I got the book as an ebook on kobo and copied the book (sectioned into weeks) into Japanese IO. First I read it on my ereader (meanwhile getting rid of any furigana that wasn’t properly copied into Japanese IO).
After that I read it again on Japanese IO which gives me the opportunity to look up words really easily and also see how close I came to understanding it without any help.
This isn’t supposed to be a pitch for the service but Japanese IO also gives you a tally of which words you look up the most so I think I’ll be able to learn a lot of vocabulary without learning every word that’s only mentioned once and never again.
On the other hand this is my first “novel” book club so I don’t know how successful this method will be.
There’s a ton of vocabulary in here I don’t know, so I’m reading on a Kindle. You can look words up on the fly and it saves a running list for you.
Seriously, it’s a small investment, but a Kindle set up in the Amazon Japan store is infinitely easier and more efficient than any other methods I’ve seen. The $99 is definitely worth it.
I assume that first と introduces an indirect reason, so “[thinking that] she probably hadn’t heard me properly” and the second と is a ‘when’ thing. What purpose does のか serve?
It adds uncertainty. She doesn’t actually know if they were surprised for sure. It’s like, “perhaps they were surprised, because here’s how they reacted”.
+1 on loving the book and the author style. I thought it would have be much harder, but as the chapter progressed I was able to understand better the long sentences and absorb more vocabulary.
Since some asked above, I usually read the whole chapter and mark all the words I don’t know. Then I read a second time translating some words… and then a third time to retain the knowledge… It can be a bit exhausting but helps with retention
On the home thread I commented that the English translation wasn’t an exact translation, but now that I’ve read these first pages, I feel like the translator is pretty good. She breaks down some sentences to make more sense in English. So although, it’s not a word-by-word translation it gives a pretty accurate idea of what the author was expressing.
Well, I’ve managed to read a few couple of extra pages and while I’m still finding it a challenge, I did find sections with dialogue a lot easier and I’m generally able to get the gist of what is going, if not the exact meaning of sections。I was able to clear up a lot of my question by trying out the new Lapis segmentation app - highly recommend! Still not sure I’ll be able to keep up at this rate, but hey, we’ll see.
I really love the descriptions in this book. The use of sound in particular is really evocative.
Some questions and comments
手をアルコールで消毒し、ケースをあけてアメリカンドッグを包む。No question here, just found it funny that as soon as I read this my brain went “oh good, they are following COVID 19 safety protocol”, ha
その仕草から、電子マネーで支払いをするのだなと咄嗟に判断する。Two questions here: First, is “electronic money” a common thing in Japan? How common is it compared to using debit/credit cards? Second, I get the gist again, but using what is the purpose of the な doing before the と
必要以上に観察して不快にさせてしまわないよう細心の注意を払いながら、キャッチした情報に従って素早い手を動かす。I’m able to to get this gist of this of this thanks to Deepl, but I am struggling to parse this, especially the first part. Any help in this department would be useful. 不快にさせてしまわないよう細心 in particular is tripping me up.
Yeah, you can pay for things in a lot of places with a Suica card. Convenience stores, vending machines, even some online stores. Credit cards are definitely increasing in prevalence - I was able to use them in most of the hotels I stayed in for my last three visits.
This is 不快＋に＋(する in causative form) in て-form＋しまう in negative form＋よう
First, is “electronic money” a common thing in Japan? How common is it compared to using debit/credit cards?
Yeah, REALLY common nowadays. Not just Suica, there’s PayPay, LinePay and a gazillion other sort of electronic wallets which I forget because I don’t use them. Don’t get me started on point cards either, there’s too many omg! As a tourist, you’ll never use any of these options because they require some setting up (linking to bank accounts etc).
I just want to say that I am following along and am enjoying the discussion so far even though I don’t particularly have any questions of my own.
I’m reading an actual physical copy of this (seems like I’m in the minority here?) and then just looking up words that I don’t know and putting them in a word card I have. Sometimes I understand a word from context but don’t know the reading or I just forget something, it seems there were 50 words in the first 18 pages that I didn’t know!
Grammar-wise, I’m fine but I think it’s pretty easy for me to visualise a convenience store simply because I live in Japan and it’s only been a few hours since I went to one this morning.
That and I like writing things down, it helps me remember easier if I put pen to paper and actually write the Kanji/word out, I feel like I’d never learn anything if I were just doing this on a spreadsheet. It is rare but occasionally I do actually have to write things occasionally.
Actually, lol, the only problem I have perhaps is ‘sleepy brain syndrome’ lol, I read all of this in one go (took a while because I was actually writing kanji in my word card) but when I got to page 15 or so, my brain just fell asleep and stopped processing, maybe because of fatigue? Or just the fact that page 15 was really difficult, I’m not sure? Hopefully my stamina will increase over time.
When I was visiting Japan, the Suica was great to use and much less of a hassle (as was the fact that I actually made use of my coins). Felt a lot like college tbh, when I had a single ID card that could be used for food, laundry, etc. Super easy to set up and use.
Also, physical copy owner here! I love this tiny little palm-sized version.
As far as your learning goes, I think it really just depends from person to person. I’m somebody who learns far better from repetition and prolonged exposure, so I tend to not focus on drilling vocab words that I don’t know. I tried to do that with Kiki, but it slowed my reading down CONSIDERABLY.
But, if that’s your preferred method of learning it might just be the pacing that you’re setting for yourself? Stamina is definitely something that I’ve built up over time through the book clubs after having figured out a way to parcel out reading that felt good for me.
I’ve personally never gotten much into writing, but considering my Japanese studying is squarely a hobby atm I don’t think it’s a huge priority…?
Once you create a Japanese Amazon account, you can log in with those credentials. You need a Japanese address first, which you can get from a free forwarding service.
I splurged on the Oasis, but the much cheaper Paperwhite has the same vocab features. Either is fine.
Hey, I actually managed to retain 歯車 from reading Kiki. I feel like I forgot most of the words I learned immediately after finishing it, but perhaps it’s unfair to judge on what I can synthesize, rather than recognize.
Three more pages in though, and I feel misled by the first paragraph. I understood nearly everything at first, but by the next page we’ve got lookups nearly every line. Well, I suppose I’m not learning if I understand all of it.
And yeah, I’m also reading a physical copy over here. Kindles are cool, but I really like having a physical copy of books. Plus, sometimes reading something very clearly not in English in public can be a conversation starter. Just, uh… Just wish I could actually go exist “in public” again.
But, if that’s your preferred method of learning it might just be the pacing that you’re setting for yourself? Stamina is definitely something that I’ve built up over time through the book clubs after having figured out a way to parcel out reading that felt good for me.
This is my first book club so yeah, hopefully I can built it up to the point where I don’t end up fatigued. Fingers crossed.
I’ve personally never gotten much into writing, but considering my Japanese studying is squarely a hobby atm I don’t think it’s a huge priority…?
I just tend to write because it feels… natural to me? I do it in English too, that or I’ll draw something silly. I don’t focus on the words I don’t know too much, but somehow karma will always deliver some of these to me… fairly shortly afterwards no matter how obscure the word.
For example, I was having a discussion with a friend about 膜 maybe 2 weeks ago…he said it was a pointless thing to remember and I was like, well you say that but there’s loads of words with it in so who knows. First word in this very book that I’m staring at thinking ‘I’ve seen that before…ah! 鼓膜 !’ and then I flipped through my word card only to find this! So I don’t know, lol, I forget tons of stuff but some of it does get remembered and that for me is a win!
Well, in two pages I went from laughing at Keiko wanting to eat a dead bird to growing mortified at her continued sociopathic streak in grade school.
This is definitely going to be a rough and fascinating read. I actually just played What Remains of Edith Finch, which covers a similar sort of character who struggles with a detachment from their peers and family. It’s neat to see it portrayed in this context and I can’t wait to see how the author explores its themes further.
I checked her Wikipedia page out and it looks like Murata-sensei deals heavily with themes of nonconformity in all her work. Especially interesting is how she spent a lot of time working at convenience stores herself, which explains how the first few pages were able to vividly capture the monotony of a retail customer service job.
But you can only be logged into one account at once and consequently, only access the books from one account at once, unless you use some sort of tool for removing DRM. More about setting up Japanese account is in this post.
I’m also trying to mention it in as many places possible - built-in Kindle dictionary sorta sorta sucks with conjugations. At first, I was really off-put by this. But custom dictionaries are doing much better job, I personally recommend this one: https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B01G6TK0QW
It won’t work on PC app, though, I don’t know why. It was fine on Android and obviously it is fine on physical Kindle.
EDIT: I just noticed now it doesn’t work properly on Android, too. I could’ve sworn it did, but now I can’t tell if I remember it wrong or some update broke it. I still prefer using it for physical Kindle.
random thoughts about physical vs digital
I like… looking at physical copies. I like hugging and caress physical copies. But I don’t like reading physical copies.
But I have eyesight problems, so dictionaries aside, I really appreciate the big font and good lighting in any conditions.
Also I’m constantly struggling with having the physical books open properly without damaging the spine. When I was younger, I just assumed that spine has to be sacrificed for the sake of my comfort, but now my husband is reaa~lly conscious about the state of the books and he’s making me feel guilty about each crease
I do admit I plan on rebuying some of my favorites which I read on Kindle for collection/room decoration purposes. But it won’t be much. And I don’t have that much space for new books, either.
And I do admit I also have a tendency of sub-consciously clenching and rubbing my fingers on the thing I’m reading. I already damaged one Kindle case in just a few months by it. If I’m trying to control it, I just become tense and reading is less fun. I prefer to exchange cases regularly and just let myself relax my body.
Just wanted to chime in to say What Remains of Edith Finch is one of my favorite games of all time. I actually just replayed it three days ago. Which character are you comparing to? Lewis? If so I think you’ll be interested to see how differently Keiko and Lewis deal with their detachment. It’s a comparison that might be worth revisiting later on.
lmao it’s definitely still relatable to a large degree, but her response to the fight was just a wee bit shocking
Yeah, Lewis is who the book has reminded me of, particularly with the opening pages in the konbini. It was extremely reminiscent of his time in the cannery. I especially connected with Lewis’ story because I spent several years working customer service jobs and retreating into my head to cope, so I’m super interested to see how コンビニ人間 is going to tackle the subject.
