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.
Proper Nouns
Name
Hiragana reading
Notes
Kindle location first mentioned
小川 洋子
おがわようこ
the author
cover
二階堂
にかいどう
doctor (psychiatrist for 姉)
22
Discussion questions
What was your favorite new vocab word from this week’s reading?
Did you spot any interesting kanji this week?
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?
Participation
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So they have almost arrived, and 従姉妹 finally manages to mention the very small distinguishing feature of 先生, and unsurprisingly いとこ is initially speechless
微かな沈黙の時間が流れ
I thought he was remarkably calm about this not having been mentioned, though when he is kicking stones around, I wondered if he was somewhat disturbed by this news
She claims that 先生 is so 上手 with everything that すぐに気にならなくなるわ
But I’m not sure that I am convinced by this (especially given her hyponotised response to watching 先生 prepare tea in the next section)
there is another one of Yoko Ogawa’s lists in this section (one of these is not like the others…), when いとこ describes his nervousness at new developments, like when his father died, a girl he liked moved to another school and… when he sees a baby bird eaten by a stray cat
This was quite a shocking revelation but really spices up the story. 先生 was already a bit mysterious but this is a big reveal. It initially seemed unclear from the Japanese whether he was missing both hands, or both arms (and similarly one foot or one leg), but from what he is described as being able to do presumably it is just the hands that are missing, I guess we will get a clearer picture as the story progresses.
This sentence struck me also. Beautifully phrased, especially when the narrator picks up on the common theme of loss in all of these events. I enjoyed the maternal-like concern of his aunt as she reflected on what cousins has had to experience so far at such a young age.
Other things I picked out in this section:
ゴージャス- not come across this katakana word before - I like it!
霞む - this is a nice word and a interesting kanji. My dictionary tells me that the bottom part of the kanji can be a kanji itself meaning “false”. False rain - mist!
How did people find the first meeting with 先生？ And the unique tea ceremony?
I was glad that the narrator found the clause in the dormitory contract a bit weird, because I was furrowing my brow trying to understand it: ”I promise to lead a blissful life in the dormitory…”
There’s a typical cryptic, poetic Ogawa moment at the end of this section
Wow, what an interesting passage. I had obviously underestimated both sensei’s degree of physical disability, and his incredible ability to compensate and continue to live an independent life. It was a brilliant description that took us from wondering how on earth he was going to make tea, to then making it happen. Cousin’s reaction was great, drinking his tea with two hands like he was in prayer.
There was a sound at the end of this section. A lot more to be explained yet about the sound from the start of the story. But enjoyed this little teaser.
This is a very short section of the story. But it is full of foreboding.
As 従姉妹 watches いとこ cheerfully heading off on his adventure, she watches him disappear into the distance, the moment? (一点) disappearing like a snowflake melting.
二番目の訪れ
Some extra-ordinary pieces of description in this passage.
I found it quite hard to read the first time, but much more engaging and interesting on a second read.
What did others make of the long passage alternating 先生’s lascivious enjoyment of the shortcake with his description of いとこ’s superlative physique?
先生 was quite open about how his own extreme disability led him to an obsessive focus on the bodies of the young men (?and women) residing in the dormitory. I can only assume that Ogawa’s description here is deliberately (though elliptically) sexual, albeit it didn’t seem that the narrator had picked up on that element at all.
It all adds to the air of latent threat, though I’m not sure that I found 先生 threatening (just a bit creepy).
I don’t think I picked up that sense of foreboding here, perhaps I missed it. I had more of a sense of our narrator having been quite lonely, and had enjoyed the company of this young man. The sections planning what he would need and going out shopping sounded like lots of fun. Now he disappears into the distance her life is going to be rather empty again.
足袋
I also loved this word. I’ve known it for years without thinking about it in kanji - but the kanji just make sense!
Ahhh, well spotted. It was skeeving me out subconsciously, but your usage of the words ‘lascivious enjoyment’ really drove it home for me lol. To be honest, I found the detailed description of the main character’s delight in her cousin’s smile etc. last week a bit unsettling as well. But maybe part of that is because I read so slowly in Japanese everything takes on an ominous air
I thought so too… As if they’d never be able to meet again.
I fully agree. I thought this was so creepy… him eating the cake and talking about beautiful bodies was so metaphorical. And what about the stain on the wall? Maybe he kills the inhabitants in a room above his own, and their blood slowly seeps into his room…?!? shudder
This was also my impression, too. I feel like the narrator related to her cousin as a younger brother somehow, and appreciated having his company and being able to focus on something/someone else.
I hadn’t thought about that before, but now that we had this section where the narrator couldn’t meet the cousin when she came to visit…
Anyway, reading the section: “背骨や肩甲骨という言葉がこぼれてくるのを、わたしは不思議な気持ちで聞いた”, all I could think is that reading this week also gave me a 不思議な気持ち. There’s something unquieting about this story, perhaps the fact that we have no idea what to expect? The descriptions of sensei while we are presented with the physical description of what is going on and the way he eats? With the first story, even if we didn’t know what to expect, I felt that there was a sense of familiarity with knowing that each section was a different day, and that the story was ultimately tied around the fact that we expected the sister to eventually give birth to a baby. Here, I cannot imagine where the story will lead us to, which causes this uncomfortable feeling. It is definitely an interesting read.
I was happy to see the word 踊り場 pop up in the reading!
「あとは踊り場の電球が切れましたとか」
I was taught this word a couple of months ago, it means the landing for stairs.
I like the etymology, supposedly it comes from how women’s dresses looked like they were dancing when they turned around the corner of the landing.
Thoughts on this Part
My thoughts are in line with most other people. At first with how the narrator was describing the cousin, and knowing the author would probably pull something again, I was getting a bit worried but I think it was a false alarm and she just enjoys taking care of someone.
I am, however, very concerned about this 先生. Hearing how he described the cousin, and how he opening admits to paying attention to young bodies in particular, I have a bad feeling about why he’s so eager to house college students for so cheap.
I don’t want to put out any specific guesses yet to what else has changed in the dorms, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he requires some kind of boundary crossing to occur in exchange for (male?) students being able to stay there cheap. Assuming something with him will tie into that mystery sound.
You mean that maybe the sound was her reaction to maybe having been abused herself? Like some people suppress bad things they had experienced to the extent that they forget them, and that the sound was what stayed with her in return?
Now that would be a hell of a horror story…
I really didn’t like the possibility of 先生 being a creep–that seems like such a lame 19th century thing to do, to write a character with a major physical difference and then make them a monster–but this passage did get a bit creepy as 先生 went on and on about young bodies. And with the ominous silence, and the stain… I guess I’m holding out hope that Ogawa is trying to hint at 先生 being a villain, but won’t go there in the end?
