What is Earthlings about?Įleven-year-old Natsuki Sasamoto is going to her grandparents’ home high in the Akishina mountains. But if you love quirky Japanese novels with a twisted and macabre sense of humor-coupled with deep insights about the conformist nature of human society-then you’ll probably appreciate Earthlings as much as I did.A textual analysis of Earthlings and Sayaka Murata’s controversial, disturbing dystopia – where hell is other people. Obviously, this book is not for everyone. We prepared three Man dishes: Miso Soup with Man, Daikon Leaf and Man Stir-Fry, and Man Simmered in Sweetened Soy Sauce.” “‘We’ll have a feast tonight!’ my husband cried happily. Is this a new trend in publishing? At least Murata makes it sound more appealing than other authors: Strangely enough, this is my fifth book this year with “surprise” cannibalism. Her writing style is a joy, even while the plot sinks deeper into insanity and obscenity. Sayaka Murata’s writing is perfect throughout Earthlings. The closest book I can compare this to is Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I found Earthlings to be a unique and highly original read. Murata handles the themes of asexuality and anticonformity brilliantly in Earthlings, as she has done previously in her well-known novel, Convenience Store Woman.Įarthlings is very Japanese in its dark and quirky sense of humor and its combination of the kawaii (cute) and the obscene. They are convinced that they are all aliens and are determined to be true to their Popinpobopian roots and reject human society, which they see as a conformist Baby Factory. It gets very dark, very fast.Īdult Natsuki has brought two other characters into her delusions: her cousin and her asexual husband. Some of the trigger warnings include child abuse, incest, murder, and cannibalism. This is all very cute for a young child, right? It’s not so cute when Natsuki grows up and still believes even more firmly in these childhood fantasies.Įarthlings starts off with a lighthearted style and then descends very quickly into darkness. Since then I’d been using the powers he’d given me to protect the Earth.” “The Magic Police had found out the Earth was facing a crisis and had sent him on a mission to save our planet.
He is an alien from the Planet Popinpobopia who has given Natsuki a special mission: Natsuki goes on to explain that Piyyut isn’t actually a stuffed animal. Piyyut can’t speak human since the evil forces put a spell on him, but he’s looking after me so I won’t get carsick.” At the very top of the backpack was my best friend, Piyyut, who gave me these magical objects. Inside it was my origami magic wand and my magical transformation mirror. He’s best friends with Natsuki, the book’s narrator, an 11-year-old girl who is also a self-described magician. See that cute stuffed hedgehog on the cover of Earthlings by Sayaka Murata? That’s Piyyut.
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