The last week! Finishing the book means we’re halfway through this series!
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I forgot to ask before - are we planning to have another week’s break in between books?
Or do we skip it since I accidentally created a break week in the middle of the book already?
It’s been a long time since I last visited this thread (although at some point I remembered that 1 year ago I started reading this book and this was the first Japanese book club I became involved in) and I missed a lot of the stuff happening in the other books clubs lately, but with huge variations in reading pace I managed to finish Book 2 by the end of September.
I found it strangely satisfying to see the events unfolding in the same time of the year as my own life. Maybe moreso because after the world setting is largely explained about halfway through book 2 the focus shifts to intro/retrospection, which is something I feel more inclined to when autumn begins😊. Then the last couple of chapters had the characters finally deciding to tackle 1Q84 again, some cliffhangers, obviously, making it really hard to wait a few days until October began so I could start Book 3 according to the timeline mentioned on the cover (10月－12月). So I guess I somehow managed to find something other than the book club schedule to pace my reading (nevertheless, I did miss sharing some thoughts with someone else every once in a while), although that also messed up my ability to keep a uniform reading pace for the other books I was planning to read simultaneously.
Book 3 has more chapters and a different structure compared to the previous two (looking at the table of contents feels like a loathsome spoiler if you do it before finishing Book 2, yet a hopeful one if you do it afterwards, so I won’t go into further detail). I think I’ll try to finish the last part of the trilogy by the end of the year, without having a fixed schedule in mind - I’ll probably read 2-3 chapter per week and take a break if the story advances to the next month of 1Q84 before it begins in 2021😂.
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Book Two 後編
Book Three 前編
Book Three 後編
@Hijiki I thought a bit about whether multiple threads like this make sense, but ultimately decided to stick with our original separation of 後編・前編. I’m currently reading Book Three 前編, so will likely post there soon. 
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I figured I’d move this discussion kind of to where it belongs 
I’ve read the first part of Book 1 already, so I would just wait until you start the second part and then join in, no problem!
Maybe we can first gather interest for such a re-reading group:
Would you like to read 1Q84 with us, starting from July-ish?
- Yes, can’t wait!
- Lemme think about it…
- No, I’m good.
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voters
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I would like for you to read it and then to discuss with you. Does that count? 
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Absolutely! 
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[Sorry for the thread jump but I did not want to derail the Murata book club thread too much… 
]
Hey, a potential new victim! Erm. I mean, that’s good to hear!
I think if you like Murata, then Murakami will probably also be right up your alley topic-wise. He does not feel as extreme to me, and not that explicit, but maybe I just forgot all the gory details
Nah, they’re not “really hard”, seriously not. I guess they are more difficult than Murata, but I think mainly due to vocab and kanji usage (so he likes to use kanji for a bunch of those “kana only” words, but other authors do that as well, so I don’t think that makes his style special). I haven’t read a lot of his books (basically just 1Q84 and a bunch of short stories), so I can’t really tell for sure, but his writing style seems to differ quite a bit (e.g. in 1Q84 I get the impression that his style changes depending on which character is in focus). Maybe you can check out a few sample pages on Bookwalker or somesuch to get an impression?
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I’d agree with this. There’s just a lot of words. 
The grammar itself seems very straightforward to me, and while there’s some fantastical elements contents-wise from time to time, and long(ish) introspective scenes, there’s not much flowery language making things more confusing imo.
This. One of my favorite things.
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As long as you know what a 蛹 (さなぎ) is, you’re all set. It may help to know about 繭 (まゆ) as well, though, for reference. I’m (kinda) joking.
Yes, it really feels like two completely different books that are somehow slapped next to each other until reaaaaally late in the story.
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I moved the threads I could, but since I’m not a regular I can’t move the ones I didn’t create. That would be this home thread, the complete book one 前編 and book one 後編 including chapter 20.
If @Saida (
if you’re around), a regular (I’m assuming you can do this as a regular since you can also edit titles, but I’m not actually sure) or possibly @JenK could move those, that would be great~
Thanks, I moved this thread to book clubs.
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Hey all,
at some point we loosely chatted about reviving this club and reading the books together. I’m just dropping in to tell you I haven’t forgotten you 
but I’m currently reading Kafka with the Advanced Club and will continue with the second part straight away, and I’m sorry but it’s beyond my mental sanity capacity to read two Murakami books at the same time
Therefore I can start Book 1 part 2 from around mid-November but not really earlier 
Of course if you want to read Book 1 part 1 together at some earlier point, then please go ahead! You can pick me up along the way in November then…
Pinging @jhol @Jfredel78 @morteASD @Cathm2 @Kappa421 as you sounded interested at some point.
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I’ll take a look at it. It will be a big stretch for me so I’d need to wait till I’ve read Tugumi - provided I manage that. But I did randomly buy the books when I saw them on eBay, so that’s a start 
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Thanks for the update! I’m still working out my post-Saikawa plan but hopefully I can read part one and catch you in November. I’ll have a clearer picture in the next few days.
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I’m interested, but I haven’t read Book 1 Part 1 yet, and I also would like to avoid reading two Murakami books at once. 
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Fair point! IIRC your reading speed is pretty good, so reading Book 1 part 1 (which is ~300 pages I think) could be doable in 6 (or maybe 8) weeks? Then you could start it after Kafka and pick me up at some point in January, maybe?
What do you and everybody else think?
That would probably be doable for me!
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Oops. I wrote half a reply but never finished and sent it, lol. I’m not sure if I’ll be ready to join but there’s still some time until November… just kinda fighting my brain again at the moment so I haven’t really done much over the past few months, so I can only stomach the one novel and manga I’m reading. But I’m getting back into the groove. Lets see how things are in a few months 
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Hey, good to hear from you
Just take your time with the book, there are things that are much more important than it (like e.g. your health)! The book will still be around whenever you’re ready. But if you’re planning on joining in November, I’d be happy about that!
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