Pick-a-Shelf discussion

Just wondering if anyone is interested in a read along for this brick of a book?!

I couldn't resist buying it last week during National Bookshop Day -not when it was such good value with 20% off! So... keen to start but I'll need to be motivated, ha ha ha

*keeping my fingers crossed for some interest*

I have been thinking that I should really get around to reading it.

Is that a yes, Coralie?

let me know your preferred dates ;)

read it a while ago, otherwise I would join in.Murakami is probably my favourite author, and I am hanging out for the new one. Only 32nd in the queue at the library!

Okay. I'll give it a shot. I have a ginormous hardcover I've been eyeing.

Adrienne wrote: "Okay. I'll give it a shot. I have a ginormous hardcover I've been eyeing."

Do you have preferred dates, Adrienne?

I've just fitted this book into ScatterShelves for March (it-wikipedia shelf) :D :D :D

No. I'm pretty open.

I've never done a read-a-long before, so I really have no idea what I'm doing.

well, read along / buddy read works pretty much the same, we just try to set a schedule of how much to read over the week and so we can discuss / rant along the way as we should be around the same page :)

My ed has about 1,328 pages... I've got to check at home at how it's been split but if we read over 6 weeks, do you think? Should work about about 200-300 pages per week.

That sounds doable. I can't currently find my copy. Gr.

Adrienne & maybe, Coralie (?)
and anyone else who'd like to join in...
here's my proposed schedule, according to my copy of book

Week 1: 1-7 September -Book 1 (chapters 1-12 inclusive; approx. 220 pages)

Week 2: 8-14 September -Book 1 (chapters 13-24 inclusive; approx. 220 pages)

Week 3: 15-21 September -Book 2 (chapters 1-12 inclusive; approx. 210 pages)

Week 4: 22-28 September -Book 2 (chapters 13-24 inclusive; approx. 180 pages)

Week 5: 29 September - 5 October -Book 3 (chapters 1-13 inclusive; approx. 210 pages)

Week 6: 6 - 12 October -Book 3 (chapters 14-30 inclusive; approx. 260 pages)

Let me know if this is okay with you... this will cut very close to my due date (11 October) so I might kinda fall off the schedule near the end but we'll see ;)

I have reserved a copy from the library. It should arrive in time for me to join in. It sounds so much less intimidating cut down into edible portions like that.

Coralie wrote: "I have reserved a copy from the library. It should arrive in time for me to join in. It sounds so much less intimidating cut down into edible portions like that."

yay!
It felt intimidating when I was holding the book last night... though after calculating total of pages per week, it really doesn't sound so bad :)
Am looking forward to chew this one through! :D

Great!! Very doable. I can't wait to discuss this with you.

woo hoo! looks like we're on then :)

I'm just not looking forward carrying this brick on the train with me despite excitedly wanting to read it ;p

I'm definitely interested, though I'm not sure how the dates will work out for me. They encompass the Jewish High Holy Days for one thing, and a week-long cruise we're taking in October for another. I have some serious prep work to do for reading from the Torah on Rosh Hashanah; and for the cruise, I'll only read this then if I can check a digital copy out from the library. I'll place a hold and hope.

Too bad I've finished Feb & March Scattershelves.

@Susan: there's no pressure at all to finishing the allocated pages in the week; you just might want to avoid the discussion thread until you have read those pages :)

Where are you going on your cruise?

& good luck with the Torah reading - I'm guessing that you read Hebrew(?)

Tien wrote:

Where are you going on your cruise?
the upper Mississippi. My husband is a huge Mark Twain fan, and it's our celebration of his recent retirement.

& good luck with the Torah reading - I'm guessing that you read Hebrew(?)
I read only after a lot of slow work and practice on whatever portion I'm doing. I'm not really very skilled at all yet. It's something I only started working on 4 or 5 years ago. My daughters both learned at the normal time, as teenagers, but I never did.

I've just been to the library to get my copy. I was going to wait until the weekend, but it is such a beautiful spring day that I needed an excuse to get out.

@Susan: that sounds like an awesome celebration for retirement! You'll have to read some Twain whilst cruising ;)

@Coralie: how many books did you actually come home with Lol

Does everyone else's copy of this book have the page numbers done strangely? Sometimes they're printed normally, sometimes as a mirror image. And I haven't been able to determine a pattern for when they're each way.
1Q
84
on the other hand, has a pattern. It's normal on even-numbered pages, and mirror-image on odd-numbered pages. And it's always right in the middle of the page, not moving arbitrarily up and down the margin like the page numbers do.

I assume it's intentional, to add to the strange feeling of things not being as they seem. But I wondered.

I noticed that but I can't find any rhyme or reason to it. I feel like they progress up and down the page but I can't figure out why they're mirror or not.

Ar least we know we haven't stepped into an alternate universe -- or if so, not alone. :)

I figure out the page numbers! They are backwards when they are below the 1Q84, and regular when they are above it. They progress up and down the side of the page and when they pass the 1Q84, they reverse.

oh, that's interesting, I don't think mine does that though... pretty sure the page numbers are very normal :p

I'm only halfway through the first week's reading so about chapter 6.

(view spoiler)[
1. I knew something was coming when 'sharp object' was mentioned in chapter 1 but was still a bit shocked when she was revealed as a cold blooded killer for hire; a professional(!)
2. A little let down at her blowing steam by alcohol & sex (seems stereotypical?) though I thought her thinning-hair-good-shaped-head-fetish was really funny. And then, I had a thought (in the middle of the night, mind you, or rather early morning when I got up to go to the bathroom) of what she'd thought of Hercule Poirot's egg-shaped-head, lol
3. I'm not quite enamoured with Tengo -so far, he seems to be typical of the Japanese male characters in fiction (that I've read anyway) who's at loose end (just like he'd mentioned, he's not exactly a teacher nor is he exactly a writer yet....)
(hide spoiler)]

Thanks Adrienne, I've been finding those numbers very distracting.

I finished chapter four today.

Adrienne wrote: "I figure out the page numbers! They are backwards when they are below the 1Q84, and regular when they are above it. They progress up and down the side of the page and when they pass the 1Q84, the..."

Good eyes! I see it now that you point it out, but it didn't occur to me at all.

I've found the book fascinating since the first word. No problems with needing to get drawn in, as with some books.

I've finished chapter 12, I so I need to wait before reading further -- or I won't be able to remember what not to talk about when we discuss it.

(view spoiler)[ I'm somewhat frustrated by not having a clue yet how the two stories of Aomame and Tengo connect. And there are so many little mysteries: the "parallel universe" shift Aomame experienced, what happened to Eri (and her parents) at the commune-turned-religion, what Tengo remembers about his mother.

I think I like Tengo a bit better than Tien expressed, especially after listening to him in the conversation with the professor. He's ok with saying what he's going to do is fraudulent, but he'll do it anyway, for his own reasons (the way Eri's book resonates with him). (hide spoiler)]

I've finished chapter 12 last night.

(view spoiler)[
I think the connection might be with that commune business; especially the military branch that got into gunfight with the police? I think that was mentioned in Aomame's POV by Tamaru first then as she went through the newspapers at the library...? (hide spoiler)]

Does anyone notice the food? They keep saying simple food, etc etc etc but I'm salivating nonetheless even when I usually read this book after dinner & before bedtime (in bed) - or is that just my pregnancy speaking? somehow, I think not...

Yeah, like, he says, "I'm just making some food for myself." And then he lists off a 5 course meal. "No big deal."

haha, Adrienne, keep in mind though that's how the Japanese (& Koreans) eat.... they have numerous little dishes like this



thinking I might get Japanese for lunch today, hhhmmm... (it's not even 9am yet!)

Ha! So much work to eat little plates of five different things. I'm not a foodie, though, so I don't love to spend time in the kitchen.

I think most of us are the same... we usually only make one main dish for dinner - even if it's 1 meat & 3 vegs (Western culture?). When I was little and lived in Indonesia, we had maids so usually dinner will include about 3 dishes (plus rice).

Not sure how much time these people actually spend in the kitchen but if I think, maybe, a few of these dishes will be made up of some sort of pickles which are ready in the fridge and they'd only have to cook rice & soup & maybe 1 dish?

My husband is half Thai. We eat rice a lot. It's super easy to make so maybe that's the secret.

I finally finished Chapter 12.

re: Sakigake commune. WOW! That place sounds scary.

Adrienne wrote: "My husband is half Thai. We eat rice a lot. It's super easy to make so maybe that's the secret."

Yes, but it's what goes with the rice that makes the meal so delicious (and is not always so easy to make).

Tien wrote: "I think the connection might be (view spoiler)[ with that commune business; especially the military branch that got into gunfight with the police? I think that was mentioned in Aomame's POV by Tamaru first then as she went through the newspapers at the library...?" (hide spoiler)]

I thought that at first, too. But when I went back to look (view spoiler)[ at the part where Aomame is first told about it, the name of the group was totally different. They still might connect up, but nothing quite as simple as being the same group. (hide spoiler)]

There was recently a Q&A thing in The Guardian with Murakami, and I am sure he said things like doing the ironing and food prep are the pieces of himself that come through in his works.

Oh snap! (view spoiler)[I thought it was the same group, too! Couldn't be that easy. (hide spoiler)]

Which I'm actually not sure if that's a spoiler, but I hid it anyway.

Adrienne wrote: "Oh snap! [spoilers removed]

Which I'm actually not sure if that's a spoiler, but I hid it anyway."

Someone else check to be sure I'm right. But if I found the right place, it seemed like the name was totally different. Though, (view spoiler)[ since we don't know much yet about the weird things that have gone on in the commune, I guess the other one could be something it spawned. (hide spoiler)]

You actually went back to check, Susan! Do you remember which chapter it was? I can try to check later tonight -if I survive today (just a bit tired from a bit of a late night ;p)

Even if the name is different, do you think timing wise, it could be the same thing?

Now that you've brought it up, I can't wait til the 2 collided so we know what the connection is :D

And btw, is anyone happy now that you know what 1Q84 means now?

I didn't think we would find out this early!

i know, I was quite surprised that it was spelt out for us!

In Chapter 12 (view spoiler)[Tengo remembers a girl in his third and fourth grade classes. (hide spoiler)] I am assuming that that was Aomame.

I can't open your hidden spoilers!

Coralie wrote: "In Chapter 12 [spoilers removed] I am assuming that that was Aomame."

oooh, you reckon? why would you assume it's Aomame?
I can't recall what specifically would give that impression?

It was probably influenced by something I read somewhere. Surely the link has to come soon as they were published as separate books and we're halfway through the first one.

Okay, I've flicked through to check.

(view spoiler)[
It is the same community.
In Aomame's chapter 9, it was mentioned that it happened on October 19, 1981. The name of the group itself wasn't mentioned; only the location (Lake Motosu in Yamanashi Prefecture)
In Tengo's chapters 10 & 12, it was said the community Akebana was located near Lake Motosu and the gunfight took place in 1981.
So I definitely think it's the same incident
(hide spoiler)]