This is definitely me. It’s not just embarrassment but an empathetic reaction to everything that happens to fictional characters. Which is the reason, I’m not a fan of consuming any media (but especially visual media) where there’s purposeful wrong doing. Sometimes to endure this, I purposefully will seek out spoilers to get an idea if it’s actually worth my time to finish.
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This is shocking to hear since you seem to read a lot of books. I’m guessing you don’t care for any anime then either? Not that you have to to study Japanese, but this is all very shocking to hear from you I guess. 
I do enjoy some anime because not all of it has purposeful wrong doing in it.
To put more context into what I said earlier, I can deal with the issues if there seems to be some kind of foreseeable resolution. For example, I couldn’t watch Meet the Parents because Ben Stiller’s character continued to lie in order to make a good impression with his in-laws. It made me really angry because I felt it wasn’t necessary. I’ve still to this day haven’t watched the rest of that movie.
If you remember during Autumn Prison, I mentioned that I didn’t feel like the protagonists were likable which made it difficult to fully empathize with their situations. I understood the underlying injustice of the guy in stuck in the house, but I came around when he realized his mistake later. I think having that separation made reading those stories a little bit more palatable. But I’m often the one who will experience strong emotional reactions to characters I can connect with. For this reason, I try to avoid consuming anything too dramatic when I’m stressed because it’ll make me feel worse.
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Oooh, now I see what you’re saying. Sorry I kind of read too fast and cut your words up a bit there.
I also get anxious when characters tell lies like that. Because I feel bad for the characters who are happy because of the lies and will feel betrayed after they find out, and I’m also anxious about the lying character not being able to keep up the facade and getting caught.
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You mean while the character is fully aware of the situation but cannot do anything about it?
Like in those dreams/nightmares where one tries to run away but can’t?
You mean like lying and cheating and such?
That inability to change a situation reminds me of a German comedian called Loriot who very much triggers something for me. I don’t know whether he is even known outside of Germany? E.g. in one of his sketches a man and a woman eat at a restaurant, and he happens to get a piece of noodle stuck to his face. The woman points this out, and he tries to fix it, only to get the noodle stuck to a different part of his face. He wants to talk about something serious with her (maybe he wants to propose or something? I don’t recall) while she keeps telling him about the noodle and he keeps messing it up further and further. Many Germans I know think this is hilarious, but it just leaves me devastated. I think it triggers me because I see my own clumsiness and stupidity being exposed and being pointed at and being laughed about. Is this what you are referring to?
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I bought this online from Kinokuniya Australia (and it is still showing as in stock on their website). Annoying that we can’t get books from the overseas sites…
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Hm, not sure. I never tried to analyze it so carefully.
I think it’s not quite right, though. For instance, in gaslight (the movie), one of the character is tricked into questioning their own sanity, so they aren’t really aware of what is going on. In the example I gave from 時をかける少女, she isn’t aware that she traveled through time, which causes her confusion (and my discomfort). So I guess the “not being able to do anything about it” can be a component, but full awareness isn’t.
So more like a nightmare where there’s a surprise test and the questions make no sense?
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Specifically if the protagonist is supposed to be the “good guy” but doesn’t do the right thing on purpose etc.
Stuff regarding public shaming and humiliation also doesn’t jive with me either. Stuff that’s meant to be stupid on purpose is something different though. Something you described would just get me irritated because no one in their right mind would want to start a serious conversation until after they knew the embarrassing distraction has been eliminated.
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Just wanna throw in my quick 2 cents around the discussion around people voting who don’t participate. I personally voted for Kino and i’m not sure whether I will be ready to read it by the time the book club starts (Though I do already own it).
However, even if i’m not ready, if I do read it in the following months, I would certainly look back on the discussion from the threads and maybe even add my own questions or feedback. I’m reading Yotsuba right now for example and have certainly found the threads useful, and I still see people posting in there from time to time.
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Unrelated to the actual conversation, but I still haven’t seen this and really should. It’s a staple movie that gave us a name (in English) for a really important abuser tactic to know and understand, but I’ve still never seen it! I need to get on that.
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I have the same feeling. I’m taking a class in Japanese at my university and we’re all reading 気まぐれロボット together; キノの旅 seems like it’s a bit more challenging but doable for someone at my level, and I’ve been meaning to read it for the longest time. With my credit load, though, I don’t know if I can participate this time around exactly—however, like you said, I would like to look back on thread discussions, because usually when I have a question, someone has already asked it.
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Is anyone else doing this book club from Seattle (if so, hi!)? I went to the Kinokuniya in the ID yesterday to see if they had キノの旅, and they were sold out of v1 but had three or four copies of the other volumes. Looks like y’all beat me to it!
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Read the first few pages of Kino last night.
I’m surprised that I’m understanding quite a bit so far, I’m also a big fan of the Kindle highlighting feature to look up a word in the dictionary or translate something, it’s pretty handy.
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Hey guys!
Since it has quieted down here for a moment, I wanna hijack the thread for a sec to ask a question.
I’m thinking about making a thread to read 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 with a schedule of 7 weeks (one per chapter, aprox 40 pages/week) or just one month, depending on feedback (if any). The goal would be to focus on slightly more on extensive reading vs intensive reading - still talk about grammar some and all that, but mostly encourage each other to just grind through a book at a faster rate than the more intensive reading of the other book clubs. One can always re-read a book for full comprehension, but in the meantime, just plowing through has it’s own benefits!
If there was enough interest in that kind of thing, it could become a regular deal of (relatively) quick reads.
Anyway I wanna gauge interest before I go to the trouble of making a big old thread with information and polls. Let me know with a like or whatever.
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No no no no no no no!!! I already bought the book and want to read it, but I can’t handle another book now. Why not wait until after Kino’s Journey and only read it separately if it loses again in the next poll? Pretty please? 
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I mean, it could certainly wait until after 少女終末旅行 if nothing else, since people interested would need time to get the book anyways. And I know a lot of the more advanced readers aren’t reading ふしぎ駄菓子屋銭天堂 anyway.
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I kinda wanna read whatever to be honest. And ive never seen or read haruhi (please dont kill me 
), so i figute why not see what thr fuss is about. That being said, ive just ordered my books and cant afford to do that agin for the tine being, so i agree, a little later would be awesome.
Im going to japan at the end of march and thats when ill be picking up my next batch, so if youre reading after that, im definitely in.
100% super interested though, i prefer the quantity over quality approach myself
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I will join whenever you start. I need to focus on reading as much as possible, so I will join everything
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Remember, ye, the ancient saying: He who joineth all, joineth none. 
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Lmaooo
Actually this is only the second one I plan to join ;___;
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