Heh. The asterisks marking the end of this reading are literally the first line of text on page 78 in my Tsubasa Bunko - 77 ends with one short line of text and almost a full-page image. First time we’re (kinda) ending on the same page.
A month has already passed and I feel with each week I’m getting more and more into the story. I’m glad to go through it with a book club, otherwise I don’t think I would be able to push myself into regular reading.
There were two parts in this week’s reading which I’m not sure I fully understood:
When Taki is talking with his dad after body swap
Summary
I understand that dad asks whether Taki knows how to get to work, but after that I got confused.
Does Taki first think about the situation that it might be a joke made by his friend (who had also told Taki’s dad?), but after that he realizes, because of Tsukasa’s puzzled expression, there must had been really something strange in his behaviour (because there is no way someone would make such an effort to make a joke like this?)
When Saya is decribing what Matsumoto had been gossiping about the other day
Is Matsumoto saying that some kids are living off the grant-in-aid, distributed by town administration - implying Mitsuha is one of them? Did I get it right?
Phew, last week I got well behind but finally caught up!
I found last week a bit hard going on the reading, didn’t really understand all of it as much as i’d like, but i managed to get most of the gist since I’ve watched the film a few times. Hopefully this week It’ll be a bit easier.
Thanks for everyone who’s been asking questions so far, nearly every Q asked has been useful for me too!
I don’t think the dad has anything to do with the conversation at this point. It’s actually Tsukasa who asks him if he knows how to get to work here. It’s a little awkward because the book kind of jumps from him reading the phone diary and yelling in front of his dad, to suddenly being with Tsukasa at school.
Anyway, it seems you’ve got it just about right.
Tsukasa Question
“Rather, what I mean is, I want it to be him that did it. (Probably because this would be a simple explanation). But the puzzled look on his face is telling me I’m wrong.
Even I know there’s no reason for another person to put in so much time and effort just for a prank.
So yea, I would say your interpretation is right!
Matsumoto Question
That’s about what I got out of it. I had a bit of a hard time with that passage as well. But I don’t see why Matsumoto would have brought up the fact that there are some kids living off of the 助成金 unless it was to imply Mitsuha was one of them.
I actually found this part to be easier than most of the reading so far. Hopefully that means I’ve gotten used to the writing style and the rest of the book won’t be too bad!
It’s finally starting to feel like I’m getting used to the writing style. At least I’m getting better at telling who’s speaking and who is in which body, which was a large part of my confusion in the beginning. I’m glad I didn’t give up after week 2, even though I was reeally tempted
I have a grammar question about a sentence on page 73 (no border): 俺は熱湯を頭からかぶったように
Does this mean as if boiling water was pouring from my head? I vaguely understand what this means, but it’s a bit odd, so insight is welcome.
Rather: “I was [/felt like] as if boiling water was poured [on me] from head [to toe]”
I usually interpret 被る as ‘putting something on one’s head’. But it seems, it also has a meaning of ‘poring some liquid on one’s head’. So, beginning on the head (から), hot water is poured on him. And yeah, the 「ように」 makes it to an ‘as if x was true’.
(I hope that was the question?!)
It was that から that made me think water was pouring off of him… If it begins on the head, it has nowhere to go but away from the head, right? So… What is up with that から？
Edit…
Wait, I just figured out what you meant… 頭から[足まで]…
