Salaryman

by Meg Pei

Jun Shimada, the Japanese narrator of this tour de force, is a "salaryman", a corporate climber with a self-effacing dedication to his company. But now the conglomerate has dispatched him--with wife and child reluctantly in tow--to its branch offices in America, where he encounters injustices for which he is utterly unprepared.

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to follow previous read with another book about what it means to move from japan to somewhere overseas, with all the challenges that comes with. Together they did not paint the rosiest of pictures

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a bit of a slog through most of it. The beginning definitely caught me off guard, I felt a little “oh brother” while reading the prologue and regretted my decision to buy this book for a bit.

As someone who lives near New York and has visited Chicago, I thoroughly enjoyed references to places I know and have visited myself. Especially the Japanese shopping center in Edgewater, NJ.

Definitely picked up towards the end and I finally found enjoyment in reading it. 3-3.5/5 stars.

[Melissa Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely bangin'

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, this is part of my red flag list

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book - I’ve done a lot of searching for other works by Ms. Pei and it seems there aren’t any! This was a very affecting story about a man who goes through the hardships of moving to a foreign country, losing his family, and dealing with addiction. This book will provide great insight into Asian life for people who may not know much. Read this!

[Tenma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salaryman could be categorized as a "business novel". It is about a Japanese mid level executive (the salaryman) who was transferred to the US to take a post handling the company's affairs in NY and Chicago. In a first-person narrative, the protagonist, Mr. Shimada, talks about his personal life and his struggles during this transition. The focus throughout most of the novel is about his love life and his personal relationship with his wife. The novel is well written and is one of few Japan-centric novels that I have read that ends with a relatively positive storyline.

As such, this novel is fairly generic. It was published in the early 90's, at the time when there was so much euphoria about everything Japanese. If it was published today, it easily could have been about a Chinese businessman. All what it would take is simply change the names of the main characters. Although the author seems to have a very good understanding and knowledge of the Japanese culture, I doubt this novel truly reflects the Japanese psyche. Nonetheless, this novel should appeal to anyone who has interest in reading about work struggles and personal contemplations. At times it reads like a fictionalized self-help business novel. What I found quite mysterious is the fact that this novel was the first and only work by Meg Pei, a female western novelist, which by all means could have been a pen name.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times I felt dirty reading this book. Like the author had drawn me so far into the main character's brain that I knew all of his secrets and weakness and quite frankly, some of them were a touch yucky.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thinking about this book when I was writing a paper for my Ethics in Trade Compliance class. Has the work force in Japan changed from then to now?