Hello and welcome! We have entered the fourth week of the book club!
As a reminder, we are following the below schedule (page counts are estimates based on standard size iPad with default font):
Week 1 + 2 : プロローグ + 第一章 (47 pages)
Week 3: 第二章 (31 pages) Week4: 第三章 (24 pages)
Week 5: 第四章 (22 pages)
Week 6: 第五章 (39 pages)
At week 6 we will vote on which of the two cadences we’d like to finish out with
Details on those, feel free to ignore til week 6
Speed up, the end is near:
Week 7: 第六章 + 第七章 + 第八章 (43 pages)
Week 8: 第九章 (55 pages)
Week 9: 第十章 + 第十一章 + 第十二章 + エピローグ (52 pages)
or Steady, generally just one chapter a week unless very short
Week 7: 第六章 + 第七章 (26 pages)
Week 8: 第八章 (17 pages)
Week 9: 第九章 (55 pages)
Week 10: 第十章 + 第十一章 (19 pages)
Week 11: 第十二章 + エピローグ (33 pages)
I will generally copy this information over thread to thread each week for ease of finding - you can always expect the schedule at the top of any weekly thread
Law and Order
Any reveals, for the current chapters must be behind spoilers or detail curtains. When we get further in you don’t need to hide details that were revealed in previous chapters.
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
Be kind about other peoples’ wild guesses
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.
To gauge participation - a poll!
Are you reading week 4?
Yes, I’m planning to read along/am reading along this week
I have finished this week’s reading
I’m reading, but not at the same pace as the club (am behind or ahead)
I’ve stopped reading
I wanted to join, but I haven’t started reading the book yet
I had no intentions of reading the book, but I desire to click a poll
Read part 1 and 2 of chapter 3 yesterday. I assume that starting the next morning, we will find one of those “victim signs” on a door, every morning - since they are only there for a week. and I wonder if the order ppl found the signs, will determine the order of death. Tbf, I already forgot the order again, but I will have to check once we have our first victim.
Done. More talking = easier. I guess the first death will happen in chapter 5, which is pretty much half-way through the book… if more people die it will then have to be done quickly, since every second chapter is not set on the island (so far) . Also, there was a mention about how Agatha Christie’s book ends… the murderer kills the detective and himself… I immediately thought about Doyle on the mainland as the detective… but the murderer has to be on the island, right? Or maybe there are multiple murderers? working together?
I feel like I missed this part I went back to check and it seems like オルツィ sees them on the table, goes to grab アガサ who then rouses the rest of the house. What are you referring to?
I was also thinking this, we’re already a third of the way done and no one has died. I do suspect ヴァン will be the first, just because having him so sick and killing someone else off first feels odd.
Overall I was a bit disappointed by this chapter. It felt like very little development and a lot of repetition. Hoping the story heats up more soon!
I was referring to that part… I thought there was some kind of order as they arrived, but apart form Orcy and Agatha, wie don’t actually know in which order they arrived in the room… so, nvm.
I think that’s too obvious. I think he might be the last… or the only survivor or something like that…
Just wanted to say that, more than the mystery itself, what makes me want to read as fast as possible is the urge to click on those spoilers!
This is a very easy to read chapter (nothing like the prologue!), but unfortunately things keep getting in the way of my reading (how dare they). I’m hoping to finish tonight, and finally join in on the speculation.
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Overall I was a bit disappointed by this chapter. It felt like very little development and a lot of repetition. Hoping the story heats up more soon!
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Oh this is interesting as I felt the opposite! I don’t necessarily disagree that there is some repetition but I actually came out of this chapter thinking how happy I am that I feel like we are getting to know these characters before they are killed off, and enjoying getting their theorising on the plates. I feel like my big issue with ‘And Then There Were None’ was that all the characters were so thinly drawn and they started dying so fast that I just didn’t care about them at all. Whereas now I’m at the point where I like all of the characters on the island (except Carr, he seems like a jerk) and I feel like that’s going to make what comes after way more effective for me.
In other news, I am now shipping both Agatha/Orczy and Poe/Van.
I guess I was a bit apart from the group opinion here in liking And Then There Were None I had trouble with the names but keeping track of characters by background (ie, they killed this person, this person is a judge, this person is a doctor, etc) was easy for me. I didn’t feel like they were terribly shallow so much as I wished they were referred to by first names instead.
Edit: Or maybe it was due to the audiobook. I have a much harder time remembering names when spoken vs. reading them
With this book I also hate カー and regret that in all likelihood he’ll be killed off late due to being a source of drama. オルツィ and カー both feel fleshed out to me, but the rest are a little flat so far.
And done! Quick and enjoyable little chapter. Like @sycamore, I too very much enjoyed getting to know them all a little better, and watching their reactions.
The cards were a nice touch. At first, and especially after Ellery started handling them like playing cards, I somehow expected them to each choose one for some reason (would I pick Detective or Killer if I had the choice? They may sound the safest, but they’re not necessarily. Maybe last victim so that I have time to try and change my “fate”?). Of course there’s no reason (for now) why they would do that. So far, they seem to play the same role the little statues played in And Then There Were None. In any case, it was an excellent way to make them all sink into paranoia and wild accusations. I wonder what kind of dirty laundry will be aired as the tension grows.
At this point I expect the first victim to be ヴァン. He probably won’t come out of his room in the morning, and they’ll find that he was poisoned by his own medicine, or the water Agatha handed him. At first I thought he was suspect just because, having arrived first, he had opportunity to arrange things unseen. But now I tend to think he’ll be the first to go.
Haha, me too, a little bit. Although I’m still not sure if Orczy likes Agatha or is jealous of her, or even hates her. I thought Orczy was too stereotypical plain girl at first, but she seems to have a lot of depth after all.
Is anyone else annoyed by the way it’s continuing to be taken for granted that it will be the girls who do all the work around the house, serve food, coffee, clean up, etc? I know it’s the 80s, but still.
Yes, but the other two books I’m reading are from the 60s and 90s so it’s not much better there either. Still firmly in the era of the MRS degree for オルツィ and アガサ
I also liked And Then There Were None. It was a very quick, very smooth read that didn’t bore me in the least. Especially the second half made me want to read faster. I agree that it’s a bit of a shame they didn’t use their names much, but on the other hand it’s a bunch of not personal revenge crimes. So it kind of fit for me in that it made everything feel even more impersonal.
In a way, this chapter reminded me of And Then There Were None in how easy it was to read, haha. Also the vague, bad feelings induced by the building.
I feel like a lot happened this chapter: we get the cards, and everyone’s reactions, plus we know Van’s going to take some medicine - I feel like he might die first, btw - we learn some of Orczy’s backstory etc.
I wonder if we’ll get some hints during the mainland investigation chapter that’s next or if we have to wait an extra week to learn about our first victim.
haha, to be fair to Agatha Christie, I’d already seen multiple adaptations of the story before reading it (without really trying, it’s one of those things that just always seemed to be on) so the plot wasn’t new to me. And as the plot/mystery is the most impressive thing about the book its probably no surprise I wasn’t blown away by it. I have no doubt that it would be gripping if you were to come in fresh!
Or heaped in nostalgia. I’m pretty sure I read it back in middle school and haven’t watched any adaptations of it in full. I read a lot of her books and other famous crime authors as a kid so there was something charming and familiar about the overall writing style, although many of the descriptions I’d be uncomfortable with in a modern book.
The cards are the same exact number as the people on the island though. Which made me wonder, how early was it certain who was going and who wasn’t? Because there were members who decided not to go, and members who were reluctant to go until the last minute. Maybe there were cards for all invited club members, but some weren’t placed on the table? In which case, would there be more victim cards hidden somewhere on the island? Or was it known in advance who would come, and so there didn’t need to be any extra cards? Now that I think of it, the rooms are the exact number of the students too. What if 守須 for example had decided to come?
I think they even mentioned the statues at one point, right?
Yeah, I’m right there with you. :S Especially after Agatha mentioned how hard it was to make food for seven people.
Would it be possible for someone to summarize the argument that went on in part four? I don’t know if I was just distracted/tired while reading, but I wasn’t able to easily understand some of the accusations. Carr accused Van of being the most likely to be the person who set this all up, presumably since he arrived first. But I’m not sure I understood much more than that. What was Van’s rebuttal?
They did. The author is being very open with his references.
I’ll try. カー says that in a gathering of multiple people, if there were to be a premeditated crime, the most likely suspect is the one who invited the others. ヴァン says he didn’t invite anyone, he just became aware that the island was available through his uncle. If someone can be said to have organized it, it’s ルルウ as the club’s current editor in chief or whatever his title is. エラリイ chimes in to say that it’s true, he learned about the island’s availability through ルルウ, and he was the one who actively proposed they organise a club trip there. So if ヴァン is under suspicion, so should be ルルウ and エラリイ. He also says that the pattern of the inviter being the murderer is a little too conventional, and that a great criminal would take the opportunity of a gathering he is invited to to organize the crime, rather than organize the gathering himself. At that point ポウ has had enough and tells them to stop blending reality and fiction, then sends ヴァン off to bed. ポウ then says that everyone is just as likely to be the culprit, and that it’s most likely to be a prank anyway. カー storms off, ヴァン goes to bed, and the mood lightens considerably. I hope I haven’t forgotten anything important.
I’m skipping any mention of And Then There Were None in chat. I haven’t read it yet! (Although I guess the book already spoiled it, lol.)
I guess thanks to that, this story is gripping and fresh for me (which is why I didn’t read ATTWN beforehand.) It’s honestly one of the best Japanese novels I’ve ever read. (Why do so many take so long to get going?)
So yeah, I really liked this chapter! in the last chapter we had everyone acting friendly to reach other, but now we have the seeds of distrust settling in, which will make it easier for the murderer to isolate people and shift the blame away from themselves.
Law and Order 
but the murderer has to be on the island, right? Or maybe there are multiple murderers? working together? 
I went back to check and it seems like オルツィ sees them on the table, goes to grab アガサ who then rouses the rest of the house. What are you referring to?
I had trouble with the names but keeping track of characters by background (ie, they killed this person, this person is a judge, this person is a doctor, etc) was easy for me. I didn’t feel like they were terribly shallow so much as I wished they were referred to by first names instead.
Still firmly in the era of the MRS degree for オルツィ and アガサ
It was a very quick, very smooth read that didn’t bore me in the least. Especially the second half made me want to read faster. I agree that it’s a bit of a shame they didn’t use their names much, but on the other hand it’s a bunch of not personal revenge crimes. So it kind of fit for me in that it made everything feel even more impersonal.
