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 8?
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
I have no idea what to make of the memory/dream sequence. That has to be a metaphor, right? No way did they bury an actual child and then forget about what happened for years. And why are there two versions of Aki? Are there two versions of her or is the first girl someone else entirely? What is going on? I have so many questions right now.
I still stand by my (speculation) evil twin theory. What mother doesn’t want to see her long lost daughter? The theory that she just feels guilty and can’t face her isn’t convincing to me at all. Aki spaces out a lot. I think she did things that she completely forgot about - maybe the two versions of her were a representation of a multiple personality disorder or something? Anyway, I think she did something pretty horrible, and her mother sent her away because she couldn’t cope, and to protect Hiro from her influence. The only flaw in this theory is that the mother would probably warn adult Hiro to stay away from Aki - she does know they live together, right? But Japanese people, in fiction at least, are famous for never talking about what worries them, so there’s that.
I wonder what that (more speculation)buzzing sound really was. Was it even there during the hike? Was it just an insect then? In her childhood memory it must have been some kind of machine. What kind of machine could a Japanese toddler have access to and cause (inadvertent?) damage with? Lawn mower? Chainsaw?
I also wonder whether (yes, even more speculation) the father really left before they were even born, or whether he just couldn’t cope after whatever happened, and left then. The mother could have reconstructed the whole narrative of their lives to hide whatever horrible incident that was, to protect Hiro. In which case, the father would have more reasons to suspect these two of being his children, as he would already know he had twin children.
It’s getting harder and harder to stop reading each week
Just when I thought the cliffhangers couldn’t get any bigger!
@omk3 I think your theory could have a point, it might also tie in with why Aki has so few memories before being adopted, if she’s blocking something out. My question is, was the adult Aki in the dream actually Aki, or maybe her mother? Is this part of why the mother can’t bear to see her daughter, because she might see herself in her?
What does 運転 mean here? I thought maybe it means Even if I did drive that man to his death, I shook off the feeling of guilt just by driving, but I’m not sure.
Finally finished chapter 18 and uh, wow. My brain hurts I wonder how much of the dream sequence is an actual memory and how much is symbolic. Aki watching Aki and Aki and Hiro burying a child might have something to do with some of the themes we’re seeing of hiding a romantic relationship, having multiple identities (romantic interest Aki and twin sister Aki and fake-wife Aki), separated family, parental rejection and abandonment…
I was kind of dragging myself through chapter 17 but chapter 18 made up for it.
I feel like it wouldn’t make sense for the kitchen fan to remind her of a bug sound if a bug sound was what she heard in the mountains and in the dream/memory. Not really sure what other noise it could be though - quite vague. A mechanical hum. I do like the idea of Aki somehow doing something terrible, or both the children did? Maybe they were actually triplets and they killed the 3rd and Aki was imaging the other girl as herself, while the other girl was being buried. Maybe they were quadruplets A child is a rather large thing for other children to bury though I’m looking forward to this unfolding and seeing how it relates to the father’s death.
Also what was she burying where her father died…? Did he trip in the loose dirt/hole she made?
Interestingly it wasn’t too bad for me. Halfway through I was even thinking that I was so annoyed with the dragged-out scenes in 予言の島 but that I got along with them quite well in this book
Absolutely!
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Law and Order 
I wonder 
A child is a rather large thing for other children to bury though 
I’m looking forward to this unfolding and seeing how it relates to the father’s death.
