Review: Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

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Warning: this review contains some spoilers.

Earthlings is a horror story. 

It’s important to establish this first for anyone who opens the pages on the basis of having read Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata’s debut – or even the cute cover which consists of a soft toy floating in space.

This is not to say that Earthlings does not share some DNA with its predecessor – the central character is an outsider who has established a hermetically sealed world with its own rules in order to exist, and asexuality is again a central theme. However, the similarities end there, more or less, because Earthlings is a story of abuse.

The central character, Natsuki, grows up convinced she has magical powers, a belief that gives her the strength to survive the persistent ill-treatment of her family – within which she is essentially isolated, ignored, and verbally and then physically abused, while her sister is essentially doted upon. The story is told entirely from Natsuki’s perspective as she plunges more deeply into a fantasy world to avoid her reality. Her one real human connection is with her cousin Yuu, who ironically believes himself to be an alien abandoned on Earth.

The early chapters deal with Natsuki’s childhood and a sequence of events that irrevocably alter her life. The first represents the dark heart of the novel and is utterly horrifying and heartbreaking to read. Natsuki is groomed and then sexually abused by a male teacher at her school, and all attempts by her to alert others to her situation fail utterly. In the aftermath, her attempt to find solace with her cousin triggers a series of events that leave her completely isolated.

When the narrative picks up again, she is older and married to a man who is asexual, like her. Both have rejected society and resist all pressures to conform – to build a career, have children, and essentially be “normal”. Natsuki is emotionally stunted by the terrible formative events of her life and her fantasy world defines her worldview.

In the last section of the book, Natsuki is reunited with Yuu – a reunion that threatens to break the carefully constructed protective walls of her mind. The events that ensue as the characters try to shield themselves from past horrors and the outside world become increasingly absurd and destructive – and, ultimately, deeply, deeply disturbing.

This book is a page-turner, but there were moments when I had to put it down and walk away. It offers a glimpse into the young mind of a child bordering on adolescence –and Natsuki in many respects remains a child throughout – as she suffers through a terrible sequence of events, and evolves strategies to survive. The book, however, also commits to her fantasy world – and the last few chapters may stretch the credulity of readers. 

Earthlings is not a book soon forgotten, and buried within it is a vital story of survival and social attitudes towards abuse and trauma. It is a brutal book, often told in a child-like manner – and Natsuki is an engaging narrator with whom it’s impossible not to empathize, even as the book descends into utter madness.

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