I removed the cruft such as particles, いる・なる・する and some other stuff that’s closer to grammar than vocab. There are still a lot of words left, many of which are quite basic, but I didn’t want to be the arbiter of what is ‘common knowledge’ in terms of vocab…
The data in the ‘kanji’ column is based on what is the common way of writing the word in general, not necessarily the way it is written in this specific book. That is a limitation of my workflow which I now realise I should probably address
The ‘frequency’ column tells you how often that particular word occurs in the work. It could help you decide whether it’s worth making a flashcard for or not.
There are no page numbers, because the Kindle file I extracted the data from doesn’t have page numbers. Those will have to be added manually, and the big chunk on the first tab would need to be divided and moved to the respective weekly tabs.
If there are things that make this spreadsheet less useable than it could be, let me know and I’ll take it on board
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Will you be reading with us?
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Yes, but I might start late
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Original post
I nominated 嵐のピクニック for the IBC two years ago, but it has unfortunately failed to get enough votes to remain nominated. I noticed there were a few people who seemed keen to read it, though, so I figured we could do an unofficial book club for it!
For those who are unfamiliar with 嵐のピクニック, I have included the nomination below.
A housewife takes up bodybuilding and sees radical changes to her physique–which her workaholic husband fails to notice. A boy waits at a bus stop, mocking businessmen struggling to keep their umbrellas open in a typhoon–until an old man shows him that they hold the secret to flying. A woman working in a clothing boutique waits endlessly on a customer who won’t come out of the fitting room–and who may or may not be human. A newlywed notices that her husband’s features are beginning to slide around his face–to match her own.
In these eleven* stories, the individuals who lift the curtains of their orderly homes and workplaces are confronted with the bizarre, the grotesque, the fantastic, the alien–and, through it, find a way to liberation. The English-language debut of one of Japan’s most fearlessly inventive young writers.
* The English translation contains 11 stories; the Japanese version contains 13.
When I read reviews of this book, I got the sense that this is a book that could yield a lot of (literary) discussion, because there is an overarching theme: people losing themselves within relationships and their struggle to reclaim their identity. It could be fun to compare the stories and see how this theme is fleshed out in different ways. The fact that it’s a short story collection means that it should be easy to skip one (or more) stories if you’re behind.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
Akutagawa Prize-winning author
Stories that are surreal and absurd.
English translation available, containing some of these stories
13 stories, so easy scheduling
Cons
Absurd stories can sometimes be more challenging in a foreign language.
This is on my wishlist! I’m not fast enough to join right away because I’ll probably join the next IBC and I’m not a strong enough reader to do both. So count my votes as a delayed participation. Sorry if that’s confusing.
Yay! I am here for some wild, weird short stories! You list the weirdness as a con, but the challenge of it as a learner is part of why I’m interested in the first place
I’m definitely interested. I have 0 available reading time right now, which means if you followed a set schedule starting soonish I’d just have to join later and read at my own pace, but that’s totally fine by me.
I think it’s most fun if we can read more or less at the same time, cause it might be harder to discuss the stories if some of us have read them ages ago by that point. So let’s see what timeframe works for most people?
Now, seriously: Please feel free to proceed whenever! My work schedule and book club schedule is quite packed currently so I’ll slot it in if possible, and if not, then I’ll read it another time.
Have fun!
The fact that there are independent short stories convinced me to vote yes and to buy the book. I’m not sure about how many stories I’ll read with you, but at least I’ll try …
This is wild, this book got 4 votes in the IBC poll but is now just a handful of votes away from the number needed to tie that poll’s winners!
My “some time in 2025” vote is for end January or February, but if you started earlier I could just join in the story you’re on at that point.
I’ve set this to watching and am looking forward to it! I’m also interested in the short story nature and agree or will be a fun one to discuss and read as a group
I think there may be more people like me who didn’t vote at all in the IBC poll (in my case because I knew I wouldn’t have time to participate) but voted here (because it’s likely to be more informal).
I didn’t vote for a date in the poll, because I really have no clear idea what works best for me yet. I’ll try and make it work with whatever you all decide, and if not, I’ll just read later.
And probably turn it into a Late-Late Readers Book Club
I think this is the difference between “one option among many” and “a concrete decision to be made” Also, in my case I found it very interesting to look at the abstract again because I had memorized something very different (and much less interesting to me) so that’s why I’m here
notwithstanding the fact that I have no time at all right now, not even the time to type this message
Sooooo I had kind of hoped there would be a massively obvious way forward from the poll, but not so much.
So here’s my proposal… how about we start mid December? Granted, ‘some time in 2025’ has a slight edge in the poll, but I imagine that we’d still have trouble agreeing on a specific month in 2025 and there is a fair bit of overlap between the people who voted for 2025 and those who voted for mid December. Besides, we’d be spending 13 weeks to read 13 stories, so those who wanted to start in early 2025 would be able to join in for some of the stories (and read the other ones a bit behind the rest of the group).
Can we all live with this? Speak now or forever hold your peace
I added a schedule to the OP. Some weeks are quite a bit longer than others, but I think it makes most sense to stick with a ‘one story a week’ format, because it also makes discussion a bit easier.
As for discussion, I figured we could have all discussion in this one thread. It’ll be very easy to hide discussion in a
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tag with the title of the story, so there’s no real need to make another 13 threads, I think.
I forgot I was following this thread… just checked the schedule, the stories seem relatively short, which makes me think I can probably fit it in with my other book clubs. So I’ll try to read along with you guys
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Likewise would probably come back whenever I get around to it
so I’ll slot it in if possible, and if not, then I’ll read it another time.
Also, in my case I found it very interesting to look at the abstract again because I had memorized something very different (and much less interesting to me) so that’s why I’m here 