Okay, got this week’s reading done! I’m a little behind, but that just motivates me all the more!
I told myself I need to start actually posting my questions here instead of just highlighting then ignoring them; I also like to think I’m helping other (future) readers with my ignorance. I don’t see many questions on the 夜市 threads after the early weeks; surely I’m not the only one reading without 100% comprehension? Anyway, here we go: (%s are from the Kindle version; they’re a little wonky for some reason)
- 44% (page one of 風の古道): どうしたわけか、私はどの公園で父とはぐれてしまった。
Is どうしたわけか some variation of “for some reason”?
- 44% (2nd page): 車一台分かもうすこしの幅がある、未舗装の田舎道だった。
What is 分かもうdoing here?
- 45% (page 3): [too much to comfortably type on my phone]、どの家も玄関を道側に向けていなかった。
I’ve seen this どの~も construction several times throughout the story; how does it work, exactly, and what does it mean? Also, is this sentence fragment commenting on how the fronts of the houses don’t face the road?
- 47% (first page of chap 2): 誰か暇を持て余しているクラスの友達でもいないだろうかと思ったのだ。
I’m having a bit of trouble parsing this sentence; 持て余している is modifying 友達 and not クラス, correct? So, “I didn’t expect any of my school friends with free time on their hands to be there.”? Unless that でもいない is doing something I’m not accounting for?
- 球技をやらせると手に負えないぐらい下手という点で、彼は私と共通していた。
Is this saying that both he and his friend are bad at sports?
- 私は彼に気がつかれないように自転車で背後にまわりこんで、ベルを鳴らした。
What function is 彼に fulfilling here?
- 48%: “アイス食ってるって見てわかんないの?”
Two questions here: what is the って before 見て doing? It’s not the quotative って, right? Second, is the sentence basically saying, “eat ice cream and look around, I dunno.”?
- カズキは気の抜けた声で答えて、私に手招きをした。
What does a “気の抜けた” voice sound like? Absent-minded?
- 50%: カズキが目をしばたたいた。
What the heck is しばたたいた?
- 十二歳で友達と一緒ならできぬはずもない。
I wanted to confirm that できぬはずもない is a net positive: “Surely I could do it, being both twelve and together with a friend.”
Thanks in advance! I don’t see a blur option on mobile for all the Qs; if needed I can go back and edit later when I have access to a computer. Hopefully I can finish up week 8 reading soon and be able to post a bunch of questions there as well.