through a period of adjustment to what is the 'norm' for a Millennial woman in the UK. Some of the things that are supposed to be speculative (?) in the book actually feel quite relatable - it seems weird to have a crush on an anime character, something Amane says only 'perverts' used to do in the 'past' of her world (the present of ours), but I lost count of people who confess to some or other animated character being the catalyst of their romantic/sexual awakening as children (Lara Croft is always a popular one).

Murata's central thesis is that most people are conformists, and would conform to absolutely anything, showing that through Amane's journey into a new experimental community where all children are parented by everyone in the community and where nuclear family is forbidden. Amane enters the community with a desire to keep her child, but gradually transforms into total acceptance of the rules of her new world. The 'norm' does not exist, as it continuously changes, and most people get used to the 'new norm' incredibly quickly (a sad realisation in our increasingly fascist world).

Overall, I think this one was a bit of a disappointment for me, especially coming from Murata. The text is very repetitive, as Amane keeps saying roughly the same things in slightly different words throughout. However, plenty of things are left unexplored. The initial discussion of Amane's world of anime lovers, sexual urges and platonic marriages is horribly hetero and cis normative. Murata never quite manages to grasp a nuanced portrayal of sexual desire, and connecting (or, in this case, disconnecting, but assuming a previous exclusive connection) it to procreation feels hollow without discussing all the forms of sexual desire and fulfilment which do not lead to procreation. Moreover, although we glimpse a sexual assault, very little discussion is given to the place of violent and non-consensual sexuality in this world. Additionally, Experiment City with its communal child-rearing is shown to be something completely unprecedented, whereas it is the nuclear family in its current form that is quite out of line with most historic and global societies. Despite Amane's insistence that the world is always changing, the world of her world's 'past' is incredibly static and simplistic.

I think one of my main issues was that it was not clear whether Murata was creating a dystopia, or showing that the 'norm' does not exist and that different 'normalities' suit different people, making them happy. These two themes are mutually exclusive - either there is some benchmark of normality, and Experiment City is a dystopia, or everybody has their own normal and we should be more mindful of different ways to do things. The ending sort of played with this idea quite well, as Amane, whose perspective we are supposed to find sympathetic throughout, no matter how odd it gets, finally does something the vast majority of people would see as completely unacceptable. I read it as a double narrative, in which both Amane herself and the reader are slowly boiled, like those frogs, to the point they do not quite notice that they are being cooked. In this case, we the readers are being drip-fed a society which takes it a step further and even further from our ideas of 'normal', gradually buying into cultural relativism, only to be shocked back into our senses by the end. This might be quite a generous reading, but this is the only way I can reconcile the novel's central themes (which still firmly puts it into the 'dystopia' category and makes its central thought experiment around sex, relationships and procreation rather meaningless).

If we bring this novel into its contemporary context, it feels like a round doughnut, always circling around issues but never getting at their heart. There is surprisingly little place for work, wages, work-life balance and gendered expectations of capitalism in this novel. There are comments here and there about how the world is this way because of all the companies creating sexy anime characters to encourage people to spend more, but overall the novel is pretty toothless when (not) addressing the root causes of Japan's complicated relationship with sex and procreation (compared, say, to Diary of a Void, which is far more explicit). Apart from the genuinely creepy ending, which seemed out of place, nothing about this lukewarm novel is particularly radical or punk, things I expect from Murata.

‘Vanishing world’ is a novel that leaves a deep sickly feeling in your stomach. For many reasons I could not tell what the political aim or POV of this book was and was left uncomfortable at many of the events that played out. Although this is most definitely the point.

The novel follows a woman who is raised in a society where sexual intercourse isn’t required for reproduction. We play witness to the degradation of family and community. But, also see how these things take on new meanings and are not totally missing.

I did enjoy the book, its fast pacing and interesting plot kept me intrigued but it wasn’t groundbreaking and didn’t have a strong message.

3.5/5

This was a quick and easy read. The description sounded interesting and It did have a strong start. However, as it went on it felt weird for weirdness sake.

Murata has done it again, defying my expectations and leaving me audibly gasping by the end of her slim masterpieces. This book is dark, introspective, subversive and written in her usual sublime style. There is something about the deadpan nature of Murata’s style which reads like liquid gold. This is a dark book, indeed perhaps that is an understatement, and is also something hard to recommend. But it is also playful, and clever, and leaves so many questions for the reader to sit with for days. I always think she is the legend of the horrific ending, and as a reader of everything she is written, this is definitely her at her best. Vanishing world is a meditation on sexuality, declining birth rates, technology and the ‘normal’ and it isn’t something that will ‘vanish’ quickly from my brain.

I'm a huge Sayaka Murata fan, her ideas and perspectives are so unique and original. She isn't afraid to go against the grain to disgust and horrify the reader.

I do think this is the most unhinged of her full length novels. The concept behind this book, once a couple marries they become like siblings rather than lovers, is a fascinating idea.

Unfortunately I did find the writing style to be more repetitive than I like, the same things were repeated over and over. Until eventually (even though a unique idea) it became dull. I don't think this will be very easy to recommend to anyone who isn't already familiar with Muratas work.

Vanishing World is a dazzling, mind-bending epic transcending genre and subverting the very fundamentals of humanity. A world in which marriage is a platonic partnership, intermarital sex as good as incestuous, and falling in love is strictly for extra-marital relations. This is a real eerie read but in the best possible way, raising numerous questions as to the limits of humanity's desire for optimal productivity and convenience. It also examines the foundations of what makes family, and love between family members. When our protagonist and her husband migrate to a commune-like society where experimental methods attempt to enable men to birth children, both quickly become inseminated, dreaming of bringing their children into the world and running away to raise them in freedom. But as their time in this immensely bizarre society progresses, they begin to lose sight of their reasons and in turn, begin to lose themselves. This is a poignant and chaotic read, exceptionally entertaining and hard to put down. I will be highly recommending this.

Vanishing World follows Amane who is ten years old when she discovers her parents had sex to conceive her rather than using artificial insemination. Amane feels disgusted because her friends were conceived the normal way through artificial insemination and their parents live in sexless marriages. Throughout her life, Amane questions sex and cultivates relationships with anime characters. Amane and her husband hear about Eden where men can be inseminated with an artificial womb and decide to move to this experimental town.

This had some really interesting things to say about sex particularly how sex is seen as unclean in this world. There was also some interesting ideas around family and what gives us purpose in life. The translation of this was good and I enjoyed reading this. This feels more similar to Earthlings than Convenience Store Woman but it was very unique. This was weird, strange and wild. I enjoyed the reading experience and I’m giving this 4.5 stars rounded up to a 5 because this was a solid story that made me think and I would recommend it.

You can always relay on Sayaka Murata to write unusual books. This is no exception. The writing was excellent and I felt very intrigued as to what would happen. There seemed to be many ways it could go. If you like slightly unusual narratives then this is one for you. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I have read the other translated novels by Murata, so I was so excited to get my hands on her next release.

This story follows our main character Amane throughout her life, from childhood to adulthood, and her questions surrounding relationships, sex, family and conception. The society our protagonist lives in is constantly changing in regards to these topics, and we get to experience her changing opinions and thoughts throughout.

For me, this novel was a bit too messy. Murata is an author who doesn't shy away from complex and uncomfortable topics, but I was left confused about the purpose of some of the topics introduced. I was also very unsure what the protagonist really thought/felt during the novel, and a lot of questions raised where quite repetitive.

The ending to this left me staring a wall, it's very dark and very unsettling.

Unfortunately, this was only a *2.5 for me, but I will continue to read Murata's work as it is so unique.

Sayaka Murata’s works are something special, written as by a child from a different dimension, so innocent and pure, so twisted in its understanding of the world and so profound in its emotional intelligent. This book is on another field of existence, it’s something sublime and it has the means to wreck you from inside out. It touches the themes of love, sex, family and procreation. I really loved the romanticizing of fictional characters, this is so relatable to me, being in love with nonreal person is the common expression of love in this world. Family is something that is going to vanish eventually and the old ways of the world are evolving into new artificial reality. It’s a typical Sayaka Murata book, weird and wacky, if you loved her other works you will most definitely love this one as well. 4.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Granta Publications for providing me with the ARC.

My brain cannot comprehend what I have just read. I was hooked on this book and read it all in one day. If you like any of Sakaya Muratas other books then you will probably enjoy this one, she just has a distinct writing style to me. Much like other Murata this book delved into societal constructs. This book was weird with deeper meanings but I will have to sit and think and reflect for a couple days about them. The one thing that confused me and really let me down was the ending? I have no idea what the ending was to mean or why she decided to add that part. However, I would reccomend this book if you like other Murata titles and it’s a short, quick read.