![]() ![]() Because so many Japanese stories focus more on interiority than a plot driven by outside forces, any changes in a character are likely to be less noticeable than in most Western novels. But in most cases, something important will have happened. Something simply happening is enough-even if it isn’t necessarily important. The cover and concept intrigued me, and once I read the first line, A convenience store is a world of sound, I was hooked. They had a top ten display near the entrance, and the 1 book at the time, Convenience Store Woman, caught my eye. Japanese novels having less clear endings fits with the aesthetic concept of mujō, which is based on the idea that impermanence is worth celebrating. My favorite bookstore there was Foyles, a six-story-high shrine to the written word. ![]() The work might be more interested in exploring the idea that a relationship ever existed than the whole of the relationship. Whereas an American novel about love might end with a wedding, a Japanese novel about love might simply end in the middle of a relationship. Unlike most Western novels, Japanese novels typically have less clear endings. Though Japanese literature is as diverse as any other national literature, Japanese fiction as a whole tends to differ in structure and form from typical Western conventions. Convenience Store Woman is an example of contemporary Japanese fiction. ![]()
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