This doesn’t bode very well for me. I’m okay with Literature with a big L, as you describe it (as long as the specific text suits me, not absolutely everything), but essays in my mind are dry arguments on “issues”, and they tend to tire me. Would you say it’s the second kind? Does it feel like an article rather than fiction?
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It’s definitely fiction but it feels…heavy. This isn’t a spoiler, we’re still in scene setting. This is describing a wife who makes breakfast for her husband every day (we’re currently following the husband and his thoughts/feelings on things) Note 啓喜 is read ひろき and is the husband’s name:
毎朝、複数の種類の朝食を用意する煩雑さを、煩雑だと表明せずとも受け入れてくれている妻に啓喜はとても感謝している。ただ同時に、その煩雑さを受け入れる余裕のある環境を整えているのは自分の給与なのだという思いも、うっすらと生まれる。
生活を支えてくれる妻への感謝と、生活費を稼ぐ立場としての苦労。別々の部屋に入れておくべき感情なのに、その感情は時に廃油と化し、互いを滑らかに融合させてしまう。その、別次元にある宇宙が混ざり合ってしまう感覚は、警察から送検された書類を読み込んでいるときなどにもよく起きる現象で、啓喜は様々な事件を担当するうち、自分の中にある想定外の部分に自覚的になっていった。
It’s interesting. I find the way the author describes things unique. It’s just…very heavy sentences. It doesn’t feel light and artful, but loaded.
Could just be my mood right now, though, let me know what you think.
12 Likes
Thanks for the excerpt. Yes, that’s some dense text, and it requires slow and deliberate reading to even understand what it’s getting at. I don’t dislike the style, but if the whole book is like that (as opposed to a paragraph here and there) I might leave it for later, hoping that it will be easier for me then.
11 Likes
This chapter was full of dense passages like that, with a few spaces where I came up for air thanks to dialogue or repeated points. I’m still very much in the beginning though, so it remains to be seen how dense it will stay.
Frankly if the whole book is like this I might also shelve it for a bit and come back to it later.
10 Likes
January 17 
Home Post
Decent reading day today; I’ve been messing with 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 a bit and it feels like a much more reasonable read than it has in the past 
The long rambly nature of the writing is far less off-putting than it used to be, I’m definitely more equipped to handle it now so yay! It still requires a bit more mental energy as things go by nature of needing to keep more things in my brain at once, but the vocabulary is generally in my knowledge base so it’s not so bad. I also read some more 花子くん, finished up volume 3 and got about halfway through volume 4! Things get more complicated and dramatic by the minute 
but of course there’s still lots of nonsense, an important balance haha.
26 Likes
1 月 18 日
コナの大冒険 第26話 
Poor Kona has underestimated what it’s like in 自然界. Wonder what he’ll end up eating…
Vocab of note
- 付け加える [つけくわえる] to add one thing to another
- 悲鳴を上げる [ひめいをあげた] to scream
- 飢え死に [うえじに] starvation, starving to death
- 後悔 [こうかい] regret, remorse, repentance
Replies
@Greya I’ve been reading through your posts about the books you’re reading and your selection is so cute! I actually bought にわにはににん just the other day and now I’m thinking of buying 魔女と猫の話 too. Getting way ahead of myself though… I’m probably not even close to the level I can read those… Just piling up for when I have better grammar foundations. 
Thanks for all the cute ideas though!
25 Likes
Read Ch 1-2 during the day for Re:Zero 16. No new real struggles and a good balance of lookups and reading. Having about the same level of challenge I did watching the anime.
Finished chapter 9 of Steel Ball Run, plan to maybe finish volume 2 before bed. My wife wants me to read this book called お空のセカイ so I will have to pause my JoJo reading for now. The book is pretty quick so I should finish pretty quickly.
25 Likes
A while ago I bought “魔女の旅々”. From the gorgeous book cover I expected to be fluffy SoL and I forgot about it.
Then I watched reviews of anime, and remembered that I have a book, so I’m slowly reading it now with pace of 10 lines-couple of scenes(surrounded by maru) per day.
Even in chapter 1, everyone is a massive arsehole.
26 Likes
January 17
I was going to balance BU$TAFELLOWS and ユージニア today but then the former got really intense and I just had to finish the chapter. I ended up playing BU$TAFELLOWS ~2h so I only did a tiny ユージニア read (55% → 56%). I’m now caught up with the VN club so I think I can go back to normal.
26 Likes
January 17 
チュベローズで待ってる AGE32 , start-14%
January 18 
おばちゃんたちのいるところ , 70-78%
I’m still in a very unmotivated mood for some reason. Yesterday I started the second book of チュベローズで待ってる, just because other people in the club had already started and I wanted to read the spoilers. At first I read it without much interest, but it very quickly managed to reel me back in, so I read three chapters in a row and would probably have continued if I had the time.
Then today I caught up with the Wild Ladies book club. Not sure if it’s my mood or the book, but it feels less interesting than it did in the beginning, and quite hard. I’m sure part of it is the short story format, but also some stories feel harder, and with less reward, than others. From today’s two stories, one I liked, but the other one, I didn’t get the point of it at all.
If I have time/energy I may read some more チュベローズで待ってる today, or I may not.
28 Likes
Still not managed to read much.
18/1 6 pages シャドーハウス
I leave Japan tomorrow 
So I’ll probably read on the plane, though I suspect I’ll need a nap too!
I have a suitcase full of manga - I did buy the 10 volume pack I was looking at, plus volumes 13 and 14 - planning to go to the nearby Mandarake and buy 11-12 in the morning.
29 Likes
18th jan
continuing with 蟲師 vol 2, chapter 4 flew by! of the stories in this volume this is definitely the one i’ve liked the most so far, it has the same vibes as the stories that drew me in in the first one. it’s about a guy who’s been trying to capture a strange rainbow to show to his ailing father, but also about purpose in life (seems to be running theme in the volume actually…). like a lot of these stories the ending is a little bittersweet. probably the easiest chapter to follow too!
words that stood out: 架ける (かける, just when i think i’ve seen all the かけるs, there’s another one for specifically for bridges (or in this case rainbows)), やけ (despair), 闇雲 (reckless, haphazard, abrupt. initially thought this had a similar meaning to 黒雲, which would have made sense in context, but no!), and 近しい (intimate, close. related to 親しい, which can be read the same way)
23 Likes
Day 16
Today I only read 13 pages of a manga magazine.
But at least I managed to pass the reading part of my japanese test. Should some miracle happen and I somehow manage to pass the writing and speaking part I will again have much more time for reading.
1422 pages read 18578 to go
20 Likes
Jan 18, Wed of Week 4 of Winter Q1 2023 
- Happiness Vol.8-10 (end series)
The answer is in author note of the last volume.
- うたわれるもの
Interesting words
- いきむ = to bear down during childbirth. Kanji form is 息む.
- うなされる = to cry out in own’s sleep. Kanji form is 魘される.
- のめす = to make someone fall forward. Intransitive pair is のめる = to tumble forward.
- こうむる = to receive (damage, kindness). Kanji forms are 被る and 蒙る.
- サンマ = Pacific saury (a kind of fish). Kanji form is 秋刀魚.
- なれのはて = a ruin of what someone once was. Kanji form is 成れの果て.
- 弄くる = to tamper with. Probably similar to 弄る. Not sure about 弄ぶ.
- 華やぐ = to become cheerful / to prosper
- 粋 = stylish
- 余興 = side performance
- 作法 = etiquette; manners
- 小言 = scolding
- ひ孫 = great grandson = 曾孫 = 曾孫. The 曾 can also be attached elsewhere, like 曾祖母さん.
- 収束 = resolving to normal / convergence (e.g. of light)
- 還暦 = 60th birthday anniversary. Probably I might learn the whole series of this later.
- 命中 = hitting the mark. Somehow aim/target is a distinctive meaning of 命.
- 交錯 = complication (complicate matter). Second Kanji from 錯覚.
- 宿願 = long standing desire
- 俯瞰 = bird’s eye view
- 韜晦 = concealing one’s talent
- 饗宴 = a feast; banquet. First Kanji is specifically used for banquet.
- 骨董 = an antique
- 贋物 = counterfeit; forgery = 偽物
- 無知蒙昧 = ignorant
- 面目躍如 = demonstrative of one’s worth
SFX
- しみじみ = keenly; deeply; heartily
Kanji
-
曾 (曽)
- formerly
- Radical “mask” in Level 18
- ソウ
- 曾祖父
- ひい、ひ
- 曾祖父, 曾孫
- 未曾有
-
弄
- toy with
- ロウ
- 嘲弄, 玩弄, 愚弄, 翻弄
- 弄する
- 弄る
- 弄くる
- 弄ぶ
-
贋
- forgery; fake
- ガン
- 贋造, 贋作
- 真贋
- にせ
- 贋物
23 Likes
The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den
January 18th
新書太閣記 progress: 02.61% // Volume I: 30.29% 
How is it the 18th already??
Anyway, started and finished the next chapter:
Words found under the kotatsu
貧苦「ひんく」ー the hardships of poverty; serious poverty
嫁入り「よめいり」ー Marriage; wedding
錆刀「さびがたな」ー Rusty sword; useless sword
齎す「またらす」ー To bring (news; knowledge etc.); to introduce; to bring out; to cause; to produce
剃刀「かみそり」ー Razor
夏木立「なつこだち」ー Grove in summer
鬱蒼「うっそう」ー Thick; dense; luxuriant
Forms
繞る ＝ 巡る「ぬぐる」(to go around; to surround; to circle)
Character Name List
Probably some spoilers, but this is a historic novel, so can spoilers really exist for things that have (for the most part) actually happened 
Main
Hideyoshi: 豊臣秀吉「とよとみ ひでよし」
– – – Childhood name: 日吉「ひよし」
– – – Childhood nickname: 猿「さる」
Volume I: 1535 - 15??
日吉「ひよし」- Hideyoshi (as child)
Nickname: 猿「さる」
Family
木下弥右衛門「きのした やえもん」- Father
筑阿弥「ちくあみ」ー Step-father
大政所「おおまんどころ」// also お奈加「おなか」ー Mother
おつみ - Older sister
小竹「こちく」- Baby brother
加藤清正「かとう きよまさ」// also 弾正「だんじょう」- Ojisan (only distantly related (before marriage))
– Married to: おえつ (sister of お奈加)
Friends & Acquaintances
仁王「におう」- Big kid friend
於福「おふく」(Nickname - full name: 福太郎「ふくたろ」) // 楊景福「ようけいふく」(Chinese name/birth name) - Timid kid friend (older than Hideyoshi)
– 五郎大夫 「ごろ だゆう」// 祥瑞「しょうずい」(Chinese name) - Father
– 梨琴「りきん」- Mother
捨次郎「すてじろう」- Previous servant to 五郎, later the adoptive father of 於福, and owner of a tea ware shop - and employer of, and master to, Hideyoshi
Others
織田信秀「おだ のぶひで」- Daimyo
– 織田与三郎「おだ よさぶろう」- Younger brother
今川義元「いまがわ よしもと」- Daimyo
斯波義統「しば よしむね」- Daimyo (head of the Shiba clan) at Kiyosu castle
渡辺天蔵「わたなべ てんぞう」- Nobushi
蜂須賀小六「はちすか ころく」(also 正勝 「まさかつ」) - Daimyo
Historical People
-
阿倍仲麻呂「あべ の なかまろ」ー Japanese scholar & poet (around 700AD)
-
白楽天「はく きょい」ー Late 700s Chinese poet (Bai Juyi / Bo Juyi) also known as: 白楽天「はく らくてん」in Japan.
-
道元「どうげん」(or 道元禅師「どうげん ぜんじ」ー Japanese Buddhist Priest, writer & poet (Early to mid 1200s) (also known as 栄西禅師「えいさい ぜんじ」)
-
空海「くうかい」ー The one and only Kukai or Kobo Daishi - a Buddhist monk. Posthumously given the title of: 弘法大師「こうぼう だいし」born as: 佐伯 眞魚「さえき の まお」(late 700s to early 800s)
23 Likes
January 18th
Card Captor Sakura volume 6 & volume 7 – progress report
Yesterday: Continued up to page 175
Today: Continued up to page 189, finished chapter 26 and volume 6. 
Began reading volume 7, read up to page 20.
I’m done with volume 6 and started the next one.
The latter started with another introduction of all characters – yet again. That would be 3rd time? Are these introductions supposed to initiate the coming arc? Are they there because Card Captor Sakura used to be serialised in magazines or something and people needed a refresher after so many weeks? Frankly, I don’t quite care but it always confuses me a little (though I don’t hate them when it comes to reading them because they aren’t too hard to understand).
I hope you get well soon without getting sick in the first place! 
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Word or expression of the day:
迷惑 - (めいわく) - trouble, bother, annoyance, nuisance
23 Likes
Day 17 Progress:
お隣の天使様 5.5 SS冊子 - 13.47% → 16.54%
Eugh… didn’t get to do any of my manga chapters yesterday because the manga hit a technical part (describing how to make lures) and it became too much of a hassle to read. Curse you, slice-of-life manga with a focus on a particular subject…
Word of the Day:
Middle/high school was a different time… the sheer amount of awful shoujo manga I would devour without batting an eye, sometimes I wish I could go back to those days of simple gratification lmao.
26 Likes
Day 18, 18th of January
Only one story today, got distracted. 
However, what a pleasant surprise: the new friend I saw yesterday in the preview has another appearance, and it’s even animated! He’s making equipment that is a sold in shop together with magic potions.
24 Likes
➳ January 18th.
What: NHK Easy news
Pages: One article.
Time: 5 minutes.
I think I’ve decided Wednesdays are the worst! You’d think it would be Monday, but I’m all charged up and okay again after the weekend. On Wednesdays I run out of steam and get home feeling like I’ve aged 5 years. Today I read one NHK news article and fell asleep on the couch 
In better news, I went to Japanese class again. Today was the day I realized this course will mostly revolve around speaking… Which is… I have not been doing any speaking whatsoever since I started studying. We were doing basic introductions and the teacher told me to embellish my job title a little. Apparently university employees who are not researchers or teachers have low status in Japan? So she told me to call myself a 研究アドバイザー to sound more important lol. Speaking was fun and I think I’m finally mature enough to not be embarrassed when being corrected. Also I was complimented on my pronunciation. Maybe she was being polite but I’ll take it. It’s Wednesday, I deserve this
Replies!
Thank you! 
I appreciate that.
Oh, totally. I could read for hours, days and weeks and never think about whether something was “good” or not. I’m getting picky in my old age and find myself dropping things immediately if they annoy me now, haha.
29 Likes
January 18th
Home Post
Reading 僕だけがいない街 Vol. 1
page 39 → page 49
Finally got to read a bit today even though this week is pure chaos Prepping for the defense of my thesis but trying to make room for a bit of reading still. 
Also learned the best expression ever from today’s reading session: 惰眠をむさぼる = To sleep all day; to idle away one’s time
26 Likes