This is a book I can’t recommend to anybody I know, because they’ll think I’m crazy. I can’t say I loved it, because that wouldn’t be the right word. I endured this book, but not in a bad way. Earthlings is an experience; my stomach was in knots from the very beginning.
Still, it’s one of the best stories I’ve read this year. I really can’t give this book a star rating, and I can’t say it was fun to read, but it was an incredibly well-crafted story. I think Sayaka Murata accomplished what she set out to do.
Honestly, I don’t even know how to begin digesting my thoughts on this book. The final scene is one of the most disturbing things I’ve imagined in a book. However, I love the way the story is told from both the young Natsuki and adult Natsuki’s perspectives. It’s sad how similar adult Natsuki sounds to her younger self. It’s an interesting discussion of societal pressures and expectations, especially for women.
Having childhood sexual trauma described in a book is gut-wrenching enough, but to have it described through the lens of a child is immensely uncomfortable. Sayaka Murata does not allow you to look away; she doesn’t soften the blow. It is no wonder that Natsuki processes the world around her the way she does, and why she believes she must be an alien. When she tells Yuu, “My mouth was destroyed recently”, it hit me like a punch in the gut.
The childlike nature of the thoughts, delivered in such a clinical tone, really unsettled me. Natsuki, Tomoya, and Yuu all experience some sort of abuse that alienates them from society. Natsuki believes she is nothing if she cannot contribute to the Factory, but has to do everything in her power to blend in with the Earthlings. Finally, when the three band together, they try to live as Popinpobopians
The Factory is a metaphor for society, or at least what Natsuki believes the Earthling society to be. Our world is nothing but humans nesting to reproduce. Likens humans to something like cockroaches. If you are not reproducing, you are not doing your job, and you will be ostracized.
Popinpobopia is the alien planet where Piyyut is from, where Yuu believes he is from, and where Natsuki and Tomoya believe they are from. To be Popinpobopian is to be the opposite of a human; they desperately seek out the taboo to separate themselves from the human race.
Yuu, Natsuki, and Tomoya have all suffered some kind of abuse that has caused them to be outcasts of society. They cope by fully withdrawing and becoming what they think they are destined to be. I don’t fully understand the messages of this book, but I appreciate that it doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable and delivers a story that will stick with me.
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