All the Lovers in the Night

by Mieko Kawakami

I thought about the books that I had looked through in the bookstore. It occurred to me that they were full of things that people wanted to say to other people, or things people wanted somebody to say to them. Should you choose romance or work? Was it possible to have both? Should you choose to live your life alone, or should you choose to share your life with someone else? Should you have kids or not? What were the pros and cons? What did each choice force you to give up? What did you stand to gain? There are people who spend every day immersed in these considerations—like the younger women I saw standing by the shelves—following the trajectories detailed in these books, doing things to become happier, to become better versions of themselves. These women had so many choices, and so many temptations, so many layers of coincidences and incidents, and the choices they made would change the color of their lives. They were surrounded by possibility.