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Questions on vocab, grammar, nuance, and the like are both welcome and encouraged. If you’re not sure if it’s a spoiler, assume it is and use one of the above options to hide the text.
You are encouraged to speculate and guess wildly
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Even if you don’t read the chapter(s) in time, you are still encouraged to post in the thread for that reading once you have finished it. I advise not reading ahead in the threads as you may see spoilers.
I enjoyed this chapter very much. The leisurely boat ride, 多門’s idle musings on everything from reversi to flood control computer games and Tom & Jerry. I found the way the canals work fascinating - especially the bridges being narrower at the bottom to create a stronger stream. As for content, I see where Onda’s vagueness comes in. First of all, I had completely missed that 藍子 was 先生’s daughter the first time she was mentioned. I thought 娘 was just a general term for young girl in that context, silly me. And then there was 多門 constantly referring to this “game” 先生 had set up. Seems he also thought, like me at the time, that the story of the disappearances was completely made up, and he was just playing along. And it seems that not only it’s true, but 先生’s brother and his wife had disappeared as well? But the biggest question is, why did 多門 smuggle the cat onto the boat? And was 先生 even aware of it?
I am suspicious that 白雨 is not in fact a cat, but some creature capable of mind controlling people into doing what it wants them to do, because there is no way anybody would think it a good idea to put a cat down their shirt front (how ridiculous must this have looked?), take it on a long boat trip and then just let it wander off…
I liked this chapter too – I guess we’re going to have a leisurely drift along with things gradually becoming clearer and more menacing. Right now it’s all still rather misty.
Also when I googled タニシ Google showed me the German name first: “Sumpfdeckelschnecken”. Amused me a lot how German is not beating the allegations of making names really long
In general, I don’t know what to add since I am just extremely confused at almost everything, but I enjoy the read Often I am not sure if things are vague because of the writing or if I’m just not advanced enough to understand it. For example, I wasn’t really sure where and why 白雨 got dropped off? But when I read the other comments it seems like at least the “why” really wasn’t clear. Well, I think this will definitely need a re-read from my side, because this is way above my level. But as I said, I really enjoy the prose, the setting, the vibes and am looking forward to revisiting this in maybe a year when my level hopefully has caught up a bit
General question: Do you still think this book is not typically 恩田陸? There was some discussion about that in the last thread. I really like how this is written so far and how mysterious everything is, so I’m curious if I will get a similar feeling if I’ll pick up another of her books.
The why is never explained. 多門 hides the cat in the front his dungarees (!) and takes him along for the boat ride. I thought it might be because the cat seemed to sense something last night and 多門 wanted to see if he would react to something during the boat ride, but apparently not. Maybe he’s just too enchanted by the cat and can’t let go . As for the where, it was mentioned in the first chapter I think that the end of the boat ride is relatively near 先生’s house, so letting the cat go at that point made sense, as the house would just be minutes away. I’m sure the cat would be eager to go the moment they reached safe land.
I’ve only read two other books by her so far so I’m not an expert, but I’m finding it very satisfyingly typical so far. The atmosphere especially reminds me a lot of Eugenia.
Thanks for the pics! I wanted to look it up and then forgot!
Finished with this week’s reading! Many descriptions of the town and canals in this section during the boat ride. The stand out parts for me were the spider eggs (thanks for sharing pics!) and the fact that 白雨 tagged along! I think if I put my cat in my shirt and tried to leave the house, let alone go on a boat ride, I would be covered in scratches.
The portion at the end with the reporter and interview tapes were the most interesting part for me so far, so I am looking forward to diving into the mystery elements of the plot next week.
I personally don’t think it feels at all like the last book of hers I read (木洩れ日泳ぐ魚), but it feels closer to ユージニア. That said, I find this one exhaustingly detailed but I am enjoying the water descriptions a lot less than the rest of the group. I’m so relieved each time they get off the topic but I’m afraid it looks like we will keep returning to it
You know if I was gonna get abducted, getting abducted by a lil calico cat would probably be one of the best options I think
Oh wow this chapter felt like a warm bathtub, just relax and enjoy! All the descriptions of nature and flowers and the mechanism for the canals, it was so vivid and chill to read. I already thought about what a stark contrast this chapter was from the first one, where everything was dark and gloomy and rain, and the horrible canal with its looming danger, or so one was made to think… But then at the end of course this reality catches up with us, and we learn that 先生’s brother-cum-wife went missing as well…
Isn’t that the definition of “cat”?
I also think it is very typical, and I showed the intro of chapter 1 to one of my Japanese friends (who has read Eugenia as well) and she also thought that it was very similar to Eugenia mood-wise.
(But I personally found Eugenia to be waaaaay more vague and much more difficult to read so far.)
Yes! Especially the first pic confused me for a sec
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And then there was 多門 constantly referring to this “game” 先生 had set up. Seems he also thought, like me at the time, that the story of the disappearances was completely made up, and he was just playing along. And it seems that not only it’s true, but 先生’s brother and his wife had disappeared as well? But the biggest question is, why did 多門 smuggle the cat onto the boat? And was 先生 even aware of it?
. As for the where, it was mentioned in the first chapter I think that the end of the boat ride is relatively near 先生’s house, so letting the cat go at that point made sense, as the house would just be minutes away. I’m sure the cat would be eager to go the moment they reached safe land.
All the descriptions of nature and flowers and the mechanism for the canals, it was so vivid and chill to read. I already thought about what a stark contrast this chapter was from the first one, where everything was dark and gloomy and rain, and the horrible canal with its looming danger, or so one was made to think… But then at the end of course this reality catches up with us, and we learn that 先生’s brother-cum-wife went missing as well…
