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I read this week’s part a little early over the weekend, since I was away it was a chance to catch up on the previous week’s reading and get a little ahead without having to take multiple book club books away with me.
The future isn’t looking too bright for our protagonists, is it?
Also continuing the start-of-chapter narrative identification game, it’s not entirely clear who 1-3 is. The camera suggests Aiko, but the duck call suggests Tamon. Perhaps they’re more blurred together than it seems?
I just finished this week’s chapter. The atmosphere is just . This creeping, lingering sense of dread… I am actually uncomfortable reading, in a good way. (?)
I have no words, but that feeling of dread still remains after reading. I don’t know if I’m just highly susceptible to this, since I don’t usually read horror at all.
Anyway, the pace of 2 chapters a week feels just right for this book.
Exactly my thoughts! I also don’t read horror though.
The last time I felt like this when reading a book was when I read Stanislaw Lem’s “Solaris”. Very enjoyable to have a similar reading experience again.
I can?
I mean, why not? It’s not like I can read it in the original, so any translation should work.
I’ll need to check if it’s available in digital form.
It looks like the pieces at the start of the chapter aren’t in chronological order after all. In chapter 1 the person wonders about their camera, so it must be Aiko. She says it’s been 10 days since she arrived. I think it was three days when her mother in law called?
Second and third chapter, the person is clutching a 鳩笛. This would suggest Tamon, but the hotel omiyage shop is mentioned, so maybe it’s still Aiko?
Other than the professor, the others seem to not have complete free will at this point. They are compelled to do things against their better judgement. The person (or persons) in the beginning of the first chapters is completely confused too. Are we to assume that the water (or whatever it is) has already taken them? Or at least it’s somehow controlling them?
Why was the body in the neighbours’ house only half-formed (or half-destroyed)? Was it moving around before? Or was it something else? Why does the journalist feel the need to enter the manhole? And where is the cat? So many questions.
I showed the chapter 1 start-narration to a Japanese and then asked him whether these are the thoughts of a man or a woman, and he immediately said „a woman“. When I asked him why he thought so, he had a hard time coming up with evidence, but after re-reading it, he pointed out a few phrases in the middle that he was very convinced were a woman’s thoughts.
Which - together with the camera - would call for Aiko, it seems.
Same! This is better horror than all the alleged „horror“ books we‘ve read so far
I imagine these to have the same reason - the water is calling them in a way, or their left-over common sense tells them to stay away from the water (as for Tamon in the last scene) but to no avail…
The scariest thing is that we’re only about halfway through the book I’m curious to see what else is in stock for us…
I think this is the explanation for why the cat picked up these perfectly modelled body parts that were only half-finished. It seems to me as if the water thing has shape-shifted into the snatched persons but maybe cannot keep this up forever? So they lose their shape and partly return back to the mochi-shaped original mass? And the cat conveniently bit off parts that were still half-modelled, or maybe these parts separated from the bodies and fell off somewhere…
Caught up to this week! Oh man, it’s getting good.
Agree with others that this is better horror than most other horror I’ve read in Japanese. Constantly shifting perspectives right as our character lands in a dangerous looking spot. Also intrigued by everyone doing things against their better judgment. And the smart-but-weird-guy putting sofas on his tatami in order to have some distance…? As well as wearing boots in the house! So curious if the mochi-fied body on the floor will continue to form or if something went wrong Looking forward to digging into next week
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. This creeping, lingering sense of dread… I am actually uncomfortable reading, in a good way. (?)
I’m SO looking forward to catching up with you guys! (currently reading chapter 4).
I’m curious to see what else is in stock for us…