Just back from a week vacation (yay seeing family for the first time since Covid!) so only just finished week 2 yesterday. But also, as other’s have noted, I have found this story a bit more challenging to read. Hard to pin down exactly what is more difficult, but I think there are just more complex sentences overall, and lots of vocab I’ve had to look up. Will do my best to catch up in the coming week!
Somewhat dark prediction on what the title is referencing: we might see some blood sucking before the end.
Sentence I’m struggling with:
黒い穴あいたのっぺらぼうのようになって、じっとダイニングテーブルを磨いている母は、何を考えているのだろうか。
Second half is pretty straight forward (wondering what the mother is thinking as she is blankly polishing the dining room table), but not sure about the second, especially the use of あいた. Any thoughts?
Thoughts on plot
That being said, I’m really enjoying this story: I like the two parallel stories of the mother’s strained relationship to the father and the tutor, both of which feel like stories of depression and frustration with the world. I loved the part where the mother pulled the lettuce from the garbage can to feed to the father. So hilariously passive aggressive.
I also found the narrators reaction to the disclosure of self harm really realistic, in that rather than ask questions about it, or be alarmed, she just went into caring mode, and was a bit bewildered about the entire situation, not really questioning his request to not tell anyone.
In my experience, that is really how it happens. You think you will be all pro-active, in a very-special-episode kind of way, but actually… you don’t really know what to, especially as a teen. I was in that situation once as a teen, and I remember weirdly calm about it. And then I basically didn’t really do anything, or say anything of use. I want to think that now that I’m an adult, I would be better, and maybe I would, but it’s hard to know until you are in that situation.
Happy catching up to the both of us!
Just kidding. Still, I can sympathize.