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 6?
Yes, I’m planning to read along/am reading along this week
I’m reading, but not at the same pace as the club
I had no intentions of reading the book, but I desire to click a poll
This book club is going quite fast for me, I keep finishing the assigned reading on the first day while commuting! Though I think that is more thanks to Riku Onda’s writing style than anything
Well, the timeline is a little clearer now. Although it’s not explicit, it seems like they probably sleep together that fateful rainy night after Takashiro’s bombshell. But then, having said it’s clearer, it seems like it could be possible they’re not siblings after all? Chiaki’s dodgy memory definitely makes her an untrustworthy narrator.
Yet another song features as well… Strangely enough it came into my head this morning before I even started the reading
…maybe you just forgot that about reading that part already? Spooky!
I also fly through the weekly parts. I’m really enjoying getting both sides each week.
I also inferred that since アキ’s reaction seemed a bit much otherwise. But maybe the existence or admittance of feeling already feels so shameful to her/them?
I think that could be true, too…
アキ raising the possibility of not being siblings this late into the book is also … Interesting. I wonder what made them first think that they actually are related? I’m sure we’ll learn about that at some point. I should think they’d pursue even a tiny possibility of not being related considering the circumstances if not for the fact that アキ hadn’t told ヒロ that she doesn’t share the same childhood memories suggests that they didn’t…
Oddly this song came up at a Japanese conversation group a couple of months ago… Totally unrelated to this book! So I guess that’s why my brain brought it up again, it’s just a funny coincidence with the timing
I do hope we end up with some clear answers in this book, I’ll find it frustrating if it ends up ambiguous, but then we do still have a long way to go!
That’s funny, I thought it was rather explicit (as explicit as 恩田陸 can ever be) that they didn’t sleep together at all (I know, I’m probably the only one who keeps insisting that’s the case ). I think Hiro says that they slept in their respective rooms that night, and while he felt joy and excitement at what was left unsaid between them, the next day he dreaded facing her, and dreaded what was coming, one way or another. Which is why he called that other girl and “was saved” from incest by starting to date her. By the way, the moment I read that, a possible plot twist popped up in my head: Hiro and Aki are in fact not siblings (and yes, I’m curious what evidence they have of the fact), but Misako is actually Hiro’s long lost sister )
I mean, I think it’s only natural that you don’t remember much from a household you left when you were three. Hiro stayed in that same house, so it’s not like his memories of that clock stem from that age exclusively. Aki was uprooted, and started life anew with a new family. I’d be surprised if she actually remembered anything. But since she (and the author) dwells on it a lot, and since she also seems to have a hazy memory of other moments in her life too, then it’s probably significant. She may not actually have grown up in that house at all /may not be Hiro’s twin at all (seriously, how did they reach that conclusion? And where is the mother? Is she even alive?), but it’s also possible she tends to forget harmful things she does? Maybe she was sent away because she was the “evil twin” and her mother couldn’t handle her? Maybe she did kill her father? If he even was her father?
I expect lots more twists, but I wouldn’t bet on a completely clear and straightforward answer, to be honest
Next week is the last week we read two chapters, and then we switch to 3 chapters per week according to the schedule. However, since the alternate viewpoints work really well as a pair, I think it’s time for a poll:
From the week starting September 4 and for the rest of the book, would you prefer that we:
Continue reading 2 chapters per week until the end
So much is revealed in each new set of chapters, and yet each set of chapters brings more questions! Are they siblings? Are they not siblings? How far did their romantic/sexual relationship go? Why do they think they are siblings? Did Chiaki kill their father? What’s up with her memory? Is he really their father? Why did he die? Whew, I really needed somewhere to put all those questions
I don’t think I read with quite as much ease and speed as everyone here, but the aghhh need to know factor has been increasing both my speed and the time I end up spending per reading session. I do think 4 chapters a week will be doable though! I definitely think it should continue to be a multiple of 2 chapters per week at least.
Hahaha I like this book club for exactly that reason, it’s really interesting looking at all those ambiguities! Especially noticing where things that I consider implicitly certain one way can be interpreted a totally different way
Yes, I’ve enjoyed discussing our different takes and impressions here! It’s certainly increased my enjoyment of the book to get to puzzle over the ambiguities together.
Sorry wasn’t sure where to put this comment, just wanted to add that things are starting to calm down for me so I’m going to work on getting caught up with everyone!
Finished this week’s reading as well! And I’m happy to see that I had many of the same thoughts as y’all
First off, the relationship between Aki and Hiro. In my mind they were totally oblivious to the fact that they were actually in love (or whatever you want to call it), they just lived together and nothing happened (physically at least), and only through Aki’s boyfriend’s jealousy she became aware of what was going on with her.
I am also team “they had sex”, because of this sentence: だから、この晩だけは、歓喜に酔っていたかった。自分のために身をよじらせて苦しむ彼女の姿を目に焼き付けておきたかったのだ。I mean, it’s not very explicit, but I thought this was explicit enough.
For the childhood memories, I also think that one only keeps reliable memories from around age 4, so I guess she just forgot because she was too young? Or maybe they are really not siblings at all? This remains an interesting question.
For her blurry memories during the accident, it was really interesting that she did not remember much of what she was doing in the meadow, but that he reported seeing her move closer and closer to the edge of the cliff I guess Aki is now the number one suspect, or at least that’s what Onda Riku wants us to believe.
I must really say I find this book almost as mysterious as Eugenia, but for some reason much much easier to understand and to follow. It has become a very entertaining read. But let’s see what the second half has in stock for us!
I can see what you’re saying, but especially this 苦しむ doesn’t work for me in this context. I think he’s just referring to her being visibly tormented by the feelings she has for him.
Oh you mean he is talking about him watching her sit at the kitchen table, crying? なるほどね。That fits the bill much better than my interpretation, thanks for clarifying!
(I was actually aware that 苦しむ does not exactly fit the bill of „having sex“, but then again, some people just… look like that so I thought who knows…)
Yes it could very well describe sex in another context (at least I think so), but I can’t imagine them having that kind of rough sex right then. (Feels weird analyzing what kind of sex two people in a book might have ).
Ahhh I’m so behind, so sorry for the late replies. Just finished this week and plan to get the next week done sometime soon, although tomorrow likely won’t have time. I want to catch up, though, the tension in this book is agonizing!
I took this as like, he wanted it (seeing her writing in anguish) but it didn’t happen and agree with @omk3 that his being ‘saved’ by the other girl was being ‘saved’ from making this step. It does seem like it was written intentionally vaguely though, as they didn’t go to bed until dawn
Aki having no/vague memories of childhood feels like it will be a red herring. I have very few memories from that age and they were emotional events. Something like a interesting looking clock wouldn’t stick I bet. But both of them having vague memories of the day this guy died makes me wonder a bit about their general memory capabilities
team they didn’t have sex.
Although I agree it felt like 恩田陸 definitely left some room for interpretation.
I’m also really enjoying the unraveling of items via the back and forth perspective shifts. It feels like two people taking turns putting in jigsaw pieces.
The vagueness of Aki’s memory is a little frustrating though, I do wonder how much would have been avoided if she remembered childhood details, or the day of the accident.
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Law and Order 
). I think Hiro says that they slept in their respective rooms that night, and while he felt joy and excitement at what was left unsaid between them, the next day he dreaded facing her, and dreaded what was coming, one way or another. Which is why he called that other girl and “was saved” from incest by starting to date her. By the way, the moment I read that, a possible plot twist popped up in my head: 
) 
And I’m happy to see that I had many of the same thoughts as y’all 
I guess Aki is now the number one suspect, or at least that’s what Onda Riku wants us to believe.
