1Q84 02: Book 1 - Chapters 5-8

[Kristi]

Here is the thread for week 2...after Week 1, what's your favorite part of this section??

[Kristina]

Can I please have the greenhouse....just saying.

[Stephanie]

Kristina wrote: "Can I please have the greenhouse....just saying."

as long as you are willing to be a rich dowager in Japan...yes, yes you can. :P

what i like about this book is that i like every character...including secondary and minor ones such as the dowager and tamaru, especially tamaru.

[Michelle]

I agree! The characters are interesting and all have faults, but like Stephanie says, they're all likable! That's really rare, and I think that may be part of the reason I read the book so quickly. I was determined to find out what happened to all of the characters.

I have an interesting picture of the dowager in my head and a voice to go with it, but I can't seem to place who I'm imagining. I know it has to be someone from a movie, I'm just not sure who yet.

[Stephanie]

Michelle wrote: "I agree! The characters are interesting and all have faults, but like Stephanie says, they're all likable! That's really rare, and I think that may be part of the reason I read the book so quickly...."

ohhh, now i'm intrigued! since you've finished the book as well, michelle, have you been googling around? i've found some lovely drawings, menus and things... :)

does anybody else find it odd that aomame has a problem with her small lop-sided breasts??? i do, in the sense, that she seems so confident and strong, yet...

[Michelle]

I hadn't even thought to google anything! I've still just been in reflection mode. Hmm...well now I'll have to try it!

I don't think her body issue is strange. I figure that even the most confident woman has at least one thing she doesn't like about herself.

I do, however, find her love of balding men with nicely shaped heads comical. I laughed out loud when she said she got all hot and bothered when she saw Sean Connery. I mean, he's a handsome man, but I never thought it was because of his bald and apparently nicely shaped head.

Did anyone else get struck by the image of the white pieces of papers with various years on them swirling around Aomame as she comes down the stairs from the expressway? I thought it was a beautiful description, and incidentally, it's a good clue as to what's ahead.

[Rosemary]

Stephanie wrote: "does anybody else find it odd that aomame has a problem with her small lop-sided breasts??? i do, in the sense, that she seems so confident and strong, yet..."

I was actually thinking (in the scene where she hooked up with the guy in the hotel) that she seemed really confident in the way she talked about them without sounding needy. I was thinking that most of us who are conscious of being unfashionably small or large in some area would either avoid talking about those parts or do it in a way that was designed to get reassurance ... but maybe that's just me!

I really like all the characters too. I think I could easily whizz through this book, but I have a lot of other things to read so I plan to stick to the schedule for now.

[Zulfiya]

Aomame is one tough cookie, but even they can be occasionally soft. Among many others, there are two things I really like in this part:

a. the delightful insight into the world of editing, when language, art, passion, and mathematical precision about language come together to create this magical experience of writing.

b. the otherworldly experiences both for Tengo and Aomame. I mean you feel that they are on the cusp of discovering something very unusual and eye-opening, but both the readers and the characters are only gradually discovering the truth. Lovely, nuanced, poised writing.

[Kristina]

Zulfiya wrote: "Aomame is one tough cookie, but even they can be occasionally soft. Among many others, there are two things I really like in this part:

a. the delightful insight into the world of editing, when la..."

perfectly stated Zulfiya.

[Zulfiya]

Kristina wrote: "Zulfiya wrote: "Aomame is one tough cookie, but even they can be occasionally soft. Among many others, there are two things I really like in this part:

a. the delightful insight into the world of ..."

Thank you, Kristina!

[Deana]

That whole scene with Aomame meeting the guy in the bar and taking him back to her room just seemed so unnatural to me. I think a lot of it is the translation, though... it sounds so awkward and, well, unnatural! I read a bunch of that part out loud to my husband and we were both laughing at just how completely ridiculous it sounds. And she keeps bringing up her work and how stressful it is, and then getting pissed off at the man for continuing the conversation. I was just so annoyed with that whole scene.

Still too much sex in this book for my liking. Don't get me wrong -- I like a good romance novel with sex in it but ... it just doesn't FIT here. This isn't supposed to be a romance novel, is it?

I -did- enjoy the section where Tengo is editing the novel (though again, why throw in the two sentences where he randomly starts thinking about having sex with his much older girlfriend... is this important??) I'm excited to learn more about Fuka-Eri's story.

[Michelle]

Deana, as the story unfolds, some of the sex begins to make sense. At this point, you still don't have all the back story to support what's happening.

[Deana]

Thanks Michelle, that's good to know!