Reminder that we’re following the new schedule as voted on in the home thread
Week
Start Date
Chapter
Percentage
文庫ページ
Week 11
Apr 11
stop when you see chapter 12
69%
413
Week 12
Apr 18
stop when you see chapter 13
75%
446
Week 13
Apr 25
stop when you see chapter 14
80%
479
Week 14
May 2
stop at line break ending 再び汽笛が鳴った
86%
512
Week 15
May 9
stop at the end of the book, not including 解説
98%
584
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And this week we have more philosophical musings, but also more development for the relationship between Rika and Reiko. While I don’t think this book will go to same-sex relationships (even though it seems so obvious to me), I think we can pretty much confirm that Rika doesn’t really feel anything for her boyfriend.
Meh, that was a long week of reading for basically nothing.
In the beginning there was at least a little suspense who was ringing the bell.
But then we get back to rika and kajii and it just drags on. I suppose getting a little more background on her father’s death was worthwhile but all that other fluff just felt like rika slipping back under the thumb of kajii. Lots of pointless dialog and grand “are they really alive” nonsense.
The gratin making at ryousukes House with lying to him so he doesn’t go to the police also felt real strange to me.
And then she just takes kitamura on an overnight train ride to where Reiko MAYBE is, all while ignoring her boyfriend for which she has no time..
The only halfway sane person is still shinoi, telling her to stop the “investigation” as a friend.
I honestly mainly keep reading because it has a nice difficulty level for me. Can learn a decent amount while reading. If I wouldn’t have other stuff to read as well each week, I don’t think I’d manage to finish this book.
Thought I was almost caught up again but realized I am two weeks behind whoops, anyways here is a very unimportant thought:
I took cooking classes here and learned how to make gratin the same way and Rika, frying the onion in butter, coating it in flour, and then slowly adding in milk (with the heat off) to make the roux. It’s easier to make than I expected!Rika tries to make ベシャメルソース for the first time and that sounds way harder to mess up and get clumpy. Also, looking it up online you’re supposed to break up the clumps with your spatula.She was worried if she had always been bad at making gratin, but I think it’s just that this sauce is easier to mess up than how she used to make it.
Béchamel sauce is the same thing but without the onions. You melt some butter, cook some flour in it then SLOWLY add milk. I was really surprised that she said to add it all in one go. I checked a bunch of recipes and they all say to add the milk gradually. No wonder she got clumps… But I was also skeptical at the description of the clumps feeling like hard grains of sand. I don’t think it would do that, and I don’t think it would make the gratin super まずい, but maybe I’m not terrible enough at béchamel… I have ruined dishes before with actual sand though (by not washing my leeks thoroughly enough) and I have to say that is actually close to inedible.
That makes sense that you’re still not supposed to pour the milk in all at once. I do still think it makes a difference with having the onions, since you are coating them with flour and think mixing them in with the milk rather than just having making a butter/flour mixture across the whole pan. When I looked up videos, they made it into almost like a dough before adding the milk, and that’s when they crushed clumps, which seems tricky.
Glad I’m not the only one I’m sooo careful washing leeks now.
I’m slowly catching up to the club again. This week’s reading took me ages because I agree, aside from ‘who is at the door’ and ‘huh so that’s the story of her dad’s death’ and it felt like a whole lot of nothing again. I also am like ??? at them feeling their relationships with their spouses is so empty? All three women talked about ‘oh I cook for him but it feels like nothing.’ Do you…do anything else with your partner? Like it feels like these relationships are all built around ‘I perform this role and you perform that’ and when the roles aren’t fulfilled they get distressed. Like where is the in jokes and silliness and mutual support that is supposed to be the backbone of relationships? I don’t know, I get that the book is trying to make a point but it’s trying to do it with strawmen and that makes it so boring for me.
I’m sooo careful washing leeks now.