Same! It’s been a while since I finished this early in the week. Actually went a bit too far before I remembered to check this week’s end.
I like your thought on this! especially part 2 and 3, haha. How dare he! Well, part 3 was actually pretty awful and ridiculous.
Thoughts on the last scene of this week’s reading. Interesting scene with her sister. Their relationship gained quite a bit of depth. I especially like how 恵子 keeps comparing what’s currently going on with past events and adjusting her behavior (and words) accordingly.
Also, her likening babies to 動物 and consciously not going too far down memory lane in order to make him be quiet… Made me feel uneasy for a bit! But it is still told in a very understandable way, somehow making her thought processes accessible and incomprehensible (possibly the wrong word - not emphasizable for me? That’s not a word at all, is it?) at the same time.
Also, I’m going to have to check that handy name list. 麻美 should be Mami, but is the kid named Kyoutarou? I can only tell its some kind of ~tarou name. Right, off I go!
I thought it was the sister that compared him to an animal first?
Anyway this reminded me of a time when I was little and I told my dad that babies were like dogs and he was horrified, but I was just like…but dogs are the best, this was clearly a compliment???
And I’m done with this week early, that’s unusual.
I think it’s kind of funny how everyone here finds the sect like ness of this story be creepy but I didn’t even feel it was cult-like. I just thought “eh must be a Japanese thing they are pretty extra”. But the introduction of this character does show that even the author notes that this is weird, so I wonder what’s wrong with everyone else at the store then lol.
I also don’t really like his attitude, but I’m sure we’re not supposed to at this point at least.
I think even Japanese people find it kind of… Weird. But it’s the norm and expected, so you’ll find some variation of this in most job environments (especially those with customer service) , so you quickly get used to it out of pure self defense.
I was also reminded to ちゃんと挨拶して(ね) on more than one occasion, until I just started doing the same as everyone else.
Clearly and comparatively loudly speaking is a thing you do in the job. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ if you don’t, people notice, and your 先輩 will remind you so your boss doesn’t have to.
That’s not surprising to me at this point. It just seems like something people would write off as useless if they learned it in WaniKani and hadn’t seen it in books.
After reading that section, this was my joking-but-kinda-not-joking prediction for where the story will go.
I thought people want to get noticed by 先輩?
My thoughts on this week's reading
I’m kinda saddened by Keiko’s thoughts about the baby. She doesn’t really understand why her nephew is supposed to be more important to her than her friend’s kid. And that ending…
Also, her comparison of the baby’s cheek to a blister was, uh… interesting.
By the way @Sylph and @Belerith, it was the sister who likened the baby to an animal.
I had to reread that part once or twice because I was so confused by it
And at first it grossed me out quite a bit. But now I think I understand what she’s referring to. It’s not only that babies have a very soft skin, they also don’t have many muscles underneath the skin. Thus touching them may feel a bit… un-substantial, maybe. Just as a blister which is also kinda soft and wobbly.
During the week 5 read-aloud session, someone (seanblue?) mentioned the use of 応 for こたえる in the sentence 店長の言葉に「はい！」と私と菅原さんが応えた, when they were responding to 店長’s 「今日も一日がんばろう！」.
I looked it up in a verb reference book, and 応 is used when the meaning of こたえる is either 1) to respond to someone’s desire/expectation/request (ex. 親の期待に応えたい) or 2) to strongly affect/hit hard (ex. 寒さが体に応える).
End Page (PB): 62
End Page (HB): 55
End Kindle Location: 575
End Phrase: 唇を拭った。
Welcome to Week 5!
Feel free to use past discussion for reference, but please don’t hesitate to post any questions or comments! The more we discuss the more we all learn, and the more fun it is! Also, I strongly recommend setting each week’s thread to “watching” to stay abreast of the discussion. Please try to mark any spoilers as such.
I’m reading along
I’ll catch up soon
I have no intention of catching up or the club has already finished, but I’m using the forums as reference
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Live Reading Sessions
The second live reading session will be 2021-01-24T03:00:00Z If you haven’t already, join the Japanese Book Club Discord. When the time comes to start, just enter the コンビニ人間 voice channel.
For live readings, we will take turns reading as much as we feel comfortable with (up to ~1 page), then go back and translate a section of our choosing together. Expect sessions to take anywhere from 1-2 hours, but feel free to join late or leave early as your schedule allows. We will be starting promptly at the designated time. Please post any questions regarding live reading session logistics in the Discord channel or on the home thread.
Vocab Sheet
Anybody should feel free to add to the vocab sheet. Read the guidelines on the first sheet- even if a word is not yet included you can use the spreadsheet as a tool to get help.
Discussion Questions
What sentence/passage gave you the most difficulty? Feel free to request some help, or if you figured it out on your own break it down for the rest of us!
What was your favorite new vocab word from this week’s reading?
Was there any passage that you found particularly intriguing? Did it resonate with you (either positively or negatively)? Was it surprising? Offer any insight or new perspective? Was it just beautifully written?
Share your story of dealing with irritating or infuriating coworkers (or customers)! How did you handle it?
Nearly at the beginning of chapter 8 there is this sentence:
妹の夫は電気会社に勤務していて、大体終電で帰ってくるという。
It ends with という, but neither the Dutch nor English translation mentions it’s a ‘she said’ situation:
“Her husband commuted to his job at an electric company and almost always came home on the last train.”
“Haar man werkt voor een elektriciteitsbedrijf en komt meestal met de laatste trein naar huis.”
Is that just a translator’s choice, to leave the hearsay implicit, or am I missing some grammar point here?
No haha, I just numbered the ‘chapters’ so it’s easier to tell roughly where it is (cause of all the different ways people are reading it). But now I see that’s actually more confusing LOL
especially part 2 and 3, haha. How dare he! Well, part 3 was actually pretty awful and ridiculous.
