Hello all It has been eerily silent in this thread so far; is everybody doing alright?
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to speak up
I’m steadily getting through this chapter. I’ll be a bit behind, but I’m getting there.
I really enjoyed the first one, with the ghost postbox and the fight scene, but this second chapter has been super slow for the first half. Hopefully it picks up again in the second half, like the last chapter.
Ah, that’s good to hear I already got a bit worried that everybody was silently struggling…
I hope it’s not a big spoiler but this chapter will rather stay calm until the end, but it goes pretty deep on the emotional side, which I liked a lot. It felt to me that Maria is collecting all the fond memories she can grab hold of, to take them with her on her move to the place without ocean. That was actually pretty moving for me…
The second chapter had had less unfamiliar vocabulary so far, but continues to require quite a bit of rereading to make sense of some sentences. But I’ve been managing, if a bit slowly.
It did make me yearn for the sea. I briefly lived in a house on a hill overlooking the other side of her beloved Pacific Ocean, and now I live in landlocked Minnesota. I agree with the narrator that the ocean is hard to move away from.
I’m silently struggling, but I’d say that that’s mostly that I’ve had a pretty busy week at work, so am lacking the brainpower to read when I get home. I’m also reading several book clubs concurrently.
I don’t have any major queries so far - yesterday morning I read 4 pages before my late shift and understood it well, just slow going. Unfortunately work is likely to be hectic for a while longer! I’ll try to push forward this morning to keep up the momentum.
I can relate to all that Please make sure you get enough recreational time, and don’t stress yourself out about this book club - we’ll still be there even if you’re trailing behind a little bit
Thanks! I’m catching up! I’ve had a lazy day today but doing well on reading - I think I’ve got 3 pages left of chapter 2. And I’ve done my laundry etc too.
Maybe the other jisho definition for 見るからに, „obviously“, makes more sense? In the meaning of „visibly“ here.
„She was visibly dejected“ (just looking at her, you could tell that she was dejected)
Also, I think it’s しょんぼり
I’m using my iPhone where I need it! I needed it a lot for the print version of Spy Family, but this is the first time I’ve really not been able to distinguish something in Tugumi, I just misread it.
But a physical magnifying glass would be handy, I’ll take a look. Thanks!
I’m running behind schedule, but working on catching up. I just finished this chapter - it had a nice, nostalgic feel. I could relate to the feeling of leaving a place you’ve lived for a long time, especially one near water. And I appreciated the description of the special circumstances in which 旅館 family children have to grow up, constantly meeting new people and then having to say goodbye.
The language itself is simple enough, and the unknown vocabulary for me much less than in other books I’ve been reading, but the somewhat dreamy way of expression does trip me up sometimes. It’s really evocative once I get it though.
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It has been eerily silent in this thread so far; is everybody doing alright?
I already got a bit worried that everybody was silently struggling…
Please make sure you get enough recreational time, and don’t stress yourself out about this book club - we’ll still be there even if you’re trailing behind a little bit 
