I understand, in theory, what the purpose of this book is, to present the rigid binaries of society and the difficulty that lies in existing outside of them. Yet, every single thing about this story is devoid of personality and feeling - Keiko may be ‘strange’ but she still has feelings, and yet none of the writing carries any kind of real emotion at all. Telling and never showing, Murata surrounds her with an absurd cast of characters, I imagine for the purpose of highlighting Keiko’s disconnect from them but in practice only creating a story that I am completely detached from.