予言の島 🌅 👻 Spooky Summer Reading Club

Finished 第一章 part 三.

Thoughts on first three parts of chapter 2 and speculation

The mysterious late-comer still doesn’t interact with anyone but Jun. :thinking:
The warning woman is in fact a fortune-teller herself, and apparently a pupil of the famous psychic that met her doom on the island.
The warning signs continue when the three arrive on the island, with the ryokan refusing them the room they booked, the weather turning bad, an old lady interestingly confusing them with that TV crew from long ago, and a man warning them to stay indoors tomorrow, the day of the prophecy.
They do find a room in a modern guesthouse after all, one strangely run by a man from Tokyo who quit the corporate life and randomly(?) moved to Mukui to open an inn. Not the most touristy place to choose, I’d say. And of course he’s not welcomed by the locals and doesn’t fit in at all, despite his attempts at Kansai-ben. The inn is filled with kuromushi, which is supposed to protect from the mountain spirit.
They are all curious about the kuromushi, but as far as we know only Jun feels unsettled by it. Jun is also the one who completely rejects anything supernatural. I still kind of suspect he’s in denial, and there’s something about him that’s connected to the island and that mountain spirit, hence his aversion to the kuromushi, his sudden homesickness when he gets on the island even if he says he doesn’t believe the prophecy, the fortune-teller saying he has powerful protection, and the mysterious woman only interacting with him. We’ll see. :eyes:

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I finished the last of the second week last night and I have to say that the conversation between the two old people was rough. I barely followed what they were talking about for some lines.

Also did anyone get what Haruo was saying about people trying to use Kansai-ben?

Overall the spooky vibe isn’t quite there for me yet as I’m just stuck wondering where the rest of the people from the boat are what with inns refusing service. Are they all :sparkles: coincidentally :sparkles: at the same inn? :joy: Also I want more details on the prophecy! Looking forward to ‘tomorrow’ when we get to see what this angry ghost does.

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This is general impression and only what I remember, but I thought he said it’s better to not try to fit in by pretending to be one of the locals, eg by imitating speech. Kansai people are fiercely territorial and don’t like it when an outsider tries to become one of them like that. I may be misremembering or misinterpreting, it wasn’t totally clear to me either. But I thought it was common sense to not try to imitate dialect or local mannerisms unless it starts coming naturally to you from long exposure. Otherwise it’s very obviously fake and more likely to come off as insulting rather than flattering.

I think everyone but the two women were locals? And the second woman (the one I’m convinced is a ghost) also looked like she was visiting family or otherwise had some local connection. Which only leaves the fortune teller - who may have visited before, and already have connections too? We’ll find out soon, I’m sure.

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starting kind of late because life happened but i just read up to 第一章 p.1 and i was right when i suspected that this would be kind of above my level. but thats what dictionaries are for amiright. everyone’s posts have been really helpful for clearing up my uncertainties though so i’m very glad that i’m not reading this alone. my impressions so far match what’s been said so far so i won’t bother to repeat it but i’m definitely intrigued!

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Feel free to ask questions if and when you have them, that’s what book clubs are for! :slight_smile:
The beginning was a little confusing, and the dialect doesn’t help, but I’m sure it will be increasingly smoother the more we read.

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I’m reading a little ahead (not that there’s a schedule as such :sweat_smile:) since I’ll be travelling next week and it’s unclear how much reading time I’ll have.

第二章, part 四

This was one very Agatha Christie-esque scene, I thought. A bunch of characters introducing themselves all at the same time in a common room, with traces of their backstories casually coming to light already, and an appropriate ending with the obligatory forewarning of certain doom approaching.

Things I noticed:

  • So the brown-haired lady who was late to the boat does actually interact with other people. (speculation:) Too bad. But they’re on the island now, so maybe her manifestation powers are stronger? (I insist she’s a ghost. Prove me wrong.)

  • This is I think the third time Jun mentions his アホ of a father. This starts to look more significant than a simple backstory. And Jun apparently never had a girlfriend that his friends know of, and gets rather touchy when it’s mentioned. Hmmm. (speculation:) Of course he’s a ghost too. Or the resident evil spirit’s son or something.

  • Why on earth does this stupid village have a staircase to a mountain you’re not supposed to enter? It’s not the most popular place with tourists, but we’ve seen the occasional traveller get there, so why not put up signs or block the road if they’re worried so much about people angering Hikita?

  • Of course I got none of the jokey cultural references in the Haruo-policeman exchange, but after looking them up, I assume the policeman must look exactly like Akiji Kobayashi [1]

  • Oh yes, and of course they all ended up in the same inn, like @pocketcat suggested. :joy:



  1. ↩︎

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I read to the end of chapter 2, and I must say, it’s so hard to not continue reading! :flushed:

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I couldn’t stop reading either. The end of 第二章, part 三 with the storm coming and the rain starting outside really drew me in.

Chapter 2 END

:person_facepalming: :rofl:

I haven’t read much Christie (only ATTWN) but I had the same thought. It may not be particularly original but I’ll never get tired of some variation of “a dark and stormy night”. I’m also glad we finally got to meet the other visitors. Although I have to say at least one of them didn’t leave a strong impression on me (maybe that was intentional? :thinking:).

Haruo started acting very suspicious towards the end there. He’s the one who mentioned the island and suggested the trip in the first place, right? Makes me wonder what he was planning. But no sooner did I start getting suspicious than things…escalated.

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Chapter 2 END reply

Haruo is indeed the one who suggested the trip in the first place, and the one who organized everything. However, he always looked carefree and good-humoured. It was only while he was listening to the Hikata story while holding a Kuromushi that he became strangely absentminded. It almost looked like the Kuromushi was telling him things.

Although there’s another slightly suspicious thing he did: When he called the ryokan to see what was up with their reservation, he asked the other two to go out because he was likely to shout. Not sure if that was just a device for them to meet the two locals, or if he in fact had something to hide.

By the way, I thought the Hikata story affected Jun strangely too, although he has good defenses and shook it off immediately. The image of the deformed Hikata that sprang to his mind seemed a little too detailed compared to the inn-keeper’s description. Maybe he just has a vivid imagination though.

So I suppose people will start dying one by one now. I expect Jun to survive (or at least survive the longest) since it’s his point of view we’re following. And it would be strange to save Sousaku from suicide just to have him be killed off before even the middle of the book. We’ll see!

How many non-locals do we have? The three friends, the mother-son duo, the fortune-teller, the lone girl traveller, and maybe the inn-keeper from Tokyo, that makes 8. According to the prophecy, only two of them will be spared. :eyes:

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I finished chapter 2, only a smidge early as I’m likewise traveling soon

Meanwhile, I was like, “aha, he’s gay.”

If people were sensible in novels we’d never have plot development.

I kind of figured he’d be first to die when he became so fixated on the table decoration and then wasn’t chatty in the room after. I wonder if the ghost is possessing them?

Yeah, I’m thinking it will be Jun and Sousaku.

Unrelated: The mother/son duo I thought was like…a cougar on a naughty trip with her pool boy before he told them she was sharing baby pics of him :no_mouth: That relationship is super strange and I hope we get some more development before they’re both killed off.

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end of chapter 2 answers

If this wasn’t a horror book I’d definitely find this more likely, but being gay (and hiding it) doesn’t seem to fit with the overall story - will we have time to deal with both the curse and people dying left and right, and Jun possibly coming out? I guess anything is possible though, and at least with this couple:

the author does seem to heavily hint at something sexual, so who knows where this is all going. These two make me very uncomfortable.

Fair, but people could still go up a mountain without a paved path. No reason to make it so easy for them!

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I finished the other book I was reading and just downloaded this now! I have over a week off starting Friday so hopefully I can catch up in that time (although it’s because I’m moving and then starting a new job so who knows haha). I’ll try to post my thoughts as I go, I peaked at the beginning and I think I’ll start off confused.

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Seems I completely missed the start somehow! Whoops. I’ve got some serious catching up to do.

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I just read 第三章 part 一 and I’m not sure I quite understood what it was about 宗作’s reaction that shocked 淳 and the policeman. Did he talk as if he could still communicate with 春夫, or did I get it completely wrong? In any case, it was strange that his first thought was to cancel breakfast, but the mind works in strange ways when in shock.

Stranger still is that the local policeman was quick to dismiss it as an accident, and then ensure than no one touches the body after him. I was relieved when he said he’d contact the mainland police (as long as he actually does it), I was afraid he might say they needed to cremate him on the spot or something.

On the age of the islanders: The policeman said that he is the youngest on the island at 57 years old. I won’t dwell on the ridiculousness that it’s supposedly impossible for anyone older than that to be up late at night, or that he didn’t take into account any of the visitors or even the innkeeper. At this point I’m more concerned about the boy from the prologue. If I remember correctly the prologue happened about 20 years ago (correct me if I’m wrong), so depending on the boy’s age he would now be in his 30s or so? Possibly same age as the three friends :thinking:? He’s not on the island if there’s no one younger than 57, so did he die, or leave? (or was he never even there in the first place, as it was speculated in the beginning?)

第三章 part 二
Okay, so the prologue was actually 22 years ago, and the granddaughter was 8 years old at the time since she’s 30 now. So the boy must have been around that age too, possibly a little younger as he seemed to look up to her?

Lying and hidden relations aside, who on earth travels to an island with a bag full of candy? Interesting how the two people who seem to have a strong guardian spirit or whatever according to the fortune-teller are the ones who seem to swear by science and rational thinking. Especially with one of them having been exposed to the (fake?) supernatural from an early age.

And of course the policeman lied. It was all way too suspicious anyway, but I’m kicking myself for not noticing the whole “the recently drowned don’t float”. Oh well. I don’t think the policeman is suspicious though, just terrified of the curse and what might happen if these pesky travellers start digging around too much. The islanders very obviously want to be left alone as much as possible. Nothing good comes from the mainland, apparently.

第三章 part 三

So it looks like Sousaku killed the policeman, or maybe escaped (barefoot!) from whoever/whatever killed the policeman. If we accept the premise that people can get somehow “possessed”, then Sousaku is likely to have killed Haruo too. He was already up and dressed when he woke up Jun to look for him, so he might have been out and back already? He wasn’t wet though, I don’t think.

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Sorry for jumping back a bit but it’s taken a bit of time to warm up to the Kansaiben and the writing style, so catchup has been a bit slow.

On page 42 they reference トイレの花子(はなこ)さん, which reminded me of the manga that we read a while back in the BBC (地縛少年花子くん). I didn’t realize at the time that the manga had its roots in Japanese urban legend, and the premise seems to make a lot more sense to me now. I’m wondering what other cultural references and reframing of popular myths I may have missed, and now I’m curious to revisit it. It might have much more depth to it than I initially thought.

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Ha, I had a similar experience where it was the plot of a crime show episode and I was like “huh, weird topic”… And then it was the plot of a different show’s episode. :sweat_smile:

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Finished 第三章!

第三章, part 四: I was supposed to not understand what on earth 古畑 was up to up there at the graveyard, chanting/wailing while dragging unconscious 宗作 along, right? Or is it just me?

第三章, part 五: I’m starting to really like this granddaughter person. Which probably means she’ll end up being the villain, or dead. :eyes:

第三章, part 六: Was that humour or some kind of foreshadowing, that she fell down even before leaving the inn? Also, interesting theory Mr Innkeeper, and it does sound plausible (and also thanks for the literature recommendations - 三津田、京極、 横溝), but why on earth did you decide to actually move and start and business on a non-touristic island with dark customs? I think there’s a lot more to learn about you. In any case, I too love the theme of a tight-knit village with secrets and dark practices. :popcorn:

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It’s August! :sunny:

Which means we’re exactly halfway through the time allocated to this book. Some of us started in July, some said they preferred to start in August, and some are following the unofficial schedule, which should have brought us to a little past the 50% mark. So, I guess it’s a good time for a quick check in!

Are you reading 予言の島, and if so, at what stage are you?

  • I just started reading / will start reading shortly
  • I’m currently reading / just finished chapter 1.
  • I’m currently reading / just finished chapter 2.
  • I’m currently reading / just finished chapter 3.
  • I’m currently reading / just finished chapter 4.
  • I’m currently reading / just finished chapter 5.
  • I finished the book.
  • I dropped the book.
  • I will read the book later.
  • I won’t read this book.
0 voters
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Ha, 4 responses so far and 4 different chapters. I forgot the schedule was “unofficial” so I guess I feel a bit less disappointed about being so far behind.

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Yes, don’t worry about the schedule. Some people said that they preferred some structure to help them keep up, which is why I prepared an unofficial schedule, but everyone is free to read at whatever pace they like. And I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to post their comments and questions, however “behind” or “ahead” they feel they are. :smiley:

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