Today I read 雪女 from the pre vetted calendar. It was fine, I mostly understood it, and I’m getting more and more used to the older kanji etc. I don’t have much to say about the story because I’ve read an easier version of it before and there were no plot differences.
I read a bit of the cement one yesterday but couldn’t complete it due to a 10 hour shift and then abdominal pain all evening and night. It did seem interesting though so I’ll read it when I get a free day although the first paragraph seemed to be all about nose picking
Today I went with 雪女 from the pre-vetted calendar. It felt perfect for advent reading since it involved winter and snow. It felt a bit like a spooky sort of fairy tale, was a fun read!
A bit late, but I read 走れメロス today. I’d bought the 海王社文庫 edition (also includes 5 other of Dazai’s short stories from 1939-41) a while back after it was mentioned in the middle school section of 2.43 since I was curious, but then never touched it. And boy am I glad I have it physical and didn’t have to try to read it online, that’s way too many lookups for phone reading, I’da given up. It got a bit easier after the first couple pages though, thankfully. I actually pretty much didn’t notice when okurigana was different from the typical modern usage this time, though it tripped me up a bit in a couple places when I read 待つ in October. Also, I apparently know more alternate forms/spellings and usually-written-in-kana kanji than I thought.
Geez, but this has got the longest paragraphs of anything I’ve read so far. One was 3 full pages! On the dot! Insane.
Thanks to this and the first time it was in kanji, I finally know that it’s not “-た + まえ” but “stem + たまえ” and what it means. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it with a verb where it was obviously not a past-tense conjugation before today, so I never made the connection. (Maybe I should have, but I don’t exactly claim to be smart.)
I skimmed the first chapter of 2.43 again to see what reading comprehension question Chika got wrong, and, pfft
Apparently he got most if not all reading comprehension questions on the final wrong, that’s just the only one Yuni read aloud.
To think people who don’t know him look at him and think he’s a 文学少年. He’s only just barely not failing. (He has a 30 in 国語 and resents any attempt to get him to study. He’s got a 95 in 数学 and 99 in 社会 though lmao. He’s an idiot genius.)
I switched to the pre-vetted calendar today for 雪女, probably going to stick the pre-vetted ones going forward.
I was vaguely familiar with the story, so it was nice to actually read for the first time. I was surprised by the number of older/less-standard kanji that I could just get from context.
I’m also a bit late, but I finally read 走れメロス. I knew the end through pop culture, which made the tension not really hit, but it was still a good read.
I liked this one - it was honestly entertaining. So dramatic! I’m also not at all surprised that I suddenly had BL videos recommended to me after clicking into this 朗読
This is another one for the tuberculosis theme, sadly – the author died of it aged 48. He wrote 風立ちぬ, which is a long standing entry in the Wanikani ABC nomination list.
I just finished 萱草に寄す. I’m glad I learned how to read old kana spelling through this thread.
On the other hand, I’m not sure I got the point It’s been a hot minute since the last time I was confused by something I read, so I at least appreciate the feeling
Edit: just finished お月さまいくつ as well. More old kana! I agree with the author that お馬のジヤンコジヤンコ is funny. I liked the rabbit going ピヨン／＼ as well. I wonder if the songs are available on youtube? They do sound quite old.
… is the woman in the video like 20 months pregnant?
I feel like I have heard that song before, or maybe there are similar? Ah, yes, I am thinking of げんこつやまのたぬきさん, completely unrelated. I guess it’s because of the ねんね in the lyrics.
Just finished セメント樽の中の手紙 and I am confused. Is the letter writer his wife? Who was having an affair and now he is not sure if the child is his? Or am I misinterpreting something?
I think the letter writer is unrelated to him; the impression I got was that he was so overwhelmed by his own life and working and living conditions that hearing some horrific tale of someone’s sweetheart accidentally falling into a rock crusher didn’t make all that much impact.
Also, I finished reading 燃ゆる頬 from the mystery calendar on @cat’s suggestion; it was very interesting! It was published in 1932 according to Aozora, making it easily the earliest piece of writing I’ve read that features a gay/bi main character. I wonder how it would have been received at the time of publishing? The piece definitely felt melancholic to me and not shocking, but that could entirely be due to my modern perspective.
At the end he looks at the name and address and is really angry and then he looks at his wife pregnant with his(?) 7th child… that’s why I thought the letter writer might have been his wife.
Hmmm. That’s a good point; I went back to re-read to check. Now I’m not sure if I missed part of that nuance there. Or whether it’s supposed to be open-ended.
It felt a bit like a spooky sort of fairy tale, was a fun read!
That’s a good point; I went back to re-read to check. Now I’m not sure if I missed part of that nuance there. 