There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job is a slow-paced novel about an unnamed protagonist searching for easy jobs after quitting due to burnout. The book explores modern Japanese work life, with surreal elements and a focus on the narrator's work experiences, offering a gentle but insightful look at workplace stress and balance.
There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura is a novel that delves into the life of an unnamed protagonist who, after experiencing burnout, seeks out menial jobs that require minimal effort. The story is set in Japan and explores various workplaces, each with its own quirks and challenges. The pace is slow, allowing for deep dives into each job, which could almost stand alone as short stories. While the narrative can feel lackluster at times, the surreal elements and the focus on workplace stress and balance make it a unique read. The book gently broaches serious topics like depression and lack of work-life balance, making it a thoughtful exploration of modern work life in Japan. It's a gentle read that might not appeal to everyone, but it offers valuable insights into the struggles of contemporary workers.
Quick quotes
The book is translated by Polly Barton, a well-known translator of Japanese literature, whose translations continue to really transfer colloquialisms extremely well.
While there were slow points, there were also some seriously surrealist elements to the novel, which I didn’t expect at all.
The style of narration really honed in well on the problems faced by the modern Japanese worker, both men and women, as most of the characters were faced with similar issues when it came to work: depression, stress and lack of balance were quite common and this book really broached this serious topic in a gentle way.