Sayaka Murata

Amane is ten years old when she discovers she's not like everyone else. Her school friends were all conceived the normal way, by artificial insemination, and raised in the normal way, by parents in 'clean', sexless marriages. But Amane's parents committed the ultimate taboo: they fell in love, had sex and procreated. As Amane grows up and enters adulthood, she does her best to fit in and live her life like the rest of society: cultivating intense relationships with anime characters, and limiting herself to extra-marital sex, as is the norm. Still, she can't help questioning what sex and marriage are for. But when Amane and her husband hear about Eden, an experimental town where residents are selected at random to be artificially inseminated en masse (including men who are fitted with artificial wombs), the family unit does not exist and children are raised collectively and anonymously, they decide to try living there. But can this bold experiment build the brave new world Amane desires, or will it push her to breaking point?

"Normality is the creepiest madness there is..." In our near-future world, children are solely conceived by artificial insemination. Even sex between married couples is viewed as taboo. Amane's family is irregular. Her parents copulated to create her and hope that she too will find love and have a child with the person she marries. But Amane falls in line with society's way of thinking and wants a regular 'clean' marriage. Then she hears of a place that is the subject of a social experiment. Everyone in Paradise-Eden will act as one big family. Could this be the perfect third way? Praise for Sayaka Murata's fiction: 'Exhilarating, weird and funny' Sally Rooney 'Radical, hilarious, heartbeaking' Elif Batuman 'A gift to anyone who has ever felt at odds with the world' Ruth Ozeki

"Normality is the creepiest madness there is..." From the author of the bestselling literary sensations Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings comes a surprising and highly imaginative story set in a version of Japan where sex between married couples has vanished and all children are born by artificial insemination. Sayaka Murata has proven herself to be one of the most exciting chroniclers of the strangeness of society, x-raying our contemporary world to bizarre and troubling effect. Her depictions of a happily unmarried retail worker in Convenience Store Woman and a young woman convinced she is an alien in Earthlings have endeared her to millions of readers worldwide. Vanishing World takes Murata's universe to a bold new level, imagining an alternative Japan where attitudes to sex and procreation are wildly different to our own. As a girl, Amane realizes with horror that her parents "copulated" in order to bring her into the world, rather than using artificial insemination, which became the norm in the mid-twentieth century. Amane strives to get away from what she considers an indoctrination in this strange "system" by her mother, but her infatuations with both anime characters and real people have a sexual force that is undeniable. As an adult in an appropriately sexless marriage-sex between married couples is now considered as taboo as incest-Amane and her husband Saku decide to go and live in a mysterious new town called Experiment City or Paradise-Eden, where all children are raised communally, and every person is considered a Mother to all children. Men are beginning to become pregnant using artificial wombs that sit outside of their bodies like balloons, and children are nameless, called only "Kodomo-chan." Is this the new world that will purify Amane of her strangeness once and for all?

From the author of the bestselling literary sensations Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings comes a surprising and highly imaginative story set in a version of Japan where sex between married couples has vanished and all children are born by artificial inseminationSayaka Murata has proven herself to be one of the most exciting chroniclers of the strangeness of society, x-raying our contemporary world to bizarre and troubling effect. Her depictions of a happily unmarried retail worker in Convenience Store Woman and a young woman convinced she is an alien in Earthlings have endeared her to millions of readers worldwide. Vanishing World takes Murata's universe to a bold new level, imagining an alternative Japan where attitudes to sex and procreation are wildly different to our own. As a girl, Amane realizes with horror that her parents "copulated" in order to bring her into the world, rather than using artificial insemination, which became the norm in the mid-twentieth century. Amane strives to get away from what she considers an indoctrination in this strange "system" by her mother, but her infatuations with both anime characters and real people have a sexual force that is undeniable. As an adult in an appropriately sexless marriage--sex between married couples is now considered as taboo as incest--Amane and her husband Saku decide to go and live in a mysterious new town called Experiment City or Paradise-Eden, where all children are raised communally, and every person is considered a Mother to all children. Men are beginning to become pregnant using artificial wombs that sit outside of their bodies like balloons, and children are nameless, called only "Kodomo-chan." Is this the new world that will purify Amane of her strangeness once and for all?

'A gem of a book. Quirky, deadpan, poignant and quietly profound' Ruth Ozeki The unexpected international bestseller. Meet Keiko. She's 36 years old, has never had a boyfriend, and she's been working in the same supermarket for eighteen years. Keiko's family wishes she'd get a proper job. Her friends wonder why she won't get married. But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she's not going to let anyone come between her and her convenience store... A cult hit around the world, Convenience Store Woman is both a feminist rallying cry and a must-read oddball comedy. 'Exhilaratingly weird and funny... Unsettling and totally unpredictable - my copy is now heavily underlined' Sally Rooney 'Darkly comic' Observer '[A] short, deadpan gem... A true original' Daily Mail 'What a weird and wonderful and deeply satisfying book this is. Sayaka Murata is an utterly unique and revolutionary voice. I tore through it with great delight' Jami Attenberg

Sayaka Murata, forfatteren til kultromanen Døgnkioskmennesket, er aktuel med 13 hårdtslående fortællinger om det moderne menneske nu og nogle årtier ude i fremtiden. Her er kønsløse kærlighedsforhold, groteske livsceremonier med barbariske festmåltider og insemineringsritualer, flagrende femspaltede personligheder, søde skolepiger med groteske kæledyr, og unge kvinder på randen af vanvid. I en bedragerisk barnlig stil beskriver Murata, hvordan mennesket i sin trang til at leve et velordnet, rent og pletfrit liv er ved at afvikle sig selv. Vores forestilling om hvad et menneske er, flytter sig i disse fortællinger i retning af det barbariske, primitive, monstrøse. Syret fortællekunst fra en af Japans helt store samtidsforfattere. "Hårrejsende, underholdende og meget tankevækkende.“ - Jyllands-Posten, 6 stjerner"Fortryllende." - Politiken, 5 hjerter"Markerer et højdepunkt i forfatterskabet." - Atlas

Jordboere er Sayaka Muratas andre bok på norsk. Hun ble verdensberømt for romanen Døgnåpent, som kom ut på norsk i 2020. Hovedpersonen i Jordboere er tenåringsjenta Natsuki, som bor sammen med mor, far og en storesøster. Vi forstår fort at familien gir Natsuki minimalt med omsorg og egentlig mishandler henne psykisk. Det blir ikke bedre når hun utsettes for et seksuelt overgrep fra læreren sin – som familien ikke tror har funnet sted. Den eneste Natsuki har et godt forhold til, er fetteren Yu, som hun treffer hos besteforeldrene på landet. Yu er et uvanlig barn – og overbevist om at han i virkeligheten er et romvesen. Senere i fortellingen er Natsuki i trettiårene og lever i et proformaekteskap med en mann hun har truffet på et nettsted for folk som vil unnslippe samfunnet. Når konformitetspresset utenfra blir for sterkt, flytter de til besteforeldrenes gamle hus, der fetter Yu har etablert seg. Natsuki, ektemannen og Yu bestemmer seg for å leve i skjul for samfunnet, som en slags romvesener på jorda. Sayaka Murata er det viktigste navnet blant flere japanske forfattere som skriver godt, kort og litt sprøtt om konformitetspress, familieliv, arbeid og kjønn.

Radical, untamed, always unexpected: a thrilling, can't-look-away collection of stories from the author of the internationally bestselling phenomenon Convenience Store Woman

Jordboere er Sayaka Muratas andre bok på norsk. Hun ble verdensberømt for romanen Døgnåpent, som kom ut på norsk i 2020. Hovedpersonen i Jordboere er tenåringsjenta Natsuki, som bor sammen med mor, far og en storesøster. Vi forstår fort at familien gir Natsuki minimalt med omsorg og egentlig mishandler henne psykisk. Det blir ikke bedre når hun utsettes for et seksuelt overgrep fra læreren sin – som familien ikke tror har funnet sted. Den eneste Natsuki har et godt forhold til, er fetteren Yu, som hun treffer hos besteforeldrene på landet. Yu er et uvanlig barn – og overbevist om at han i virkeligheten er et romvesen. Senere i fortellingen er Natsuki i trettiårene og lever i et proformaekteskap med en mann hun har truffet på et nettsted for folk som vil unnslippe samfunnet. Når konformitetspresset utenfra blir for sterkt, flytter de til besteforeldrenes gamle hus, der fetter Yu har etablert seg. Natsuki, ektemannen og Yu bestemmer seg for å leve i skjul for samfunnet, som en slags romvesener på jorda. Sayaka Murata er det viktigste navnet blant flere japanske forfattere som skriver godt, kort og litt sprøtt om konformitetspress, familieliv, arbeid og kjønn.

"Fullständigt oförutsägbar" Sally Rooney Natsuki Sasamoto är elva år gammal och bor tillsammans med sin syster och sina föräldrar. Utåt sett är allt helt normalt men i själva verket är Natsukis liv ett veritabelt helvete. Systern är elak, mamman utsätter Natsuki för systematisk mobbning och pappan är en passiv toffel. Som om inte det vore nog tvingas hon till förnedrande övergrepp av en vuxen man men blir inte trodd när hon försöker berätta om det. Natsuki flyr in i ett slags fantasi- och drömvärld där hon gifter sig med sin kusin Yuu som hon är förälskad i och drömmer om att flytta till Popinpobopia, den planet som hon föreställer sig att hennes älskade gosedjur Piyyut härstammar ifrån. Nästa gång läsaren träffar Natsuki är hon 34 år gammal och har ingått ett resonemangsäktenskap med en man som liksom hon själv har haft en dysfunktionell uppväxt. Tillsammans med honom och sin kusin Yuu bestämmer hon sig för att skapa ett eget litet samhälle, bortom de normer och regler varken hon eller de två männen förstår eller vill vara en del av. Jordbor är en allvarlig och sorglig roman, skriven i ett naivistiskt och medvetet entonigt tilltal med en stil som kanske kan liknas vid, eller åtminstone beskrivas som, ett slags japansk magisk realism. SAYAKA MURATA har fått stor uppmärksamhet både i Japan och i andra delar av världen för sina egensinniga romaner. På Lind & Co gavs Hur mår fröken Furukura? ut 2020." Detta är en historia som i sin absurditet har realistiska inslag av ArtificiellIntelligens, drönare, satelliter och rymdfarkoster,jämförbar med 1900-talsförfattares dystra framtidsvisioner. Vibeke Emond skaha en eloge för sin fina översättning." Ragnhild Oxhagen, Ölandsbladet"En kuslig dystopi" The Atlantic "Upplyftande knasig och rolig" Guardian

The long-awaited first short story-collection by the author of the cult sensation Convenience Store Woman, tales of weird love, heartfelt friendships, and the unsettling nature of human existenceWith Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English. In Japan, Murata is particularly admired for her short stories, which are sometimes sweet, sometimes shocking, and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness. In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them. Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan, the future, or an alternate reality is left to the reader's interpretation, as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world. In "A First-Rate Material," Nana and Naoki are happily engaged, but Naoki can't stand the conventional use of deceased people's bodies for clothing, accessories, and furniture, and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day. "Lovers on the Breeze" is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child's bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her. "Eating the City" explores the strange norms around food and foraging, while "Hatchling" closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in. In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship, sex and intimacy, belonging and individuality, Murata asks above all what it means to be a human in our world and offers answers that surprise and linger.

Keiko Furukura tiene 36 años y está soltera. De hecho, nunca ha tenido pareja. Desde que abandonó a su tradicional familia para mudarse a Tokio, trabaja a tiempo parcial como dependienta de una konbini, un supermercado japonés abierto las 24 horas del día. Siempre ha sentido que no encajaba en la sociedad, pero en la tienda ha encontrado un mundo predecible, gobernado por un manual que dicta a los trabajadores cómo actuar y qué decir. Ha conseguido lograr esa normalidad que la sociedad le reclama: todos quieren ver a Keiko formar un hogar, seguir un camino convencional que la convierta, a sus ojos, en una adulta. Con esta visión hilarante de las expectativas de la sociedad hacia las mujeres solteras, Sayaka Murata se ha consagrado como la nueva voz de la literatura japonesa.

From the beloved author of cult sensation Convenience Store Woman, which has now sold more than one million copies worldwide and has been translated into thirty-three languages, comes a spellbinding and otherworldly novel about a woman who believes she is an alien Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman was one of the most unusual and refreshing bestsellers of recent years, depicting the life of a thirty-six-year-old clerk in a Tokyo convenience store. Now, in Earthlings, Sayaka Murata pushes at the boundaries of our ideas of social conformity in this brilliantly imaginative, intense, and absolutely unforgettable novel. As a child, Natsuki doesn't fit in with her family. Her parents favor her sister, and her best friend is a plush toy hedgehog named Piyyut, who talks to her. He tells her that he has come from the planet Popinpobopia on a special quest to help her save the Earth. One summer, on vacation with her family and her cousin Yuu in her grandparents' ramshackle wooden house in the mountains of Nagano, Natsuki decides that she must be an alien, which would explain why she can't seem to fit in like everyone else. Later, as a grown woman, living a quiet life with her asexual husband, Natsuki is still pursued by dark shadows from her childhood, and decides to flee the "baby factory" of society for good, searching for answers about the vast and frightening mysteries of the universe--answers only Natsuki has the power to uncover. Dreamlike, sometimes shocking, and always strange and wonderful, Earthlings asks what it means to be happy in a stifling world, and cements Sayaka Murata's status as a master chronicler of the outsider experience and our own uncanny universe.

Ny roman af forfatteren til bestselleren Døgnkioskmennesket. Natsuki vokser op med bevidstheden om, at hun er anderledes. Drømmen om, at et rumskib engang vil komme og bringe hende tilbage til hendes sande hjem, holder hende oppe i en uforstående verden. Som voksen bruger hun al sin energi på at virke normal. Men en dag bryder hun op fra Tokyo og rejser tilbage til Akishina, tilbage til et gensyn med sin højtelskede fætter, Yuu. Og overvejer, om der mon alligevel findes en vej ud af livet som jordboer. Romanens slutning har vakt en del opsigt hos læsere verden over. "Et kritisk blik på verden."- Politiken, 5 hjerter"Medrivende fortælling ... underholdende satire." - Information"Jordboerne er en barsk roman om en ung kvinde, der føler sig forkert, men i virkeligheden er mere "rigtig" end alle de andre indoktrinerede samfundsborgere til sammen. Tag den, Japan! Tag den, verden." Jyllands-Posten, 4 stjerner"Ufatteligt underholdende." - Litteratursiden

A darkly wild novel from the multi-million-copy bestselling author of Convenience Store Woman How far would you go just to be yourself? As a child, Natsuki believed she was an alien, a different species to her earthling family and classmates. She hoped a spaceship would come down and take her home. Now, she lives quietly in an asexual marriage, pretending to be normal. But the buried horrors of Natsuki's past are pursuing her. As she flees the suburbs for the Nagano mountains and a reunion with her beloved cousin Yuu, she wonders, what will it take to escape the earthlings? 'Intimate, deadpan, and unflinchingly unhinged' Wired