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人質の朗読会 Home Thread
Week 4
Start Date: May 16
Previous Part: Week 3
Next Part: Week 5
Reading:
| Week |
Start Date |
Chapter |
End Page |
Page Count |
| Week 4 |
May 16 |
2nd Night [end] |
63 |
15 |
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Uhh, I liked that story. Was quite nice to read and felt a little 癒し系 to me somehow.
Thoughts
The story developed differently from what I originally thought. The focus was much more on the relationship with the landlord than on the specifics of the factory work. Relationships seem to play a big role in the book and I like that a lot.
Their irregular snack time with arranging the biscuits was kinda sweet 
. Though I still think I wouldn’t work well with the landlord. Especially the scene in the zoo where she doesn’t budge even after it starts raining, I don’t think I would have stayed there with her…
The reason given why our protagonist went into sweets manufacturing was kinda sad. Because of being poor she tried to save money by saying she doesn’t like sweets 
One thread that felt a little “unnecessary” was the brother storyline. I don’t think it added much to the story that the landlady had a younger brother that died. It’s kinda given as a reason why she is the way she is, and at the zoo even gives it as the reason why she likes elephants so much. But I think the story would have worked even without that element. I’m curious of what others think of that part.
Not gonna lie, the girl that found the landlord and thought she will be suspected of killing her kinda made me laugh.
Proposal for a theme of the stories:
Encounters with people with whom we are not that close, but they have a big impact on our life and leave a big impression.
I did warm to this story in the end.
I found the relationship with the landlord fascinating, and it was very interesting that even if her behaviour remained extreme, I certainly felt more sympathy towards her by the end.
(The landlady/tenant relationship also appears in a very striking story in Ogawa’s story collection 寡黙な死骸, that I was reminded of when reading this).
yes, those look very much as I was imagining them!
(I didn’t go very far in my search, but I wonder if there is a real-life equivalent of やまびこビスケット? I’ve sometimes been able to identify analogues of some of the elements of Ogawa’s story).
The thing that I found most moving in this story was the tiny description at the end about our narrator. We had a tiny description of her subsequent life - much as you might expect to find in a newspaper after a tragedy - age, career, why she was at that location. It was interesting to compare that with the richness and singularity of the anecdote from earlier in her life, and of course all the more poignant to reflect on what we know happens to her. I think this corresponds with my hypothesis last week about what Ogawa is doing with these stories.
