かがみの孤城 (Kagami no Kojou) Book Club

Me too! I’m trying so hard to get to the point where I can listen to Japanese audiobooks, but I’m still not nearly there. It takes so much active focus even for basic comprehension that I’m probably still years away from getting to the point where they can fill the roll that English audiobooks do.

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See, the reason I don’t like audiobooks (or podcasts) is that they always require active focus for me, including in English. My mind wanders easily, so if it’s something I actually care about I’d just end up having to pause and rewind anyway. Granted, I haven’t tried much to overcome this issue, but that’s why I usually don’t bother with them.

I’m only tempted in this case because the book was so good and because the audiobook is really well made.

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I love audiobooks but have yet to find a podcast I like, including in English. Can’t stand them actually - something about them rubs me the wrong way. Or rubs my ears the wrong way, would be a better way to put it.
I go for walks while listening to audiobooks - the scenery and movement allows me to sink into the story better because it takes up that empty space that can be distracting. Might help? No worries if not.

You might be surprised. My listening comprehension was pretty terrible until I decided to really focus in on it last year. So long as your vocabulary is wide enough and you’re not tackling anything with crazy grammar you might find yourself leveling up quite quickly compared to the time it takes to become proficient in reading. I suppose because in a way then you’re just unlocking a new aspect of something you already know, rather than tackling it all from scratch.

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Ha, I already take walks while awkwardly reading ebooks on my kindle. :laughing:

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I figure I’ll listen to it a few times, on the theory that familiarity breeds comprehension.

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The week 15 thread is live! This week we are reading the first half of the 十二月 chapter and that also means that there is only one more week to go for the first volume after this!

An update about the polls: it looks like we’ll be going with schedule A and we will be taking a one week break. I will probably put the full schedule up in the OP sometime next week.

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@wiersm Right now the “read aloud” schedule here in the home thread and in the weekly threads are not in sync. Specifically, they are based on different time zones and daylight savings time for those time zones differs by two weeks. I’ll talk to everyone participating in the read aloud tomorrow and let you know what time zone we want to base it on so you can update it accordingly. Also just as a heads up, we will likely shift it slightly for the second part of the book.

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We decided to ignore the US daylight savings time, so the read aloud will only change for me. I’ll update the OP here to use the same timezone as the threads.

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I’ve put up the volume 2 schedule in the OP!

We will start volume 2 on March 19th (so there’s a one week break between volumes 1 and 2) and the last week will be the week of June 4th.

I’ve included page numbers for the physical bunko in the table and end phrases for those who are reading digitally. If any of you are reading the physical Tankobon version and would like your page numbers to be included in the table, you can put them in a comment and I’ll add them (or add them yourself if you prefer).

Note that some weeks end on a blank line in the text because I couldn’t find a fleur-de-lis at an appropriate spot, so for each end page I’ve indicated whether we end on a chapter transition (月), fleur-de-lis (:fleur_de_lis:) or blank line (*).

I’ve tried to double-check it all, but if there are any typos, let me know :wink:.

(I’ve also rearranged the OP a bit.)

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Hey might we open discussion for a new read-aloud time? I’m interested but unavailable at the current time.

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Probably not? We’ve been at the current time the entire book, and no other time would work for both me (East coast U.S.) and Kyasurin (Western Australia). Or do you mean a second group/time? There may not be enough additional people interested for that to work, but you’re welcome to ask.

What time range would work for you?

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Time for the last week of the first bunko volume! Congratulations everyone on getting this far! :clap: :tada: :partying_face:

We will be reading up to the end of the 十二月 chapter. Then we’ll have a break for a week and we start the second volume on March 19th!

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Welcome to the 下巻 volume! It promises to be an exciting volume. This week we are starting the 一月 chapter, so all I can say is: Happy New Year!

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You all ready for a laugh? This is the description of the manga adaption of かがみの孤城 from AniList. I suspect it was completely machine translated. :joy:

Summary

At the age of thirteen Kokoro spends the days in his room, entrusting to the buzz of television with the task of appeasing the thoughts and the noises of life outside. From when things at school are made too difficult,so he decided to respond to the discomfort and pain. Disappearing.
Until the day a sudden light in the mirror kidnaps her to drag it elsewhere: in a castle inhabited by a strange little Girl and six guys who, like you, have lost something.
The innocence of dreams. The instructions for live. The courage that is needed to accept themselves. Only in accepting the challenge that the Girl from the face of the wolf offers them, Kokoro and the others will be able to find out what has brought them this far. And find each in its own way, the way of the world.

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Having read the first few chapters of the manga adaptation, the part where the mirror kidnapped him/her was great.

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I totally missed these in the book :mag_right: :open_book:

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I have added the end pages from the 単行本 edition to the main post.
At this point, I don’t think it matters to anyone anymore, but maybe future readers will find it useful…

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Here’s the next thread! This week is a bit of a longer read: we will be finishing the 一月 chapter in one go. Enjoy!

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Time for February! Here’s the thread for the first half of the 二月 chapter:

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This is my third comment in a row. Maybe someone else can add a comment before I have to post next week’s thread?

This week we’re reading the second half of the 二月 chapter. Let’s see if we can get some clear answers from オオカミさま

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