Halfway through reading this my brain overclocked then shut off. Rest in Peace!
Otherwise, language wise this week felt the easiest, ended up reading the fastest per page since the start although probably just because we got used to the writing and vocab.
It’s interesting how it all came back to 安田辰郎 this explains why he was constantly fidgeting with his watch even though in the end they arrived quite a bit earlier than the train if I remember correctly, probably to catch the 4 minute time window.
If I had to throw a prediction for next week, I’d imagine that 三原 would find some new lead from visiting Yasuda’s sick wife. Also I hope the old detective from the start comes back because I grew to like him in a way
Not that much left, only 2 more week. The story feels like It’s getting close to be solved as well!
I went to start week 3, realized I’d never moved this book to ‘reading’ in Natively, and so only just now noticed that it’s leveled at 36 Does that feel overleveled to anyone else? The main difficulty for me is just remembering all the place name readings, but that alone doesn’t seem enough to push it up so far…
Grammar and general vocab wise it seems mostly standard with only a couple quirks due to the age of the book / setting
I was thinking the same. In the start there was a bunch of (to me) unknown vocab, but once the chapter start is over, it’s pretty much easy dialogues and stuff. So maybe rather level 30 or so?
This week was a slow read for me. I kept losing steam with the times and facts being stated, restated, checked, and restated
I’ve gotta say the detectives going “this man was fiddling with his watch, therefore he wanted to make these two women see these other two people during a precise 4 minute window…but we have no idea why so now we must go find a motive for something we’re convinced of”…odd? To say the least. Definitely felt like a logical leap.
I am hoping the wife brings some kind of development. I’m ready to hear motives and methods but please no more train time tables
I must say I rather found the guy‘s behaviour odd… after all it was him who pointed the others to Otoki.
Other than that, very repetitive, very boring. Makes me read a bit carelessly, and thus I managed to miss the only important fact that didn’t get repeated: that the wife is ill That’ll teach me!
When I was reading it this was very much a “this plot could only possibly work in Japan” moment In the UK cancellations, minor lateness and last minute platform alterations are more common than not.
Very interesting how different our impression is. I still like the book and find it to be a very quick read - apart from the time schedules I simply gave up on. I will just lean back, relax and watch the detective solve the case without trying to figure anything out on my own.
Part of the fun of book clubs is seeing how differently people react I kind of think this author might not be for me, which happens sometimes. The book is very highly rated on Amazon and even the negative reviews seemed to be disliking different things than me
I did try to solve the case but didn’t manage it in the end
I do think this one’s a bit different from the other mystery stories of his I’ve read (it was his first, I think). OTOH maybe I’ve forgotten the details by this point – I don’t remember ゼロの焦点 | L35 being very timetable heavy but the cover artist clearly thought it was:
…or perhaps they were just trying to lure in all the train timetable fans who liked 点と線…
Book is definitely slower than I expected it to be. I’m still interested in it, but I do wish that some of the “fluff” was cut out.
And I agree about it being overleveled. There seems to be some outdated words but not to many. Other than that is just some difficult reading the numbers lol
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Does that feel overleveled to anyone else? The main difficulty for me is just remembering all the place name readings, but that alone doesn’t seem enough to push it up so far…
In the UK cancellations, minor lateness and last minute platform alterations are more common than not.
I kind of think this author might not be for me, which happens sometimes. The book is very highly rated on Amazon and even the negative reviews seemed to be disliking different things than me 
