Week 9: 掏摸(スリ)

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Week 9

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Start Date: Dec 13
Previous Part: Week 8
Next Part: Week 10

Reading:

Week Start Date Chapter Start Page Page Count
Week 9 Dec 13 Chapter 15 - 16 145 14

Discussion Rules

  • Please use spoiler tags for major events in the current chapter(s) and any content in future chapters.
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Proper Noun Readings

Previous Proper Nouns
Name Reading Notes Proof
石川 いしかわ ch. 1, former pickpocket partner (Week 1)
立花 たちばな ch. 2, wants to be a partner
新美 にいみ ch. 4, 石川’s new name (Week 2)
佐江子 さえこ ch. 5, woman of the past
木崎 きざき ch. 6, strange man in the office (Week 3)
棚部 たなべ ch. 6, gang boss
西村 にしむら ch. 6, narrator’s real name
桐田 きりた ch. 13, target of the first task (Week 8)
米沢 よねざわ ch. 14, target of the third task
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掏摸(スリ) (Intermediate Japanese Book Club)
Week 10: 掏摸(スリ) [END]
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Even after the explanations in chapter 16 the meaning of the tower is still not clear to me. He says that gradually the tower disappeared through his stealing, but we saw in the previous chapters that it keeps appearing in many situations.

I doubt that this book will get a happy ending. I can’t imagine how he could accomplish his third task and he gets more and more depressive. What will happen to the boy and his mother?

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I must confess I didn’t get that either. He said it had disappeared but then it was back again? Strange.

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Finished this week’s reading on time :smiley:

So he apparently was growing up in pretty desolate circumstances. It sounded like he had to steal to even get enough food for his normal development. In contrast, seeing all the affluent children with their fancy stuff made him feel inferior. I think that tower is a representation of him feeling inferior and judged by others. If these feelings are stronger, the tower appears. If he’s content and the stealing works out how he wants it to, the tower disappears. He feels “free”.
At least that’s my interpretation of the tower.
The funny thing is that he is not after the things themselves. They don’t give him joy, as we can see with the remote control car.
It’s interesting that he actually got a kick out of being found out when stealing the watch failed. I’m having some trouble with the reason for it. He expected to be relieved but the opposite happened. It seems he took it as an indication that societies’ rules are shit, and he’s better off not being bound by them. He realized his feelings of inferiority can be subdued due to the stealing (the tower moves further away).

It is pretty abstract and I’m not sure my interpretation makes complete sense, but that’s what I’m currently working with.

Regarding his tasks: Ohh fuck, he seems to be in a pretty bad pickle. Who the hell sews stuff into their own clothes. I really can not guess at the moment what kind of job his target presumably has. Why do they have a bag with these items sewn into their clothes? Maybe some kind of investigator? They sound a little disheveled, though. And pretty inattentive, except towards women (凝視する).

I really can’t guess how the story will continue and where it will end. I hope for more interactions with the kid. These are my highlights in the story so far :smiley:

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