The chapters have names. Here is a list of them with a rough length estimate:
Number
Chapter Name
Length 光文社
Length 新潮文庫
1
ある夫
~ 18 pages
~ 26 pages
2
失踪
~ 28 pages
~ 41 pages
3
北の疑惑
~ 27 pages
~ 40 pages
4
地方名士
~ 15 pages
~ 21 pages
5
海沿いの墓場
~ 24 pages
~ 35 pages
6
義兄の行動
~ 17 pages
~ 25 pages
7
前歴
~ 19 pages
~ 28 pages
8
毒死者
~ 9 pages
~ 14 pages
9
北陸鉄道
~ 33 pages
~ 49 pages
10
逃亡
~ 14 pages
~ 20 pages
11
夫の意味
~ 26 pages
~ 38 pages
12
雪国の不安
~ 45 pages
~ 67 pages
13
ゼロの焦点
~ 60 pages
~ 89 pages
Total
337 pages
496 pages
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Are you planning to read ゼロの焦点 with the book club?
I will be reading with the ebook as well, so I am happy with the existing schedule. If anyone reads the paperback though, maybe we could have two schedules that show the appropriate page breaks? I can’t imagine why it’s so much longer, though. Maybe it has some short stories or a very long 解説?
I thought it’s longer just because the pages are smaller compared to the Tankoubon edition? But not sure of course. I will try to find out more once I‘m at my computer.
By the way I don’t intend this to be a reading schedule, rather a reference to get an overview. I am planning to participate in the online discussion event, so I need to be done reading in early May (which is like, 9 weeks or so?)
In the informal book clubs I was in so far, everyone reads at their own pace and we sync through the comments, basically. I hope that works for you?
Started reading today (mainly because I will potentially be quite busy from mid March for a few weeks and want to make sure I can finish the book in time).
So far it is very smooth sailing, I don’t really see yet why this is Level 35… feels rather like 32 or so to me. But we’ll see.
Chapter 1, ある夫
I know this is an older book (published in 1959) but really, I can’t wrap my head around this “arranged marriage” thing… I know that it must have been the same around that time in Germany and elsewhere, but not knowing anything about the partner, and not even having met once in private? Wow, that’s really incredible for me. Plus, the age gap - I mean, nothing wrong with that as such, but obviously his experience and expectation is way different from hers, and the way she described his actions made my skin creep. Imagining that she is married to such a bloke, and not being able to dump him straight away, is such a disgusting and horrifying outlook.
Other than that, the first chapter was more or less introducing the two characters. He being quite pushy, flat-out refusing her wish to travel to Hokuriku for the honeymoon… My first thought was that he probably lives a parallel life over there, living with somebody else while he is there for work, and now having built another warm nest in Tokyo with Teiko.
What was also striking that this communication regarding the honeymoon was done through their common acquaintance, so they did not even get to talk about it directly. This is such a weird life…
And then, BAM! He sets out to travel to Kanazawa a last time, and is not seen again. Did he disappear and go back to his parallel life? Or did something happen to him? We’re left hanging in suspense.
[Unfortunately in my quest to find out about the different versions I read the blurb which gives away this puzzle in the first word, so don’t read if you want to keep the suspense!]
That does work for me! Sorry, I referred to it as schedule but I just meant the table that has all the sections for referring to when posting, so I shall call it section table.
It feels more and more shocking how little she knows about her husband. And the others apparently not telling her the truth doesn’t help either… it feels more and more as if he has a parallel life - or maybe two, given the two houses? It is admirable how well Teiko handles the situation and tries to find out more about her husband and his disappearance. I wonder how long the others will keep her in suspense, and whether the police can find out more.
Huh - slowly it’s getting a bit repetitive… I guess that’s the curse of the magazine-published books? The reader needs to be reminded in every chapter what happened before. That’s what I hated in 点と線 already; in this book I was surprised how swiftly it proceeded so far, but it’s becoming pretty repetitive as well.
For the contents, nothing much happened. Teiko more and more gets the impression that her husband has another woman. The police didn’t find anything (quite shocking though the statistics of what happened in only a few days, especially the suicides…) and the co-workers don’t say anything either. Hopefully her mother can find out some more about her husband…
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(which is like, 9 weeks or so?)
