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Jessica Woodbury's Reviews > There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura
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really liked it
bookshelves: arc-provided-by-publisher, authors-of-color, in-translation, speculative

If you see that this is a book about work, about a 36-year-old flitting between strange and even surreal menial jobs, you would probably assume this is going to be one of those books about how we are all cogs in this meaningless machine and all of that. But even though this looks like a book about how work is a soul-sucking waste, actually it's the opposite. It's about the way we find meaning in our lives even when we are convinced we want to stay far away from it. It starts quite slow, so get at least to Job #2 to find your footing here, but all is not what it seems, either with our protagonist or any of the jobs she takes on.

Our nameless protagonist is very clear about what she wants: a job that does as little as possible, a job that doesn't matter. She ends up in all kinds of unusual positions, and the joy of the book comes in two ways. First, following each of these jobs as they became steadily more surreal, and second, in following our protagonist as she becomes very attached to each of them. She is skittish, we know she has just left her field after more than 10 years in the same job, that the toll that job took on her is why she has retreated to meaningless work for refuge. But it becomes clear that while she wants to feel nothing, she cannot help but feel something.

The CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN comp is a pretty good one, the books and protagonists are quite different, but I think they appeal to similar readers. It's a book that I suspect will particularly impact millennial readers (the cover clearly thinks so, it has them squarely in its sights) because our protagonist sees her retreat from work as a rational and natural thing to do. If you are new to Japanese fiction in translation, you'll want to give yourself longer to get situated with the prose and style. I admit I almost put this down during job #1 because it was moving rather slowly and I wondered what the point was. I saw some negative reviews on this page and I found myself rooting for the book and sticking with it. And I'm glad I did! It's quite rewarding, and just when it feels like there is no way this book can end in a way that feels satisfying, it pulls you out of this endless loop and gives you a really emotionally fulfilling close.
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Reading Progress

September 20, 2020 – Started Reading
September 20, 2020 – Shelved
September 22, 2020 – Shelved as: arc-provided-by-publisher
September 22, 2020 – Shelved as: authors-of-color
September 22, 2020 – Shelved as: in-translation
September 22, 2020 – Shelved as: speculative
September 22, 2020 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-1 of 1 (1 new)

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JimZ I agree Jessica,,,,the book did get progressively better. By the end, I was not bothered by it length.


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