嫌いなら呼ぶなよ - Informal Reading Group 😷

Japanese Language Book Clubs
21

I finished 眼帯のミニーマウス！The sections I wrote as I read them, although there isn’t much.

Also I forgot to answer the question of nicknames, but ムーニー・トラップ I’m pretty sure is a mean way of saying she’s after babies. ムーニー is a brand of diaper in Japan. I’m not sure about タッキー unless maybe it’s the English word ‘tacky’? I feel like I’ve heard that nickname before though, so it may just be a normal one. I vaguely remember there being other nicknames but I’ve forgotten them. :sweat_smile:

section 6:
no notes here really, might have been going to fast since the end of the story was nearing haha

section 7:

ミニモーゼになった気分。 is a fantastic way of describing her getting of the train.

But that scene where she asks him on a date is uh…what? That did not develop naturally at all.

section 8:

I somehow feel like she’s about to be trapped in her lie.

section 9 (end):

I feel kind of let down by the end of this story. I wanted it to get madder but it kind of just wound down into a calm and mild drift. Also what about Yummy?!

The next story is just an hour long in the audiobook, but my Saturdays can get busy so we’ll see if I actually have an hour to spare to read. If so I might knock out 神田夕. I’m not itching to jump into the next story, but I am reading this faster than the other side books I’ve picked up so it’s holding my attention at least!

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22

I started 神田夕 but as expected I don’t have much time at all today. I’m wiped out and want to go to bed despite it being a bit early yet. I stopped 13 min into the audiobook, so a few pages into section 2. Nothing I’m commenting on is wildly spoiler-y for that section.

Section one:

New pun alert! Another one only explained by the JP<>JP dictionary.

From this sentence piece, 「昼間はＢａｒスペースは閑古鳥で」

カッコウの異名。店や街などで商売がはやらず、客足がなく、すっかり寂れた様子を「閑古鳥が鳴く」という。語源としては、カッコウの鳴き声がある種の侘しさを感じさせるからという説が有力。

section 2:

so I’m getting the vibe that this is about parasocial relationships, but she’s not exactly going in the direction I expected! She enjoys having a feeling of power over newer creators on the platform which is something I’d never considered, honestly. I watch a few smaller channels just cause I like the people and it’s relaxing, but I’ve never been like “MY COMMENTS WILL MAKE OR BREAK YOU”.

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23

I haven’t managed to read even a page yesterday, and today seems to be no different so far :frowning:

Thanks for the ムーニー・トラップ explanation, it makes perfect sense. タッキー must come directly from her surname, 滝澤, but not sure if there’s a meaning attached. Yummy also seems to have a vague relation to the surname, 上山. One I don’t get even though it seems I should is くっくるー. I’m sure there’s more, but I also can’t remember them now.

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24

That seems to be a bird from Dragon Quest but I have no idea if it’s relevant or not :joy:

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25

After three days of no reading at all ( :pleading_face:) I finally finished the first story.

I had no idea where it would lead, but it turned out to be more introspective than I expected. This is ultimately about the narrator navigating life while dealing with a host of unresolved issues, not about petty office intrigue or dating your supervisor. I almost felt happy for her when she indulged in sweets she had only allowed herself to enjoy visually, but then the fat removal surgery sort of negated that. And then I felt happy for her when she said she would quit, but she still yearns for the anonymity/center of attention combination she had enjoyed while wrapped up in bandages. I guess her journey continues. I always suspected that dressing up and showing off was also a form of hiding, and I found it interesting that it was made so clear in this story. I also very much identified with feeling good while giving advice to others, as if your own problems suddenly don’t exist. Her friend, a total opposite in almost everything, has as much trouble navigating life as she has. Taking everything too seriously and worrying about always doing her best and her best never being good enough is not easy at all. They both need a huge hug, and I’m glad they have each other at least.

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26

Story 2, sections 10 and 11.

Another character who seems to like hiding. It seems she intentionally cultivates an unthreatening persona to show others, and leaves workplaces as soon as human relations become too much work, cutting ties with friends and foes alike. It sounds intriguing, like she might be harbouring a dark secret, but it seems she just likes to be left alone.

A new term for me, thanks! Indeed, I was expecting another tale of obsession with a minor celebrity, and while it’s certainly obsession, it’s different to what I was expecting. She seems to enjoy the feeling of power over small youtubers (and Kanda in particular), and somehow thinks she can dictate his actions and business plan. She’s an interesting one indeed. A little scary, in a low-key way.

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27

Finished the second story yesterday.

I have questions. When she took the match and followed him to the toilet, what exactly was she planning to do? She can’t have expected him to leave his bag unattended. And why on earth did she return the match to its box afterwards? Also, would the police really be so actively looking for the culprit of such a small incident, or was most of it her imagination?

Anyway, this again turned out milder than expected. I had faith in her to cause major havoc, but in the end she only destroyed her own mental health a bit more, by feeling constantly persecuted by this one crazy but minor act. She was living in her head a little too much. What was she even angry about? That he didn’t read comments and was therefore unaware of her existence? (Lucky boy by the way, he knew how to keep himself happy). Akashi from 推し、燃ゆ had a much healthier relationship with her oshi. :joy:

In my eyes, her worst sin was not even that she burned the bag, but that she used a fake suffering dog excuse. Inexcusable.

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28

Section 13 (1st section of third story)

Intriguing start. A barbecue party with three families as soon as the corona restrictions lifted. Nice food and chat, but something is off.

Sections 14 & 15

Okay, what? :joy: Who does that? Who invites someone to a three-family barbecue only for them to stand trial for their infidelities? And who is so calm when suddenly faced with such a surprise attack on something so personal?

I found it weird at first, but increasingly natural and believable, how he gets lost in his own thoughts instead of focusing on the absurd interrogation that’s going on and its effects. I honestly have no idea what his wife and her friend thought they would achieve. I would normally hope for a spectacular fallout, but judging from the previous stories everyone will probably just continue their lives as before, no major harm done. Let’s see.

Sections 16 & 17 (end of story)

Today I learned the term アベノマスク. :joy:

What was that about meercats? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

As expected, everyone leaves the story totally unchanged. I mean, there is a possible divorce in the future, so maybe something will change in practical terms, but on the other hand, no character grows or changes at all. He’s still the same narcissistic fool who adores himself and allows himself every whim while avoiding all conflict in his life, even when it’s necessary, ハムハム is still is the self-righteous overbearing friend who constantly oversteps, Kaede is still the deluded wife who holds on to the hope that he just might change, while needing the questionable help of her friends to solve a marital problem. Out of all those people, I assume the narrator manages to be the happiest at least (after all, he has a million excuses for himself, as well as a million praises), and probably ハムハム too (she too seems convinced she’s never wrong).

And…last story.
The book finishes with a bang. :rofl: What an obnoxious person this author must be :joy: I loved that it’s herself, awesome sense of humour! And what an utterly obnoxious exchange of emails. I too would be exasperated in 内田’ｓ place, especially with everything else going on. All emails were exceptionally and hilariously rude, but that last one… Hard to come back from something like that. I wonder if we’ll see it featured in Wataya’s brand new Twitter account. :eyes:

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29

I saw you finished but I haven’t had any time to touch this since we left off. I’m leaving your posts unhearted til I can unblur them so I don’t forget which I’ve read and which I haven’t!

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30

I finished the 神田夕 story and

I was kind of disappointed in it. It didn’t feel like it went anywhere and the bag burning felt so random. Major NOTICE ME SEMPAI INFLUENCER vibes but not much else. Even his bad notice was good, I guess.

Mostly I was amused by the spider thread story - I’ve read it! I don’t actually like 芥川’s writing style, but that one was fine. It’s available on Aozora and there’s youtube read alouds of it - quite famous and as I think they referenced, a common story to teach in school.

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31

That part confused me too. I have no idea what they were getting at.

So I finished the title story, 嫌いなら呼ぶなよ, and my feeling was largely the same as @omk3 - no one really changed and the two people who seem most likely to come out of this happy are the enemies (narrator and ハムハム). This one felt a bit long winded to me, I was pretty bored until the Infidelity Intervention :tm: and then it also started to drag. Maybe I’d like it more as just audio down the line, not sure.

One more story!

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