Everybody should feel free to post and ask questions–it’s what makes book clubs fun! But please do not post until you are familiar with Spoiler Courtesy!
Spoiler Courtesy
Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.
Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.
Instructions for Spoiler Tags
Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).
Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:
Example
This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.
The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.
This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.
Posting Advice
When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.
Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!
Trigger Warnings
Summary of trigger warnings
Discussion of topics including:
Bullying
Suicide
Abortion
Proper Nouns
Will be added to throughout the book.
Name
Reading
Notes
波多野祥吾
はたの しょうご
Narrator of Part 1 - one of the 6 candidates
嶌衣織
しま いおり
One of the 6 candidates
九賀蒼太
くが そうた
One of the 6 candidates
袴田亮
はかまだ りょう
One of the 6 candidates
矢代つばさ
やしろ つばさ
One of the 6 candidates
森久保公彦
もりくぼ きみひこ
One of the 6 candidates
鴻上達章
こうがみ たつあき
Hiring Manager
Participation
Will you be reading along with us this week?
I’m reading along
I have finished this part
I’m still reading the book but I haven’t reached this part yet
I’m reading this book after the club has finished
I’m no longer reading the book
0voters
If you’ve already read this book but are still going to join the discussion, please select “I have finished this part.”
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I guess I’ll start the group discussion.
I started about two weeks ago, since I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be, and so I’ve already finished the 1st chapter. I don’t regret buying it!
There was one part which I was confused about, page 12 in the Amazon ebook:
Later, when I saw how he writes his name, it became obvious how fancy it is. But could this really be guessed just from the pronunciation? Or is it because it’s so short that it has to be really elegant? Or was there some other meaning behind this?
I’m probably going to need several decades to get through this chapter. It’s by far the most text-dense thing I’ve ever read in Japanese, and some sentences are so long and require so many lookups for me that I’ve forgotten the things I’ve looked up by the time I finally reach the end of the sentence.
But I’m just past the scene you asked about, and I really, really want to know what the deal with his name is, too
It turns out that 久我, which is also pronounced くが, is the name of a very old noble family from the Heian era, related to the Fujiwara clan, which was very rich and powerful
….
Lost in translation, I guess…
Though now that I think of it, writing your name クガ and letting people think it’s written 久我 could be the first white 嘘 from the title…
Yes, that would make sense. They are related to the Minamoto clan, so I guess there should be people who get this reference without having to look it up.
Just finished this week’s reading. Was that only 46 pages? Felt like a hundred :o quite dense indeed.
Chapter 1 story comments
Well, a lot has happened! I thought the initial setup was quite slow, with presenting the result of the interview and introducing the 6 persons one by one, but actually the pace of the story is quite fast.
They’ve had time to get to know each other, to meet regularly and work on different ideas, to even fall in love for some of them. Sometimes I was a bit surprised at how random the conversations were, like going on a tangent about the singer who got arrested for drug use and stuff (but who knows, that might be relevant later).
Now the funny thing is that I was just reading the section where they go out to drink and really bond, when my children started fighting. Not a big fight, they are quite young and were probably tired after a day at daycare, but I went to help and everyone ended up crying before I managed to come back to the book. Right on time to read the moment where they get the text announcing that instead of them working as a team, there will be only one person picked for the job. Was funny how the mood in my house and in the story shifted so dramatically at the same time lol.
Also got a bit surprised by the interview format and the suddenly speaking tone of 鴻上 but didn’t mind. Very mysterious with the way he talks about “the incident”. I’m hooked by the story now, can’t wait to find out more!
Finally finished as well! It took quite a while and definitely felt like more than 46 pages. But since I read digital and have no page count, I didn’t know how much I had left in the chapter, so that didn’t help either.
My impressions
Summary
I liked how they bonded and all, but when it came to the drinking party and forcing people to drink, my impression of them dropped by a lot. I personally hate people who force other people to get drunk and it reminded me of times when people tried to do this to me, so I can imagine how miserable the poor girl must’ve felt.
I know drinking is a big thing in japanese work settings, but that doesn’t make it any better.
On the topic of drinking though, I think that one of the women is probably a hostess. The way they mentioned how used she seems to drinking a lot, pouring alcohol and having an eye for how much alcohol is left seems to point to it strongly. So I’m looking forward to seeing if I’m right and what meaning that will have for the story.
I’m finished as well. It didn’t actually feel like it took that long because it was enjoyable to get through, but looking back it was actually quite a long time I spent reading for the amount that it was. Both glad that next week is quite short time wise, but also a bit not glad because I’m now really into this book and want to binge it! Will try to restrain myself.
Thoughts on ch.1
Overall I’m really liking the book so far. The second half of this chapter was really gripping, and the difficulty isn’t quite as high as I was expecting. It’s certainly really dense though.
The relationship developing between the narrator and 嶌 was unexpected, but I like how it further sets up the stakes. Also the flash-forward with the conversation with 鴻上 was a really good way to lead into the end of the chapter.
I’ve kind of half-spoiled the book for myself, in that I know in advance broadly what happens, but I don’t actually know who does what. So it’s going to be interesting to see how it all progresses!
I felt the same, basically the first 10 or 15 pages felt like it was going slowly, but then it just kicked up a gear and felt like a lot has happened constantly since then.
I agree about the feelings towards the fact that it happened. My idea towards the book is that it’s kind of a extremified version of the Japanese job-hunting process and corporate culture, given the pretty horrible incidents which I think happen, so it’s maybe almost a satirisation. And so in that context it maybe shows the bad parts as well on purpose. Not sure if I’m right about the general tone of the book, that’s just how it’s felt to me so far.
I’m not 100% sure but I think you may be on to something there. Having read that section again after you said that it seemed like something like that could be the case.
Same feelings! Enjoying the story and the difficulty is not as high as the other things I’m reading right now so I really enjoy it.
Oh? I felt like I could see it coming. Now wondering if that would make her the ideal victim (because that would be super sad) or the ideal culprit (because that would be very surprising I feel like)
I guess unexpected in the context of what I knew about the book beforehand would be the better way to put it. And also I just didn’t really see it coming until it basically happened.
My gut feeling is that she wouldn’t be the culprit (of the main thing), but given her closeness to the current narrator I could see something like her being the one who ends up with the job or something like that.
Does seem like that family is こが rather than くが. I wonder if there’s still a strong association between the two given for some place names etc 久我 can be read くが and that’s what the IME defaults to. Can’t find enough good information about it though, so I might have to ask one of my japanese coworkers or something.
I still regret reading the blurb of the book before buying, should have just went for it most of the chapter I was like „I know what the twist with the interview is going to be, I want to get past that part as quickly as possible“. But I’m glad that the setup was only one chapter, so not too bad.
And the mysterious interview at the end was also a very nice way of keeping me hooked. (I think the writing style in general is quite pleasant)
I also found it funny that the people in their group all had a completely distinct personality and things that they are good at. That made them easier to keep apart from one another for sure
I also really like the practicality of most of the vocab in this book, at least compared to many fantasy books I’ve read before where all the fantasy and old-timey vocab only helps with further fantasy book reading. But things like 株主総会 or 人事部 are words that we have covered at uni before and which might become useful if I ever end up working in Japan
Speaking of which, I’ve been trying to identify the characters based on the illustration from the cover, what do you guys think (pretty sure for the girls and for 森久保 as he is wearing glasses, less sure for the rest) :
If you look at the characters on the website of the movie adaptation, paying attention to the colors of the neckties, it turns out you were right about 袴田. I’m not sure about 波多野 and 九賀 though, they look very much alike.
I also finished it, and I like it very much so far! First couple of pages were slow, but then I just couldn’t stop. I empathised with the narrator, so it was fun.
I didn’t know much of the title beforehand other than there would be some mystery. But when the company tells them that they are going to hire only one of them… And make it a group discussion to decide who is the best? I mean, is this a thing? It sounds so cruel and provoking, so I would be shocked if it gone well, and I’m not talking about blood. And whoever will win the interview, is it even ok to work in a company that allows it? I know from the interview that they said “no more” afterwards. But still it doesn’t sound like the company strives for the healthy work environment. Even for Japanese companies with all the rumours and competitions it sounds too much.
Just finished too ! I didn’t have time to read at all during the week, but somehow the chapter got split between last Saturday and today right before the drinking party, so it felt quite natural. Still quite long, as I am reading other things in the side
While I liked both parts, obviously the second one piqued my interest and now, I’m really looking forward to the second week. I’m reading this completely spoiler-free, I haven’t even read the blurb, so enjoying it very much !
most of the chapter I was like „I know what the twist with the interview is going to be, I want to get past that part as quickly as possible“. But I’m glad that the setup was only one chapter, so not too bad.
波多野祥吾
嶌衣織
矢代つばさ
袴田亮
森久保公彦
九賀蒼太