Now Re-Reading: JBC's 秋の牢獄 (Autumn Prison) 🍁 Discussion Thread

Hi! Can somebody help me with this sentence? Especially the part in bold.
Page 13
冷蔵庫を開けば一度使いきったはずの豚肉とキャベツが入っており、不気味なことこの上なかった

a beginners question: do you guys purchase these books?

I believe it goes, if I open the fridge, the pork and cabbage that should have been used already will still be there, It was the most ominous thing.
冷蔵庫を開けば= If I open the fridge
一度使いきったはずの豚肉とキャベツ= the pork and cabbage that should have once been used
入っており= Is currently inside
不気味なこと= ominous thing
この上なかった= The most
Please correct me if I am wrong.
edit: @NickNickovich In fact I was, おり is from the verb おる which also means to be like いる。 So you can imagine it as the same meaning as 入っている, its currently in the fridge. I got mixed with おく because I was just looking at it which means to do something in preparation. ごめん

@Coldxice Yes, you can find out where to purchase and how in the description of this thread.

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can someone please help me, on the kindle version of the book it says ‘lot number’ instead of page number, can anyone tell me how to change it to page number, because it’s really confusing trying to figure out where i’m up to in relation to the rest of you

Unfortunately I don’t think you can view the page number. :confused: I think it depends on how the author publishes it. Some books have it, other books don’t It’s really annoying but there’s nothing you can do. To change it you would press on where it says lot number. You can keep clicking to view your options, (it estimates time left in the book or chapter too) But for this book I didn’t see the page count option.

I just count up the pages myself and make sure I’m reading the right number of pages a day for the week. I counted 6 1/2 pages for the current chapter on my ipad, so I read a page a day.

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ok, thanks, that helps. I think I must be on page 13 because I just got up to that bit referenced above

I count percentage read, but I am not currently reading Kindle version.

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I finished the current section today and, with one section (2 chapters) to go, I have to say one of the best things about this story is - I have absolutely no idea how these last pages are going to turn out. Like, really, not a clue. Who / What is 北風伯爵? I have no idea. Why is the day repeating? Dunno. Why have these particular replayers been selected? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Don’t know if this is to everyone’s taste, but I think it’s great. While I enjoyed No.6 I felt like I knew roughly how things would pan out from about ten pages in. Here, twelve pages to go, and I’m still guessing.

Good suggestion @Iwasneverhere!

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I’m late, but definitely joining. Most of the way through chapter one now, but if I don’t catch up before the end of the first story I’ll just skip ahead. Just wanted to comment so I’ll be embarrassed if I don’t catch up. :-p

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Sorry I passed on this past weekend’s discussion questions. :persevere: Life happened and I got a bit behind on reading. Starting tonight I’ll be chugging right back on track and ready to make questions for this weekend. :smiley:

i’m trying to do the same but i’m very slow going…

Thanks :grin: I really like this book to, I’m not sure how to describe how I like but I guess it’s just my kind of book. I’m always drawn to stories that have an interesting or unique concepts, and good world building.

Hm, now that I’ve caught up, I think I see how things are going to end, but I’ve definitely enjoyed the ride. Ai has grown on me as a character, and I’m going to miss her narration when we move onto the next stories. :frowning:

As for the discussion questions:

  1. I think it probably felt real at first, especially when the emotions were going at full force, but that, once the “surprise” element was gone, any feelings had drained completely. The expectation is there now; he knows how its going to pan out, and he’s seen it enough times now that it’s just a mundane fact. No matter what violence, rage, sorrow, etc. he employs, the same event will occur no matter what. When people have the ability to change, you have to approach things more cautiously. In this world, however, his wife will remember nothing as soon as time loops, meaning she can’t change. A common theme in sci-fi/dystopia novels is that “peace” through a static, unchanging environment is contrary to what makes us human. In that perspective, the people around them who cannot change from who they are due to the repeating of time have lost what makes them human.

  2. I would assume so. The fact that no one will remember anything you do that day in effect means they don’t CARE, even if, in a normal reality, they do. Since no one will treat them any differently (positively OR negatively), they have no reason to care about the people around them either. A similar case can be seen in psychological studies involving parenting, where a lack of structure or rigidity can result in equal amounts of emotional trauma as actively bad or overly intrusive parenting. If parents show a lack of interest or concern in what their child does, they will learn not to expect any concern from their parents. This, in effect, means they will value their relationship with them and be more likely to act negatively.

  3. I’m not so sure. With the Count out and about, I think the “mystery” behind the replaying will be enough to result in anything too massive. In a video game, having a mysterious, roaming boss drastically affects how you play the game. In stealth games, you learn very quickly which enemies will simply make you disappear upon getting hit. In arcade games like Tower of Druaga or Bubble Bobble, you had invincible enemies that appear if you take too long. The Count adds that sort of element. If they try to tread too far, who knows what will happen.

In addition, while consequences may be negated in the long term, they are still normal humans and subject to normal circumstances. For example, should any of them manage to acquire automatic guns (good luck doing that in Japan), they can only kill enough people before someone manages to tackle them, shoot back (in the case of police), etc. Sure, they’ll wake up in their bed the next day, but enough manpower won’t stop you from landing in jail/prison for the rest of your current day.

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Edited OP to add kindle locations to the list.

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thanks stella!

Oh, I just discovered 犬飼 is an actual name. I assumed it was a nickname, but there’d been no explanation of it so I finally googled it and turns out it’s just a family name.

I’m also having a bit of trouble with these lines on pg 56:

私たちは四六時中一緒にいたように思う。午前中にどこかの駅前で待ち合わせると、あとは一日が終わり世界が揺らぐ瞬間まで一緒にいた。

I think I have everything from the second sentence: In the morning we’d meet up outside some station, then we’d be together until the moment our world would shake and the day would end.

But isn’t the first sentence saying they only spend 4 to 6 hours together? I feel I must be getting the first sentence wrong because I had difficulty getting the IME to convert it properly too.

I don’t think that means 4 to 6 hours, my dictionary has it as an expression meaning around the clock.

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I could have sworn that WK taught this reading way back in the beginning, but it seems like they’ve removed that item.

Thanks! Found it, and that fits perfectly. What a curious expression, though.

By the way, for anyone interested, I’ve added an Anki deck for chapter 6.

I don’t remember seeing that one, but judging by the number of words I don’t recognise that I definitely have studied (and often burned) here, that doesn’t mean much.