What You Are Looking For Is in the Library Review: Books, Serendipity, and Outdated Ideas

I like books about books. We’ve talked about Satoshi Yagisawa’s Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, Hwang Bo-reum’s Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, and Nanako Hanada’s The Bookshop Woman here before. So Michiko Aoyama’s What You Are Looking For Is in the Library was the next logical step. But… I must confess that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Let’s be clear: What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is cute and lovely. Depending on what you need to hear right now, this book might carry the words that will soothe your soul, yes. It reminds us of how literature can show us different perspectives, inspire us to be better versions of ourselves, and spark important conversations. It highlights how art lives in the mind (and heart) of the beholder: the same story, the same book, the same song can mean completely different things to you and me. The meaning behind a book, a film, or a work of art is created by the person who reads it, watches it, looks at it. And it can resonate more intensely with you than it does with me — or vice-versa.

However, with an overly simplistic narrative that relies on strokes of serendipity and the quiet presence of some outdated ideas, What You Are Looking For Is in the Library provides a story whose morals and advice are a bit too on the nose.

The Universe and Themes of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library

These five stories follow five different people at different ages and stages of life: a young woman in her 20s trying to find value and purpose in her seemingly dull life, a man in his 30s dreaming a seemingly impossible dream, a working mom who has had her beloved job taken away from her after maternity leave, a 30-year-old NEET (not in employment, education, or training) who can’t seem to find his place in the world, and a sexagenarian who feels lost after retirement. All of these tales will surely find a reader out there with whom they will resonate. After all, we’ve all seen these stories before — we’ve been these characters, met them, befriended them, married them, worked with them.

With very simple, clear prose, Aoyama manages to introduce us to characters that we can easily recognise and whose problems we can empathise with. Despite their differences, their encounter with Ms Komachi and the book she advises them to read tells us that all problems can be solved with a change in perspective — and literature may be the door to this different way of looking at yourself, others, and the world around you. In a nutshell, the goal of What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is to encourage us to chase our dreams and to gather the courage we need to change ourselves and our lives. It may be something small — like cleaning our apartments and cooking the perfect castella — or something big — like changing careers and leaving the company we’ve worked for for decades — but change always starts with us.

It’s the transformative power of books and the importance of the work of librarians that create the foundation on which this theme of change grows throughout the novel. Literature, like any other kind of art, is all about the meaning that the reader assigns to it. That’s why books resonate differently depending on who is reading them. A sensitive librarian like Ms Komachi can create a bridge between the right book and the right reader — introducing them to the publication that will deliver the message they need to hear and inspire them to find the answers they are looking for.

Aoyama creates a vivid universe in which most characters cross paths eventually, leading to an entertaining experience for us, the readers. As we go, we make connections, recognise names, and get a glimpse of the life these characters live after their own chapters end.

The Downsides: What We Are NOT Looking For in this Library

However, the narrative often progresses thanks to serendipity: the characters seem to stumble upon happy coincidence after happy coincidence as if Ms Komachi is indeed a mystical being whose advice can ignite a lucky chain reaction capable of completely changing her patrons’ lives. Problems are solved as if by magic and massive changes take place over a mere couple of weeks, which makes for a comforting read but doesn’t strike as particularly believable. Life is stripped of complexity and the “moral of the story” is then spoonfed to the reader, as if we need to be clearly told the lesson learnt by our characters in order to apply it to our own lives. More often than not, that makes what could be an optimistic message sound trite and forced. It doesn’t help that the chapters follow the same pattern, which makes the book as a whole feel formulaic.

Unfortunately, the incredible character of Ms Komachi, despite playing a huge role in the story, is barely given any characterisation. Instead, we are offered the same description of her body over and over again, which adds absolutely nothing to the narrative or her character.

In the first chapter, our narrator (the book is written in first person) says that her “eyes nearly jump out of their sockets. The librarian is huge… I mean, like, really huge. But huge as in big, not fat.” But then, time and time again, Ms Komachi is described as “very large. Her head rests on top of a body that looks like it is on verge of bursting, with no neck visible in between” or “Kyaah! The sight of a humongous, fearsome woman squished behind the counter nearly causes my heart to stop” or even “my feet stop dead at the sight of a very large woman. Her white button-up shirt is so tight the buttons look in danger of popping off, and her extremely pale skin reminds me of a white glutinous rice cake in a shrine at New Year.” You might say that these descriptions weren’t intended to be fatphobic but they definitely aren’t a kind or complimentary description of her body.

In addition to that, something that truly bothered me in What You Are Looking For Is in the Library was a collection of (what you could consider to be) little everyday attitudes that reinforce entrenched sexism.

Besides the ever-present descriptions of Ms Komachi’s body, it’s okay for men in What You Are Looking For Is in the Library to be unsupportive husbands whose wives (who are also working mothers) need to be understanding of their situation. The problem isn’t the husband who doesn’t move a finger to help raise their child — no, the problem is the wife, who hasn’t been clear about the support that she needs. It’s the wife, trying to juggle work, housework, and childrearing, who needs to beg explain “logically” that it’d be a huge help if the father of the child could, at least, take the toddler to school in the morning. Because, “in his own way (…) he’s thinking of his family,” poor thing.

Women in What You Are Looking For Is in the Library can be demoted after maternity leave but they shouldn’t rise against that. Even because said woman might not be able to juggle an important position and motherhood at the same time, right? Instead, they can just find a different job — one that will be more understanding and supportive of their role as a mother — and be grateful for the previous experience.

Retired men in What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, doing nothing at home, can’t even remember to bring the laundry in and don’t even know how to fold a pair of socks. And the wife, of course, laughs at the silliness of this moment. Even though he’s 65, he has no idea how to cook but he’ll tackle the challenge of learning how to make a rice ball for his wife — how sweet. But, first, he needs to ask their daughter what his wife’s favourite rice ball is because, after decades of marriage, he still doesn’t know it. But not to worry! I guess he has always thought “of his family in his own way.“

I won’t even get to the suggestion that people should have a “parallel career,” that is, working two full-time jobs that can satisfy you. Because “a job secures you a place in society. So if you have a parallel career, you can have two places. With neither a side business.” For healing fiction, I found it odd to see this idea come up as an acceptable solution, considering that this can be a surefire way to burn out.

No time for the complete review? Not a problem! Why not pin our summary?

Should You Read What You Are Looking For Is in the Library?

Quoting Ms Komachi’s own words, “readers make their own personal connections to words, irrespective of the writer’s intentions, and each reader gains something unique.” Even though I didn’t gain what I expected from What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, you might find the inspiration you need in it. If you relate to the characters and their struggles and you need a simple story to tell you that everything will indeed be okay, What You Are Looking For Is in the Library might bring you comfort, optimism, and joy. If you’re looking for a more complex approach to the problems that surround us, if you’re looking for a more realistic description of the hard work that goes behind any big life changes, or if you feel uncomfortable with the gender matters I mentioned above, what you are looking for is not in this particular library.