It’s been months since I last participated in a book club and that was the beginner book club so I expected to barely finish the reading the day of the deadline but surprisingly I already finished. I did have to look up a lot of words, but not as bad as I expected. I like the start.
Thoughts on section
I’m curious what Tamaki’s relationship with the main character is. Is she her guardian? Blood relative? Is she only taking care of her temporarily? At first I thought they had a poor relationship since Tamaki seemed irritated and the main character’s comments about feeling freer when she doesn’t bring the bento box seemed weird. But the teasing about the “date” made it seem like they do have a good relationship after all.
The dream seems interesting. As does the mysterious tourist (?) who asked about ruins and doors. I know that the doors will be relevant due to the summary but I wonder why he is looking for them.
I really like the descriptions in the book so far, it feels so relaxing (and I can picture myself smelling the beach, just from reading about Suzume waking up..)
Re. Tamaki: I assume it will be explained soon and that there will also be something about her mom?
Page 10 in my edition (the second line after the first asterisk break), 宮崎のお天気お姉さん is the TikTok handle of 古山圭子, weather presenter for Miyazaki Prefecture’s UMK. She was born in Ibaraki Prefecture, though, not exactly 北国 (though I guess for someone in Miyazaki, almost everywhere in Japan is north…)
The movie version of the town where Suzume lives is based on Aburatsu, in southern Miyazaki.
I’ve been participating in the book clubs regularly, but it’s been… years, perhaps, since I last read an actual novel.
Have, uh… have you guys got the 人物紹介 thingy on page 4 (or equivalent) in your copies? You seem to be regarding this as some kind of mystery, but we’re told their relation before the story even starts. Or is it exclusive to my edition? The English translation I also picked up doesn’t have it, I notice…
The answer, hidden in case anyone actually considers it a spoiler: Tamaki’s her aunt.
Speaking of Tamaki, the narration describes her as speaking in Miyazaki-ben, but there’s nothing much that’s noticeably dialectical about her dialogue. Except perhaps 迫っちょるかい. Thinking that’s 迫っているから
i have seen the movie when it was released in 2022 (gosh, how the time flies), and i remember having somewhat mixed feelings about it~ as for the actual plot i don’t remember it much (and by that i mean at all), so i figured it would be a good idea to give the novel a go!
so far it’s been a pleasant, relaxing read. i can’t say it got me hooked straight away, but i am curious to see where the story goes. i actually don’t remember any of the characters from 人物紹介 other than the chair haha.
