Take it at face value ![]()
Yeah, I was having trouble even translating it literally, but once I realized… anyway, moving on.
What’s with the non-full width period in the middle of page 34? …思うよな。それに…
Probably just a typo, but that’s super weird.
That moment the guy says the title of the chapter. ![]()
I bet they’ll say the name of the chapter in chapter 4 too
![]()
If I understood what you mean, I think it looks normal in my ebook version:
Might really just be a typo.
Oh, I see, it looks even weirder in 縦書き ![]()
I made good progress today, but I have one question.
Page 37
自分達は今までの、ノイズだらけの、しかもきちんと伝わっているか絶対に確認し得ない言語によるコミュニケーションを、古くさい方法にすることができるんだ!
I’m pretty lost on this one. All the commas plus the しかも make it hard to figure out what is modifying what. By the time it gets to the end, I’m not even sure what できるんだ is referring to.
37
We were able to make that communication via language we’d used up until (then), a communication filled with noise, a communication where it was impossible to confirm whether what you wanted to transmit was correctly transmitted, an old-fashioned method!
今までの and ノイズだらけの and しかもきちんと伝わっているか絶対に確認し得ない言語による are all modifying コミュニケーション, which is being acted on by 古くさい方法にする
And that’s a thing they 自分たち could do ことができる
(I mean he uses the nonpast tense because Japanese storytelling though)
Why are Japanese book chapters so long! I’m pretty sure I just barely passed the middle of the chapter after reading for hours xD
Oh snap, it’s because this is the Intermediate Book Club. I should have expected this ![]()
In this case I don’t think it is 素っ, since that is a prefix that attaches directly to words without と. The jisho page you linked gives some examples of how it is used. Instead, I think it is すっと (quickly, all of a sudden), with the comma adding extra emphasis.
The sentences both before and after this one talk about how his expressions were changing quickly, so this would make sense.
I found some articles on Yahoo!知恵袋 and Japanese Stack Exchange that discuss this type of comma usage:
This question asks if there is a rule for putting the comma before or after と with 擬態語, because it feels like there is a different impression between the two. The person who responded said there isn’t really a rule, it’s just how the writer conveys what they want to say to the reader.
This question asks about comma placement with the quotative particle と. Tobirisu5019671 responded that for quotative particle と it is more natural for the comma to come before, but for supposition と it is more common for the comma to come after (「引用のト」に読点を打つなら、「、と」のほうが自然。しかし、「仮定のト」の場合は「と、」のほうが自然). He also includes some examples, although none of them pertain specifically to onomatopoeia.
The respondent here affirms the same comma usage as above, but also says that “extra commas can be inserted to express emphasis or emotion”. He gives the example 思わず、それは嘘だ、と、叫んだ。
I’m still reading along, I’m just busy and not checking the forums much :(… Anyway I like that the book is kind of philosophical, it’s more interesting than i thought ![]()
Without getting into too much detail (I don’t want to complain too much about the content when everyone else is enjoying it), I had read that it would be a bit philosophical and had gotten my hopes up too much. It is a „light“ novel after all, I guess I know what that means now.
But on the bright side it made me realize that I can actually read stuff and how much I miss reading interesting books that are targeted at an adult audience and I started tackling „real“ books now because of that. So there was a good message in that book for me after all, it was just not the originally intended one. ![]()
Page 41, last sentence : じゃあ、キノさん。パースエイダー有段者の君に言うことじゃないかもしれないけれど、道中気をつけて」
This sentence baffle me. From the weird “Persuader Black Belt” to the usage of 言うことじゃない. Any help ?
“Well then, Kino. Maybe it’s not a thing worth saying to a Persuader expert like yourself, but take care on the road.”
有段者 doesn’t mean black belt, it means someone with a 段 rank. Or, well, a rank period. Someone who isn’t a novice? I’m not that versed in the world of martial arts, but I think you’re basically divided into unranked and ranked. That rank is 段.
Black belts are a subset of those who have 段, in those martial arts that use belts like that.
Afaik.
I’m the same, I read along, just no time for in depth forum discussions:/
And i do agree, the content was a good surprise ![]()
I have somehow managed to read and ‘annotate’ the entirety of this weeks reading portion.
No clue how that happened!
But that means I can actually read this week’s thread and maybe ask a question or two…
Oh, just a thought - it might make sense to update the time for the reading group in the OP? ![]()
Wow, I didn’t even notice while I was reading - but that’s interesting!
Thank god you can read it in pretty much all the imaginable ways according to jisho… ![]()
Some questions/parts I’d like to confirm my understanding…
p.36, 2nd line
エルメスの発言にかぶさるよう言った - I only found words like cover for this. I’m assuming this is the same word or at least stem as かぶる in wearing a hat. This basically just means that he’s talking over Hermes in an effort to drown out his thoughtless words, right?
p.36, 3rd to last line
近くにいる人にその悲しみが直に伝わる。Found too many possible readings for this one - I think 5?
All with different meanings too, which is probably why the author didn’t think furigana are necessary.
So just to make sure I got this, is this read じき, meaning right away/directly?
p. 38, pretty much in the middle
僕は彼女がハーブに水をやっていて、そしてあげすぎてしまったのを目撃した。Can’t really parse the bold part, probably. Or don’t notice where I’ve gone wrong. His girlfriend was making herb tea, or adding water to the herbs, and then he witnessed her putting to much in?
Other than that, wow. That was quite unexpected. First that guy’s diction, and then the situation with the telepathy.
(spoilers up to p.39) And that conversation lasted like, 10 pages! It wasn’t as hard to read as I’d feared though, so maybe the writing’s good? Can’t really tell yet.
One thing I thought was interesting was how the author tries not to re use the same Kanji close together. One example that comes to mind is on p. 39, where the man is talking about all the bad things that came from their ‘evolution’, ie gaining telepathy. When he’s talking about the guy who died, he says, その人間が今際のきわ(際)に思っていることが(…)I’d heard that that is a thing, but first time I’m reading a book with enough Kanji in it to actually notice I guess. (Unless that’s usually written in Kana, haha :D)
Does anyone know how to signify that a quote goes on beyond the quoted part in Japanese? ![]()
In what way?
It’s over, anyway.
I was thinking maybe a general every Saturday / Sunday at x time, or something that doesn’t sound like we’re stuck in the past.
Or just delete that part and leave the links to the thread.
As it is it might be confusing to people who don’t know about it yet. Like, ‘Oh cool, they’re starting a reading group - wait is it over?’ Seems like no one cared enough about the group to update it. Maybe I’m over-thinking this, it just sounds like it might not have been good and not be a thing anymore to me.
I’m probably over-thinking this. ![]()
What do you mean it’s over, it’s barely started ![]()
![]()

