Finished with chapter 1! So, everything in my comment relates to events from it.
Like others mentioned, I also felt really stressed out during the scene when 浅川 is in 智子s room. However, I really appreciated the inclusion of that scene to bring some tension and texture back into the story. It was starting to feel slightly like a detective procedural, and having that bit of stress brought me back to the fact that this is still a horror/thriller story. Even if we aren’t to the really scary parts yet, there is still some good mood building going on! The scene with the mask also brought that in to a lesser extent too.
I also thought the whole thing with his daughter crying and the mask was kind of mysterious. Is it foreshadowing? Is something still in that house!? I’m really curious to see if it pops up again later in the story.
I did feel, though, like the entire train of thought about what fear is and what kinds there are and why his daughter would be so scared was purposely included as a nice set up for the reader to say hey there are some things humans are instinctually terrified of, and that’s the fear we are facing here in the novel from whatever it is that’s killing everyone. I tried thinking about what I would instinctually be terrified of, and I could think of things like lightning, fire, rushing water, large wild animals, violence, etc. but imagine myself dying in fear like the victims in the book did feels really abstract. I can’t wait to read further and find out more about that piece of the puzzle and see if 鈴木光司 makes it believable.
I’m still enjoying this book a lot though and kind of want to read ahead!
Funny thing is I neglected to close the pacing poll, and now it looks like there’s more voters for finishing the book within October. That would mean double the speed though. Should we have another poll, do you think?
Not sure how many are reading, so how many more votes we can expect, but I’ll leave the poll open until Sunday just in case.
The way votes stand now, we have 4 people who want to speed up, 2 of whom are fine with the current speed too, and one who prefers the current speed. I suppose a good compromise would be to speed up a little? Or I can leave the schedule unchanged and everyone is free to do their own thing, which is always the case anyway.
While getting むらさきのスカートの女 for the book club I just so happened to pick up this book as well, so I’ll be joining you as soon as my copy arrives. I have no self-control
I like that Asakawa has a much more urgent problem now - how to save his own life now that he has seen the video. I’m also curious about Asakawa’s friend the part-time college lecturer, who is hopefully going to be able to provide some explanations. But – is he going to be able to explain what’s going on without getting other people killed?
Mostly, I’m curious about how the video was made, and how it works to kill people. It’s interesting to try to imagine this from the perspective of Suzuki or his late-1980s readers, for whom VHS was still a relatively new technology. Was there a hint of the spookiness of new technology for them, in the same way that Black Mirror plays on our fears about today’s social media and surveillance technologies?
I read chapter 2 and it was hilarious. Don’t get me wrong, the description of the video itself was intense (very artsy video though, I doubt most people would watch it to the end without the warning at the beginning), but the fact that the important bit was erased by a commercial was just . I’m sure anyone growing up with VHS can relate.
I also love the idea of a videotape with the power to kill. I guess ghosts have all the time in the world to get acquainted with new (at the time) technologies and use them to their advantage. On a more serious note, it seems these may be some kind of fragmented memories. I’m pretty sure the second-to-last scene was (speculation) rape .
I don’t like that Asakawa took the tape with him. I mean, it makes total sense, he needs to study it, but I’m convinced (speculation) people - his family - will accidentally be exposed to it, and he’ll have more than himself to save…
As defence, I thought? And then he gets angry(er) and viciously attacks whoever’s point of view we’re watching from, leaving them to die? That’s what I gathered at least. What else could the rhythmic movement be?
When we had climbed the steep hillside road, getting to the wider and better road and the resort, I immediately had the feeling of having arrived in a parallel world (thinking of 1Q84). I’m curious to see what his way home will be like. Maybe the hillside road will even be gone?
My immediate thought was that it was (at least) sex, from him being naked and panting plus the rhythmical movement. But you might be right, it might be rape (with the victim having torn some of his skin/flesh in defense).
About the chapter in general, I was pretty impressed with him figuring out all the details, up to discovering the tape. Regarding the tape, I’m less curious about its killing capabilities than about the realistic feelings he had when watching it, e.g. the baby in his hands and its smell, and these things. I was really expecting the sex(?) scene to end in a similarly realistic way, but it seems the author did not want to go in that direction.
Chapter 1.4
I know next to nothing about this book, so it’s fun to try to puzzle out what’s going on.
What we know so far:
There were 4 deaths from two different schools that we know of so far. All in their late teens. Possibly acquainted with each other?
The first incidents were at 10:45 and 10:54, so less than a 10 minute difference. If the same thing killed both of them it is moving fast
智子 seemed to have an idea of what was after her
Locks and witnesses don’t seem to matter. The second incident happened in public and yet the only one that realised anything was wrong was the victim. The couple died in the car and somehow whatever got them managed to get into the space between the two. So maybe both selective invisibility and intangibility?
Possibly causes them to interact with their head in some way? I’m really not sure what to make of this one. What the victims did before dying doesn’t seem to serve any common purpose?
It’s terrifying
Off the top of my head I can’t think of a mythical creature that would fulfill all those conditions so I think for now I’ll go with a the standard and believe it’s a (overpowered) vengeful ghost.
I finished reading up to the end of chapter 2 today.
It seems that not everyone felt the same way, but I found the video tape scene really 怖い！ After reading last week’s part, I was speculating about what causes instinctual fear, and I think the author included a lot of different scary imagery that tapped into instinctually unsettling emotions in a way I wasn’t expecting from the actual tape contents. Murderous rage, the feeling of being ostracized by a large group of other humans shouting at you in anger (essentially being denied community or a sense of belong, pure rejection), the earth shaking, violent colors and unknown symbology, rape, body horror — yup, all those things are certainly very scary! 浅川 running around the cabin and then fleeing in the night also had me on the edge of my seat. I’m dying to know about the origins of the tape and if 浅川 finds out what the part that got recorded over says.
It may also be just me, but I find the old caretaker man suspicious. I think he had to have known about what the tape is, which is why he was reluctant to lend it out to 浅川. Maybe that’s a possible clue to how to escape from dying?
Regardless, that was an unsettling lunch break reading session.
Also I just went to YouTube to see if there was a clip from how the tape appears in the movie and it’s completely different?! Consider me extremely disappointed! Haha
The video was definitely 怖い, which is probably why I found the commercial break so hilarious, as a way to release tension. I didn’t think the caretaker was especially suspicious. If he had watched it he would have died, surely? (unless he’ll die in the next few days) And I don’t see him being involved in filming it. I too would hesitate to give an unlabelled tape to a guest. It might be anything, illegal content included. Of course, I also wouldn’t carelessly leave it on a shelf to be taken by anyone, but that may be supernatural intervention.
Oh, thanks for doing that, I also considered looking for it but was afraid I’d run into spoilers!
So, everything in my comment relates to events from it.
I tried thinking about what I would instinctually be terrified of, and I could think of things like lightning, fire, rushing water, large wild animals, violence, etc. but imagine myself dying in fear like the victims in the book did feels really abstract. I can’t wait to read further and find out more about that piece of the puzzle and see if 鈴木光司 makes it believable. 
)
On a more serious note, it seems these may be some kind of fragmented memories. I’m pretty sure the second-to-last scene was (speculation) 
After reading last week’s part, I was speculating about what causes instinctual fear, and I think the author included a lot of different scary imagery that tapped into instinctually unsettling emotions in a way I wasn’t expecting from the actual tape contents. Murderous rage, the feeling of being ostracized by a large group of other humans shouting at you in anger (essentially being denied community or a sense of belong, pure rejection), the earth shaking, violent colors and unknown symbology, rape, body horror — yup, all those things are certainly very scary! 浅川 running around the cabin and then fleeing in the night also had me on the edge of my seat. I’m dying to know about the origins of the tape and if 浅川 finds out what the part that got recorded over says. 