Ep. 24: Your Job is to Talk to a Statue - strange, quiet comfort of "nonsensical" moments in "When the Museum is Closed"

Today, I’m diving into When the Museum is Closed (Kyukanbi no Kanojotachi) by Emi Yagi.The story follows Rika, a woman whose part-time job is to hold conversations with a statue of Venus at a museum. While it sounds like a surreal fantasy, the book feels grounded in a reality.In this episode, I share why I actually enjoyed NOT being able to logically explain my feelings about this book. I also discuss the unique experience of reading this story in Japanese - how the visual use of Katakana for names creates a specific sense of detachment, and the beautiful,quiet way the protagonist’s inner world begins to shift.*I keep saying "Japanese" when mening "Hiragana" when talking about different alphabets in Japanese. Sorry!八木詠美さんの『休館日の彼女たち』をご紹介します。主人公・リカの仕事は、美術館にあるヴィーナス像の「話し相手」になること。設定だけ聞くとファンタジーのようですが、読み進める中で不思議なリアリティに包まれます。「読んだ後に心に何かがあるのに、それを言葉で表せない」そんな、無理にロジカルに説明しなくてもいい読後感について、また日本語ならではの「カタカナ表記」がもたらす独特の距離感についてもお話しします。