the nakano thrift shop by hiromi kawakami

Readers get a clear picture of the workings of the store. Initially, the shop seems to be the center of the narrative, as Hitomi begins the novel by describing its day-to-day administration, some of the items that make their way into inventory, and its few frequent customers. Overall, there is a banality to the store, highlighted by the fact that there are days when there are few customers at all, leaving Hitomi to her thoughts.

Nakano’s sister, Masayo, an artist who stops by the shop to help out her brother, repeatedly mentions how surprised she is it brings in any money. From Japanese-style dining tables to old electric fans, from air conditioners to table-ware, the shop was crammed with the kind of items found in a typical household from the 1960s and later.” The shop also does “pick ups” for clients: when the head of a family passes away, Nakano and Takeo, the other part-time employee, buy their possessions from the family in bulk to resell at the store. Nakano’s shop was literally filled to overflowing. “With its second-hand goods (not antiques),” Kawakami writes, “Mr. Hitomi describes the store as cluttered and chaotic, filled with a collection of items that are previously owned but not necessarily expensive. The novel is told from the perspective of Hitomi, one of two part-time staff who work at Mr. The Nakano Thrift Shop, originally published in 2005 but translated into English by Allison Markin Powell in 2016, exemplifies Kawakami’s handling of character, opening with a charming premise that slowly unfurls into a deep examination of human interaction. One of the hallmarks of Kawakami’s style is her unique approach to character study while a number of her novels and linked short story collections have interesting premises, the focus of her stories is generally less on plot and more on what readers can learn about her characters. Hiromi Kawakami has gained international prominence through her novels, many of which have been translated into multiple languages and even been adapted to film.

The nakano thrift shop by hiromi kawakami