Aomame goes into detail about the quickest way to disable a man. Without hesitation, it's a quick kick to his balls. The pain is likened to the end of the world. It reminds her of the movie On the Beach. After graduating from college of p.e., she worked for a sports drink manufacturer and played on the company's women's softball team. After Tamaki's death, she quit both. She became an instructor at a sports club in Tokyo, teaching muscle training and martial arts. She drew flack from teaching her kicking technique in such an upscale establishment. The women enjoyed it, but the men were uncomfortable with it. That is what Aomame wanted. Aomame sits at a singles bar, finding few suitable men. The Dowager had been the oldest member of her self-defense class. At one point, the Dowager wants Aomame to meet at a French restaurant, where the wine and food are elegant, as is the Dowager's clothing. She wants Aomame to become her personal trainer. Aomame admits to being neither a feminist or a lesbian. She goes to Willow House twice a week for training and massage sessions. Aomame was skilled at deep tissue massage, and became a professional acupuncturist. Her fingertips had a 6th sense that could discern the subtle points of the body that controlled its function. After their sessions, they would chat over tea. Dowager asks if Aomame had ever used her kicking technique for real, and she had, with intended outcome. Dowager wonders if it would work on Tamaru. Aomame says no, because he is trained with a special presence. Dowger wants to know if Aomame ever inflicted wounds, which she had, but declines to talk about. Dowagers tells her she senses something Aomame has deep inside, which she can relate to, and says if she were to ever confide in her, she could help her out.
Aomame is approached by another woman at the bar. after some chit chat, they decide to team up for the night. This woman is interested in youger men. SHe asks Aomame if she's interested in a four-way, and she says no...for now. Aomame feels she needs to find out more about this woman before engaging in such activities. Aomame is briefly stunned to learn she's a policewoman named Ayumi. Because she is a woman, she carries no weapon and does parking enforcement. Ayumi is surprised at Aomame's knowledge of guns. She gives Aomame insight into a woman's place in the world of the male dominated police world and the difficulty in dating being in law enforcement. She prefers not to have a boyfriend, just an occasional one night stand.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Chapter 10
The train pulls into Tachikawa Station where they are to transfer. As they walk, Fuka-Eri holds Tengo's hand, seemingly devoid of feeling. Even after they board the next train, Eri asks if she can continue holding his hand. He agrees, since his Sunday panic attack had waned since holding her hand. They finally arrive at Futamatao, a remote area, free from the city clutter. A lone taxi waits and they get in. They find themselves on a narrow farm road with scary twists and turns, much like a roller coaster ride. They safely arrive at a house, with two cars parked outside. The air is amazingly fresh, almost completely silent, and the sky clear. The grounds were meticulously kept. They enter, remove their shoes. Inside, it's chilly and free of decoration. They sit in complete silence. For Tengo, time passes slowly, as it always does on Sundays. After ten minutes, a man enters. Tengo stands, but is silently commanded to sit down. The man silently gazes at Tengo, taking him all in like a camera's diaphragm. The man is plainly dressed in worn clothing. His plump lips seemed the only part that stood out. The man finally speaks and apologizes for them having to travel so far. His name is Ebisuno, translated as "field of savages", and everyone calls him Professor, even Eri. Tengo seems to recall a famous scholar with the same name. The professor seems to know much about Tengo, and comments that Tengo does not look like a math teacher, or a writer. Professor wants to discuss the rewrite. He and Tengo agree it amounts to fraud. Everything tells Tengo to withdraw, but he says he is drawn to Air Chrysalis and doesn't want anyone else to do it. He defends Komatsu's interest as someone obsessed with literature and wanting to find the once in a lifetime "real thing". Professor surmises neither Tengo nor Komatsu are in it for money or fame. He is worried that if the truth comes out, it is Eri that suffers. And, if she is presented as a novelist, her dyslexia will come out. Since Eri wants Tengo to do the rewrite, Professor agrees to go along with the plan, but feels the need to tell Tengo the story if Eri's childhood and how he became responsible for raising her. He goes back to the sixties and tells the story of his relationship with Eri's father, Tamotsu Fukada. Not really wanting to write the whole story, I'll say he ends up in a communal lifestyle, called Sakigake. It broke into two factions, the original and a militant one. Fukada stayed in the original. The two factions supported each other to survive. Fukada became leader of one and adviser to the other. No longer believing in the revolution, he continued to preach its theory. Sakigake split in two and Eri escaped to live with him. The new commune bcame known as Akebono, which Tengo has recollection of this name, too. Turns out they are the ones that staged the shoot out at Lake Motosu. Now here is where I am interested. Tengo now recalls the gun battle that Aomame seems to have no recollection of! This recollection almost brings Tengo to one of his attacks, but he quickly composes himself.
Nothing remarkable until mention of the gun battle!
Nothing remarkable until mention of the gun battle!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Chapter 9
Aomame goes to the library to research past newspapers for a glimpse into world events in 1981. The first event that caught her attention was an NHK sub fee collector who stabbed a college student with a butcher knife. She cannot comprehend that she has no recollection of such an event. She does recall a coal mine accident. Then she finds the story she is looking for, the Yamanashi gunfight with radicals where 3 officers are killed. Aomame is upset that she has no recollection of this and her face goes through a contorted transformation. She takes a deep breath, causing such noise, it startles the student in the next cubicle. It is compared to a whale rising to the surface. Here is a sea reference, which has been absent for awhile. This story eclipses the Lake Motosu incident, but she is confused as to why she can remember all of the other events at that time, except for these two stories. She theorizes that it's not she that is deranged, but the world around her. And it's not the old world, but a new, parallel, one, that of 1Q84. She must figure this out on her own. She tries to think back to when this new world had taken over. She thinks back to the cab ride and the Sinfonietta, and when she noticed the change in police paraphernalia. She goes back to the gun battle and takes furious notes. Then turns to background information on Leos Janacek. Still, she cannot come up with a connection between the gun battle and the stabbing. She tells herself she must adapt to the rules of this new world for her survival. She buys the Janacek Sinfonietta and takes it home to listen to over a glass of white wine. It brings her no new insights into her quandry. She makes a meal from meager pickings in the fridge, one that will not constipate her. Constipation ranks up there with domestic violence and fanatic religious fundamentalists. She showers, and the sight of her body makes her recall that she is about to turn 30. It will be spent in 1Q84, where she is, at present.
Other than living in two worlds, what stands out can't be mere coincidence. That one of the events she cannot remember involves an NHK fee collector, which figures so prominently in Tengo's past.
Other than living in two worlds, what stands out can't be mere coincidence. That one of the events she cannot remember involves an NHK fee collector, which figures so prominently in Tengo's past.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Chapters 7+8
Guess I didn't have much to say beyond summaries ... glad to be back into it tho =)
Chapter 7
Aomame
Quietly, So As Not to Wake the Butterfly
Aomame goes to the Willow House, a large residence surrounded by willow trees in a fashionable neighborhood. Outside is a man, Tamaru. He is a bodyguard, and deadly, but in his private life, he tinkers with gadgets and collects prog rock records. He greets Aomame and takes her to a waiting room. Aomame is a little bit early for her appointment, and they chat. He mentions the dead man in the Shibuya hotel, though Aomame denies knowing anything about that. Then Tamaru brings Aomame around back to the hothouse for her meeting.
A dowager, the owner of the house, is inside. As are many butterflies. She cultivates plants and keeps the butterflies, though they don’t live long. The dowager also makes semi-vague allusions to the dead man. She tells Aomame that they haven’t done anything wrong. Then she shows Aomame a set of photographs of the man’s wife. She is badly bruised. It turns out that the dowager shelters the wifes of abusive men after Aomame has disposed of them and has taken in Miyama’s (ex) wife.
After her meeting with the dowager, Aomame goes back to the front of the house, and sits with Tamaru for a while. He tells her of the other women that the dowager is looking after. Then Aomame asks him when the police got new uniforms and new guns. Tamaru tells Aomame that it was after the shootout at Lake Motosu in 1981, so, two years ago, which jibes with what the men at the hotel bar told Aomame. On the way out, Aomame wonders how she could have missed hearing about the Lake Motosu incident and the resulting reorganization of the police force. She had to get her thoughts straight and figure out what was going on.
Chapter 8
Tengo
Meeting New People in New Places
Tengo goes to meet Fuka-Eri at the train station. On the way we are treated to a look at Tengo’s childhood and his father’s history. It is Sunday, and Tengo doesn’t like Sundays, never has, because of how he used to accompany his father on his route to collect NHK subscription fees. Tengo knew that, among other reasons, his father liked bringing him along because it was more difficult for those that his father was collecting from to refuse him if he had his little kid in tow. Tengo didn’t like feeling like he was being used in this way. He always dreaded Sundays because of this. And so he is uneasy on this Sunday, on the train with Fuka-Eri.
They take the train out of Tokyo and go for a long way into the countryside. During the ride, Tengo learns some things about Fuka-Eri. She doesn’t like to read or write. Tengo surmises that she has dyslexia. He also figures out that she didn’t write Air Chrysalis by herself, then. Fuka-Eri confirms this, telling Tengo that Azami, the Professor’s daughter, two people she lives with, typed it up and printed it from Fuka-Eri’s dictation. She also confirms that Tengo is going to meet with the Professor.
Tengo begins to worry about his little scheme with Komatsu to rewrite Air Chrysalis. He was concerned before that it might cause a scandal if what they were up to was revealed, but now, knowing that Fuka-Eri is dyslexic, he is even more concerned should the story prove popular and Fuka-Eri becomes well-known because of it. But he feels that he is too close to it now, too involved with Air Chrysalis to abandon it. He has to see it through no matter what.
Fuka-Eri can tell Tengo is disturbed. Not only because of Sundays and what they mean to him but because of how nervous he is about his plan with Komatsu. Fuka-Eri tells him not to be afraid. She hold his hand and tells him, “Don’t be afraid. It’s not just another Sunday,” the first time he has heard her say two consecutive sentences.
Chapter 7
Aomame
Quietly, So As Not to Wake the Butterfly
Aomame goes to the Willow House, a large residence surrounded by willow trees in a fashionable neighborhood. Outside is a man, Tamaru. He is a bodyguard, and deadly, but in his private life, he tinkers with gadgets and collects prog rock records. He greets Aomame and takes her to a waiting room. Aomame is a little bit early for her appointment, and they chat. He mentions the dead man in the Shibuya hotel, though Aomame denies knowing anything about that. Then Tamaru brings Aomame around back to the hothouse for her meeting.
A dowager, the owner of the house, is inside. As are many butterflies. She cultivates plants and keeps the butterflies, though they don’t live long. The dowager also makes semi-vague allusions to the dead man. She tells Aomame that they haven’t done anything wrong. Then she shows Aomame a set of photographs of the man’s wife. She is badly bruised. It turns out that the dowager shelters the wifes of abusive men after Aomame has disposed of them and has taken in Miyama’s (ex) wife.
After her meeting with the dowager, Aomame goes back to the front of the house, and sits with Tamaru for a while. He tells her of the other women that the dowager is looking after. Then Aomame asks him when the police got new uniforms and new guns. Tamaru tells Aomame that it was after the shootout at Lake Motosu in 1981, so, two years ago, which jibes with what the men at the hotel bar told Aomame. On the way out, Aomame wonders how she could have missed hearing about the Lake Motosu incident and the resulting reorganization of the police force. She had to get her thoughts straight and figure out what was going on.
Chapter 8
Tengo
Meeting New People in New Places
Tengo goes to meet Fuka-Eri at the train station. On the way we are treated to a look at Tengo’s childhood and his father’s history. It is Sunday, and Tengo doesn’t like Sundays, never has, because of how he used to accompany his father on his route to collect NHK subscription fees. Tengo knew that, among other reasons, his father liked bringing him along because it was more difficult for those that his father was collecting from to refuse him if he had his little kid in tow. Tengo didn’t like feeling like he was being used in this way. He always dreaded Sundays because of this. And so he is uneasy on this Sunday, on the train with Fuka-Eri.
They take the train out of Tokyo and go for a long way into the countryside. During the ride, Tengo learns some things about Fuka-Eri. She doesn’t like to read or write. Tengo surmises that she has dyslexia. He also figures out that she didn’t write Air Chrysalis by herself, then. Fuka-Eri confirms this, telling Tengo that Azami, the Professor’s daughter, two people she lives with, typed it up and printed it from Fuka-Eri’s dictation. She also confirms that Tengo is going to meet with the Professor.
Tengo begins to worry about his little scheme with Komatsu to rewrite Air Chrysalis. He was concerned before that it might cause a scandal if what they were up to was revealed, but now, knowing that Fuka-Eri is dyslexic, he is even more concerned should the story prove popular and Fuka-Eri becomes well-known because of it. But he feels that he is too close to it now, too involved with Air Chrysalis to abandon it. He has to see it through no matter what.
Fuka-Eri can tell Tengo is disturbed. Not only because of Sundays and what they mean to him but because of how nervous he is about his plan with Komatsu. Fuka-Eri tells him not to be afraid. She hold his hand and tells him, “Don’t be afraid. It’s not just another Sunday,” the first time he has heard her say two consecutive sentences.
Tengo delves into his childhood. His father worked as a collector of subscription fees for NHK, and would drag Tengo along on Sundays, using him as an object to keep those owning fees from getting angry and violent. While friends and classmates did fun, childlike activities, Tengo never could. He could not play with friends, was always alone, and he resented this, and his father. His father was repatriated from Manchuria. His family was poor and hungry. They were taught to farm in a bad area, but they managed to just get by. After the Soviets invaded Manchuria, his father fled and was the only one from his farming community to make it back to Japan. He met up with a man from Manchuria who offered him the NHK job. He worked hard and was able to get insurance and move into a corporate-owned apartment. He worked his way up to the lowest spot on the totem pole. Tengo's father never read books to him, sing songs, none of the typical things parents do to have special time and bond with their children. He only repeated the story of where he came from and how he rose to his current social rank. Tengo hated hearing it. The story moves from his nameless father, to his nameless mother. Tengo knows little of her, his father shuns all questions, and only says she died shortly after his birth. Tengo is first able to recall memory of her at the age of one and a half, so he knows his father is a liar. This memory involves his mother being with a man, not his father. the only thing he seems to share with his father are dark secrets.
In his preppiest attire, Tengo meets Fuka-Eri at the train station. She was in her oddest attire. They boarded, she was her usual quiet self. After a quick nap, he asks what books she reads. She does not read. After a tedious attempt to extract details as to why, he discovers she is dyslexic. After even more interrogation, his fears are confirmed, she did not write Air Chrysalis by herself. She did so with the help of Azami, whom she lives with. Azami is the Professor's daughter, who also lives there. They are on their way to meet this Professor.
Obviously, things became so much more complicated. Tengo could not know what Komatsu's reaction would be to learn there was a 4th peg in the conspiracy. Tengo is afraid things will not go well meeting the professor. Maybe it's his fear of meeting new people on Sundays. The mere thought would bring him close to vomit. Sensing his distress, Fuka-Eri takes his hand in hers, startling him, which continues to their destination. She tries to comfort him saying first, to not be afraid, then it's not just another Sunday, to which he is surprised that she spoke two complete sentences...a first.
In his preppiest attire, Tengo meets Fuka-Eri at the train station. She was in her oddest attire. They boarded, she was her usual quiet self. After a quick nap, he asks what books she reads. She does not read. After a tedious attempt to extract details as to why, he discovers she is dyslexic. After even more interrogation, his fears are confirmed, she did not write Air Chrysalis by herself. She did so with the help of Azami, whom she lives with. Azami is the Professor's daughter, who also lives there. They are on their way to meet this Professor.
Obviously, things became so much more complicated. Tengo could not know what Komatsu's reaction would be to learn there was a 4th peg in the conspiracy. Tengo is afraid things will not go well meeting the professor. Maybe it's his fear of meeting new people on Sundays. The mere thought would bring him close to vomit. Sensing his distress, Fuka-Eri takes his hand in hers, startling him, which continues to their destination. She tries to comfort him saying first, to not be afraid, then it's not just another Sunday, to which he is surprised that she spoke two complete sentences...a first.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Chapter 7
Aomame arrives at Willow House, casually dressed. She is let in by Tamaru, a body guard with the appropriate build, and has a German Shepard that eats spinach. Willow House appears to be a haven for abused women. The owner, only known as the dowager, is in her 70's, retired from the stock market, soft-spoken, raises butterflies, and who seems to be Aomame's boss in her assassination work. Over herbal tea, she expresses her thanks for a job well done, by eliminating a violent wife beater. They had done the right thing. She gives Aomame a key, to be mailed back when through using it. They part and Aomame goes back to the front where Tamaru is. She inquires about the widow of her victim to see how she is doing. Aomame then asks Tamaru about the policemen's new uniforms and guns. He goes into a detailed explanation of a bloody shootout between police and a radical group two years ago. Aomame is very bewildered that that event had eluded her, but does not want that to show, as Tamaru would not hesitate to get rid of her, if she showed her existence was not to his employer's benefit. Aomame leaves pondering what she needs to do next to understand why her world was out of whack.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Does This Mean We’re Going Pretty Far From the City?
Tengo gets woken up early Friday morning, by a call from Komatsu. In his usual style, Komatsu does not bother with introductions or apologies. And Tengo surmises that Komatsu must have stayed up all night once he thought of a reason to call; he hadn’t woken up early just to call Tengo. Komatsu wants to know if Tengo owns a word processor. Tengo doesn’t, but he does use them at work, and knows how to operate one. Komatsu gives Tengo permission to buy himself a word processor. Komatsu wants Tengo to start rewriting Air Chrysalis right away, even though Tengo must still meet Fuka-Eri’s mystery person before she will give Tengo her permission to rewrite the story. Nevertheless, Komatsu wants Tengo to get started.
Tengo usually meets with his older girlfriend on Fridays. Today, however, she calls and says that she isn’t feeling right, meaning, she is on her period. So, she says she will be unable to meet. Tengo is unconcerned because once he has decided to throw himself into the rewrite, he wants to focus on it. “Ideas were welling up inside him like life-forms stirring in a primordial sea.”
Tengo goes and buys a word processor, a portable version of the ones he uses at work. Then he starts rewriting Air Chrysalis. His process is to type in a chunk, and constantly revise it, adding here and subtracting there, until the writing reaches a kind of equilibrium, and no more can be added or taken away. Then, he prints out what he’s got so far, and does some editing by hand. This is a different and necessary way of editing writing. Tengo must go through both steps - the digital editing and the analog editing. After about five hours, Tengo needs to clear his head. But, he realizes that he has made good progress, the novella has bulked up, but Tengo has crafted the writing into something a little more cohesive, with a more natural flow.
Tengo goes to buy groceries for dinner. When he gets back, Fuka-Eri calls. She confirms the time and location of where Tengo is to meet her acquaintance on Sunday. She tells Tengo that he must buy a train ticket to anywhere, and then they will adjust the price when they end up wherever they are going. Tengo asks Fuka-Eri how closely she is connected to the events depicted in Air Chrysalis - the blind goat, being locked in isolation for ten days. Fuka-Eri says she does not talk about the goat.
Tengo usually meets with his older girlfriend on Fridays. Today, however, she calls and says that she isn’t feeling right, meaning, she is on her period. So, she says she will be unable to meet. Tengo is unconcerned because once he has decided to throw himself into the rewrite, he wants to focus on it. “Ideas were welling up inside him like life-forms stirring in a primordial sea.”
Tengo goes and buys a word processor, a portable version of the ones he uses at work. Then he starts rewriting Air Chrysalis. His process is to type in a chunk, and constantly revise it, adding here and subtracting there, until the writing reaches a kind of equilibrium, and no more can be added or taken away. Then, he prints out what he’s got so far, and does some editing by hand. This is a different and necessary way of editing writing. Tengo must go through both steps - the digital editing and the analog editing. After about five hours, Tengo needs to clear his head. But, he realizes that he has made good progress, the novella has bulked up, but Tengo has crafted the writing into something a little more cohesive, with a more natural flow.
Tengo goes to buy groceries for dinner. When he gets back, Fuka-Eri calls. She confirms the time and location of where Tengo is to meet her acquaintance on Sunday. She tells Tengo that he must buy a train ticket to anywhere, and then they will adjust the price when they end up wherever they are going. Tengo asks Fuka-Eri how closely she is connected to the events depicted in Air Chrysalis - the blind goat, being locked in isolation for ten days. Fuka-Eri says she does not talk about the goat.
A Profession Requiring Specialized Techniques and Training
After the assassination of Mr. Miyama, Aomame takes a cab to another hotel, for a drink. She needs to settle her nerves, a little. She orders a drink, reads her book on the South Manchurian Railway Company, and ponders whether or not she looks too much like a prostitute.
Eventually, a man sits down at the bar, close to Aomame. He is just the type of man she likes - middle-aged with thinning hair. He orders a Cutty Sark. Aomame decides she is going to hook up with this guy, so she orders a Cutty Sark as well, and then strikes up a conversation with the man about Cutty Sark. He likes that brand because of its logo, the sailboat.
The conversation turns to policemen. Aomame asks about changes in their attire and weapons, and the man tells her that he remembers reading about it, but something like two years ago. Aomame asks the bartender to confirm what the man says, and the bartender is able to corroborate the information, because his brother is a policeman, and is always complaining about things related to the job.
It turns out the man owns a boat of his own. But Aomame tires of chit-chatting with the guy and all of a sudden asks him how large his cock is. The man is taken aback, but recovers, and in short order, Aomame is in his room with him. She is pleased to discover that the man was accurate in his approximation. Afterwards, she turns on the news to see if there is any mention of a dead man being discovered in the Shibuya hotel.
- The man and the bartender are more informed about things such as policemen’s uniforms than I would have thought. It seems like something people here wouldn’t have the slightest idea about, or a detail they would never notice, even though they might see policemen every day. And that the man could recall the information from two years previous. And that the bartender’s brother is a policeman. Bit of a coincidence.
- “There was a great variety of news stories …”
Murakami enjoys keeping the reader on their toes as much as he does his characters. The topics covered in this chapter bounce all over the place - Aomame arrives at the hotel, we get a brief history lesson on turn-of-the-century train lines, Aomame chats up the man, then she asks about his cock, Murakami details the breadth of news from all over the world that happened that day. And although Tengo has done a few things over the course of a few days, all of Aomame’s chapters have happened over the course of a few hours, and she’s gone from a taxi, to an assassination, to a casual hook-up, and reminisced about a lesbian experience, read a history book, and caught up on the daily news.
Eventually, a man sits down at the bar, close to Aomame. He is just the type of man she likes - middle-aged with thinning hair. He orders a Cutty Sark. Aomame decides she is going to hook up with this guy, so she orders a Cutty Sark as well, and then strikes up a conversation with the man about Cutty Sark. He likes that brand because of its logo, the sailboat.
The conversation turns to policemen. Aomame asks about changes in their attire and weapons, and the man tells her that he remembers reading about it, but something like two years ago. Aomame asks the bartender to confirm what the man says, and the bartender is able to corroborate the information, because his brother is a policeman, and is always complaining about things related to the job.
It turns out the man owns a boat of his own. But Aomame tires of chit-chatting with the guy and all of a sudden asks him how large his cock is. The man is taken aback, but recovers, and in short order, Aomame is in his room with him. She is pleased to discover that the man was accurate in his approximation. Afterwards, she turns on the news to see if there is any mention of a dead man being discovered in the Shibuya hotel.
- The man and the bartender are more informed about things such as policemen’s uniforms than I would have thought. It seems like something people here wouldn’t have the slightest idea about, or a detail they would never notice, even though they might see policemen every day. And that the man could recall the information from two years previous. And that the bartender’s brother is a policeman. Bit of a coincidence.
- “There was a great variety of news stories …”
Murakami enjoys keeping the reader on their toes as much as he does his characters. The topics covered in this chapter bounce all over the place - Aomame arrives at the hotel, we get a brief history lesson on turn-of-the-century train lines, Aomame chats up the man, then she asks about his cock, Murakami details the breadth of news from all over the world that happened that day. And although Tengo has done a few things over the course of a few days, all of Aomame’s chapters have happened over the course of a few hours, and she’s gone from a taxi, to an assassination, to a casual hook-up, and reminisced about a lesbian experience, read a history book, and caught up on the daily news.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Chapter 5
Aomame goes to a bar after doing the dirty deed. Turns out, she realizes she is a high-class hooker on the prowl. With full knowledge of how the evening would end, she confidently goes through the motions to find the right one. Apparently it takes alcohol, thinning hair, and a well-shaped head, like Sean Connery's. She sees just the right man to set her heart racing, something you would not expect from a prostitute. After a failed attempt to get his attention, she cuts to the chase with "You like Cutty Sark?". After the obligatory chit chat, he still could not guess her line of work, for that moment. She did ask him if policemen's uniforms and guns had changed recently. Turns out, the change to a casual jacket and automatic pistols and come at least two years prior. A few more references to the sea with Cutty Sark and sailboats. Then she Cut through the Sark and straight to the size of his package. They discuss what is to happen next and Aomame's face goes through her transformation. More back and forth, she explains she wants sex not even for money. They go to his room. They banter about whether it's more difficult to be a man or a woman. They have sex, and afterwards, she is taken by his neck and how easy it would be to do him in, too. Since he was only tremendously boring, it wasn't deserving of death.
She watches the news, there was a great variety of news stories, but no report of a body in a Shibuya hotel. While her conquest lay asleep, she gathered her clothing and left.
What does this all mean? Waiting for RWM to weigh in.
She watches the news, there was a great variety of news stories, but no report of a body in a Shibuya hotel. While her conquest lay asleep, she gathered her clothing and left.
What does this all mean? Waiting for RWM to weigh in.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Some Changed Facts
Oops, forgot to put up my post for Chapter 3.
Aomame climbs down the maintenance stairway to street level. Along the way, she remembers the two times from her childhood when she had a lesbian experience with a friend of her's, another player on the high school softball team. The memories comes to her unbidden, and once she starts thinking about it, she can't stop, like how once Tengo starts recollecting the memory of his mother, he is overcome with it. When she reaches the ground, she finds that she is locked within what used to be some kind of enclosure for road workers. identifying the detritus as that left by bums, and that they aren't around, she concludes that there must be an easy way out, and eventually finds it. From there, she takes the subway to a hotel.
She freshens up inside the bathroom and makes herself ready for whatever it is she has come to do. Whatever it is requires ruthlessness, however. Aomame goes up to the fourth floor, takes a clipboard out of her bag, and knocks on door 426. She pretends to be part of the hotel staff come to check on a faulty air conditioning unit and the man inside allows her entry. One Mr. Miyama. After pretending to check out the AC unit, Aomame tells Miyama that there is something on the back of his neck, can she check it out? He assents and she gets him to bend his head forward, exposing a sensitive area on the back of his neck. She feels for the right spot and then takes a specially constructed knife (it resembles an ice pick) out of her bag. She removes a piece of cork capping the point and stabs it into Miyama's neck. The exact spot where she stabs him hits the part of his brain that causes his heart to stop immediately. No autopsy will be done because it will appear to be a simple heart attack.
Aomame has come to kill Miyama because he beat his wife with a golf club. Well, that is the reason the reader is supposed to assume, I guess. How Aomame learned everything about Miyama, and the details of the hotel and the room, her knowledge of assassination techniques, and the means of accomplishing it without getting caught, are still left unanswered. It isn't entirely clear why she kills or if she works as a contract killer for a third party. So the fact that Miyama beat his wife may not be the only reason for his assassination, nor may it even be true.
Afterwards, Aomame composes herself and leaves the room. She is once again posing as just a regular businesswoman.
"She glanced at her watch. The time was still okay, but she couldn't go on hanging around in this place forever."
This is a great way to recall the very recent experience of having dates fly through the air as if ripped off a calendar - past, present, and future. But now Aomame is grounded, literally and figuratively.
"As someone who had to move stealthily, anonymously, behind the scenes in the big city, she felt at one with them."
Coming before she arrives at the hotel, and before we meet Mr. Miyama, this reads as another cryptic reference to whatever shady business Aomame is involved in. There's another incident where she notices a policeman's uniform and his pistol. When she first sees the policeman, she tenses up, a natural reaction, like seeing a cop car in your rear view mirror and having that moment of panic that you are about to be pulled over. So this is a normal reaction. But then a lot of evidence is given that Aomame is not only very aware of cops, but knows great detail about their uniforms and equipment and firearms. Which would seem a strange hobby. So what is she up to?
There are more sea references in this chapter. We'll see if this continues to be a running theme throughout the book, when it comes to Aomame.
- "Snug though her miniskirt was, it filled like a sail with the occasional strong gust from below ..."
- "Listening to the racket (not that she wanted to listen, but she was in no position to be covering her ears), she began to feel almost seasick."
- "... the slight discomfort, like seasickness ..."
- "... listening to the sound like distant surf ..."
- "Marine-blue shirt."
Aomame climbs down the maintenance stairway to street level. Along the way, she remembers the two times from her childhood when she had a lesbian experience with a friend of her's, another player on the high school softball team. The memories comes to her unbidden, and once she starts thinking about it, she can't stop, like how once Tengo starts recollecting the memory of his mother, he is overcome with it. When she reaches the ground, she finds that she is locked within what used to be some kind of enclosure for road workers. identifying the detritus as that left by bums, and that they aren't around, she concludes that there must be an easy way out, and eventually finds it. From there, she takes the subway to a hotel.
She freshens up inside the bathroom and makes herself ready for whatever it is she has come to do. Whatever it is requires ruthlessness, however. Aomame goes up to the fourth floor, takes a clipboard out of her bag, and knocks on door 426. She pretends to be part of the hotel staff come to check on a faulty air conditioning unit and the man inside allows her entry. One Mr. Miyama. After pretending to check out the AC unit, Aomame tells Miyama that there is something on the back of his neck, can she check it out? He assents and she gets him to bend his head forward, exposing a sensitive area on the back of his neck. She feels for the right spot and then takes a specially constructed knife (it resembles an ice pick) out of her bag. She removes a piece of cork capping the point and stabs it into Miyama's neck. The exact spot where she stabs him hits the part of his brain that causes his heart to stop immediately. No autopsy will be done because it will appear to be a simple heart attack.
Aomame has come to kill Miyama because he beat his wife with a golf club. Well, that is the reason the reader is supposed to assume, I guess. How Aomame learned everything about Miyama, and the details of the hotel and the room, her knowledge of assassination techniques, and the means of accomplishing it without getting caught, are still left unanswered. It isn't entirely clear why she kills or if she works as a contract killer for a third party. So the fact that Miyama beat his wife may not be the only reason for his assassination, nor may it even be true.
Afterwards, Aomame composes herself and leaves the room. She is once again posing as just a regular businesswoman.
"She glanced at her watch. The time was still okay, but she couldn't go on hanging around in this place forever."
This is a great way to recall the very recent experience of having dates fly through the air as if ripped off a calendar - past, present, and future. But now Aomame is grounded, literally and figuratively.
"As someone who had to move stealthily, anonymously, behind the scenes in the big city, she felt at one with them."
Coming before she arrives at the hotel, and before we meet Mr. Miyama, this reads as another cryptic reference to whatever shady business Aomame is involved in. There's another incident where she notices a policeman's uniform and his pistol. When she first sees the policeman, she tenses up, a natural reaction, like seeing a cop car in your rear view mirror and having that moment of panic that you are about to be pulled over. So this is a normal reaction. But then a lot of evidence is given that Aomame is not only very aware of cops, but knows great detail about their uniforms and equipment and firearms. Which would seem a strange hobby. So what is she up to?
There are more sea references in this chapter. We'll see if this continues to be a running theme throughout the book, when it comes to Aomame.
- "Snug though her miniskirt was, it filled like a sail with the occasional strong gust from below ..."
- "Listening to the racket (not that she wanted to listen, but she was in no position to be covering her ears), she began to feel almost seasick."
- "... the slight discomfort, like seasickness ..."
- "... listening to the sound like distant surf ..."
- "Marine-blue shirt."
If That is What You Want to Do
Tengo is woken up in the middle of the night by Komatsu. Tengo has trouble going back to sleep when he’s woken up, and this really irritates him, and he’s told Komatsu not to call so late, but it hasn’t sunk in. Komatsu says he understands, but he does it anyway. So, Komatsu has talked to Fuka-Eri about Tengo’s rewrite of Air Chrysalis, and Fuka-Eri wants to meet Tengo, and have a conversation with him. Komatsu tells Tengo that he’s already set up a reservation at a cafe on Sunday and to meet Fuka-Eri there.
On the way, Tengo buys some books. He arrives a little early and starts one while he waits for Fuka-Eri, who is a little late. She finally arrives. Tengo is taken by her beauty, but not in a sexual way. There’s just something about her, Fuka-Eri’s big eyes and long straight hair. She also has a peculiar way of talking - terse sentences and doesn’t interrogatively inflect questions, leaving Tengo to figure out when she is asking him for more information. Tengo brings up Air Chrysalis and Fuka-Eri doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about. Turns out, that wasn’t the title she gave to her story and she wasn’t the one who submitted it to the competition. But, Tengo lays out the plan to rewrite her novella and Fuka-Eri agrees.
After the meal, Tengo calls Komatsu to give him the news. Komatsu is excited and happy that Tengo was able to convince Fuka-Eri to agree to the plan, but Tengo assures Komatsu that Fuka-Eri arrived at her decision all on her own. Tengo tells Komatsu that there is something about Fuka-Eri that unnerves him, like she’s living in another world. Tengo alluded to the “Little People” from her story and Fuka-Eri tells Tengo that they are real. So, there is either something very strange or mystical about Fuka-Eri. Komatsu says that by rewriting Air Chrysalis, Tengo will be the bridge between the real world and Fuka-Eri’s world.
On the way, Tengo buys some books. He arrives a little early and starts one while he waits for Fuka-Eri, who is a little late. She finally arrives. Tengo is taken by her beauty, but not in a sexual way. There’s just something about her, Fuka-Eri’s big eyes and long straight hair. She also has a peculiar way of talking - terse sentences and doesn’t interrogatively inflect questions, leaving Tengo to figure out when she is asking him for more information. Tengo brings up Air Chrysalis and Fuka-Eri doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about. Turns out, that wasn’t the title she gave to her story and she wasn’t the one who submitted it to the competition. But, Tengo lays out the plan to rewrite her novella and Fuka-Eri agrees.
After the meal, Tengo calls Komatsu to give him the news. Komatsu is excited and happy that Tengo was able to convince Fuka-Eri to agree to the plan, but Tengo assures Komatsu that Fuka-Eri arrived at her decision all on her own. Tengo tells Komatsu that there is something about Fuka-Eri that unnerves him, like she’s living in another world. Tengo alluded to the “Little People” from her story and Fuka-Eri tells Tengo that they are real. So, there is either something very strange or mystical about Fuka-Eri. Komatsu says that by rewriting Air Chrysalis, Tengo will be the bridge between the real world and Fuka-Eri’s world.
- I really liked how Murakami describes the way Fuka-Eri talks, how she it's like she doesn't put question marks at the end of questions. It seems a little strange at first, having Murakami describe it to you, but how else would he convey that information? In a movie, it might be possible to tell from listening to how the actress enunciates her lines. Or in some way the shot is framed by the director. But in the book, the only way is for Murakami to tell you that's how it is. I kind of like that.
Chapter 4
Tengo and Fuka-Eri meet. He is smitten with her in strange ways. She agrees for Tengo to rewrite her story. She wants him to meet a mysterious person. I am going to reread it. Nothing really stands out, atm.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Chapter 3
Not really surprised she wasn't meeting Tengo, nor that Aomame is an assassin. A couple of more sea comparisons and an acute awareness of the policeman's different uniform and weapon.
The chapter starts with a lesbian encounter, which blends into the description of how delicate the fingers need to be in her line of work.
Mr. Miyama is wary of letting her into the room to check the air conditioner, but doesn't hesitate to bow and give her access to his neck.
Hopefully she can get home more easily than it took her to get there.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
1Q84 Chapter 2
Something Else In Mind
Tengo, a short story writer, is in a cafe with this agent slash mentor, Komatsu. At the very beginning, Tengo is overcome by the first thing he can remember from his life, a memory that he experiences often, from a third-person perspective: he sees himself, in a crib, maybe a year-and-a-half old, while his mother takes off her blouse, and a man, not Tengo's father, sucks on her breast. Tengo always has a kind of panic attack when he recollects this, something that Komatsu has experienced often in Tengo's presence.
Tengo has written several short stories which have been vetted by Komatsu, who is an editor at a magazine and a judge of a prize given to short stories. Tengo is a one of the readers that sifts through all of the submissions, finding ones for a long list to pass on to Komatsu, who is one of the editors that pares the submissions down to a short list.
Tengo and Komatsu are metting to discuss a particular story, Air Chrysalis, by Fuka-Eri, a pen-name for Fukada Eriko. Komatsu has an interesting proposition for Tengo - he wants Tengo to rewrite Air Chrysalis, which Komatsu believes has amateurish writing but displays a certain kind of talent, that when combined with Tengo's own skills, could be turned into something fantastic.
I didn't notice any strong themes, not like the sea theme from the previous chapter. However, the way Tengo's memory is described washing over him and subsuming him is reminiscent to drowning, and also how Aomame sinks into the Janacek music. There didn't seem to be anything enigmatic about Tengo, aside from his strange memory, which even he admits may not be true.
Tengo, a short story writer, is in a cafe with this agent slash mentor, Komatsu. At the very beginning, Tengo is overcome by the first thing he can remember from his life, a memory that he experiences often, from a third-person perspective: he sees himself, in a crib, maybe a year-and-a-half old, while his mother takes off her blouse, and a man, not Tengo's father, sucks on her breast. Tengo always has a kind of panic attack when he recollects this, something that Komatsu has experienced often in Tengo's presence.
Tengo has written several short stories which have been vetted by Komatsu, who is an editor at a magazine and a judge of a prize given to short stories. Tengo is a one of the readers that sifts through all of the submissions, finding ones for a long list to pass on to Komatsu, who is one of the editors that pares the submissions down to a short list.
Tengo and Komatsu are metting to discuss a particular story, Air Chrysalis, by Fuka-Eri, a pen-name for Fukada Eriko. Komatsu has an interesting proposition for Tengo - he wants Tengo to rewrite Air Chrysalis, which Komatsu believes has amateurish writing but displays a certain kind of talent, that when combined with Tengo's own skills, could be turned into something fantastic.
I didn't notice any strong themes, not like the sea theme from the previous chapter. However, the way Tengo's memory is described washing over him and subsuming him is reminiscent to drowning, and also how Aomame sinks into the Janacek music. There didn't seem to be anything enigmatic about Tengo, aside from his strange memory, which even he admits may not be true.
Chapter 2
I believe Aomame is the author of "Air Chrysals" and Tengo will rewrite it, if Komatsu has his way.
1Q84 Chapter 1
Don't Let Appearances Fool You
Aomame (her name means "green peas"), thirty years old. She is in the back of a cab, on the Tokyo metropolitan expressway, stuck in traffic. Janacek's Sinfonietto is playing on the radio, a piece of music she recognizes. She is a student of history, always able to memorize and recall dates with ease. She wonders what Janacek would have thought of somebody listening to his music nearly sixty years later. At the time, no one in Czechoslovakia (where Janacek is from) knew what was about to happen re: WW2. Similarly, in Japan, in 1926, the emperor would die and with him, the era. No one could have known any of this.
The driver of the taxi doesn't think that Aomame will make her appointment, forty-five minutes hence. There must be an accident up ahead and it is having a horrible effect on the traffic. He says that if they were on the street, she could get out and take the subway, alas, they are on the expressway. But! There is a little-known maintenance stairway at the turnout just ahead that she could use to get down to street level and then find her way to a nearby subway station. Aomame takes his advice, pays for the fare thus far, and gets out of the cab. She surveys the surrounding traffic, but if anyone notices her, she either does not see, or doesn't care. She has protected herself since childhood by being inconspicuous, and although she is doing something out of the ordinary now, she is trying not to be noticed. But, the taxi driver warns her: doing something new and unplanned may change the circumstances and anything could be different afterwards. However, there is only one reality, so she shouldn't let appearances fool her. Aomame takes off her shoes and coat to climb over the low barrier blocking the stairway and climbs down.
There is a sea theme going on in this chapter. We'll see how this might continue to recur in Aomame chapters. Here are some examples:
"... she felt like a lonely castaway on the open sea."
"... fleet cab." This might actually be how a taxi is referred to within the company. Still, though.
"... aircraft carrier on a stormy sea."
"Her eyes had the cool, vigilant stare of a superior deck officer."
Not sure who Aomame is going to meet or what her business is. There is an allusion to a sharp object in her bag, though. And she protects herself by not being noticed. So she slips in under people's radar. Is she involved in some shady business?
Other notes:
"There's always only one reality."
"As she listened to the long recorded applause, it sounded less like
applause and more like an endless Martian sandstorm."
Awesome simile there. Murakami makes a lot of references to being on
water in this chapter, being on Mars is something different, or maybe riffing on
whether or not there is water, or life, on Mars.
Expanding my vocabulary:
Vicissitude
Regular change or succession from one thing to another, or one part of a cycle to the next; alternation;
mutual succession; interchange. (often plural) a change, especially in one's life or fortunes.
Paucity
Fewness in number; a small number.
Smallness in size or amount; meagerness.
Aomame (her name means "green peas"), thirty years old. She is in the back of a cab, on the Tokyo metropolitan expressway, stuck in traffic. Janacek's Sinfonietto is playing on the radio, a piece of music she recognizes. She is a student of history, always able to memorize and recall dates with ease. She wonders what Janacek would have thought of somebody listening to his music nearly sixty years later. At the time, no one in Czechoslovakia (where Janacek is from) knew what was about to happen re: WW2. Similarly, in Japan, in 1926, the emperor would die and with him, the era. No one could have known any of this.
The driver of the taxi doesn't think that Aomame will make her appointment, forty-five minutes hence. There must be an accident up ahead and it is having a horrible effect on the traffic. He says that if they were on the street, she could get out and take the subway, alas, they are on the expressway. But! There is a little-known maintenance stairway at the turnout just ahead that she could use to get down to street level and then find her way to a nearby subway station. Aomame takes his advice, pays for the fare thus far, and gets out of the cab. She surveys the surrounding traffic, but if anyone notices her, she either does not see, or doesn't care. She has protected herself since childhood by being inconspicuous, and although she is doing something out of the ordinary now, she is trying not to be noticed. But, the taxi driver warns her: doing something new and unplanned may change the circumstances and anything could be different afterwards. However, there is only one reality, so she shouldn't let appearances fool her. Aomame takes off her shoes and coat to climb over the low barrier blocking the stairway and climbs down.
There is a sea theme going on in this chapter. We'll see how this might continue to recur in Aomame chapters. Here are some examples:
"... she felt like a lonely castaway on the open sea."
"... fleet cab." This might actually be how a taxi is referred to within the company. Still, though.
"... aircraft carrier on a stormy sea."
"Her eyes had the cool, vigilant stare of a superior deck officer."
Not sure who Aomame is going to meet or what her business is. There is an allusion to a sharp object in her bag, though. And she protects herself by not being noticed. So she slips in under people's radar. Is she involved in some shady business?
Other notes:
"There's always only one reality."
"As she listened to the long recorded applause, it sounded less like
applause and more like an endless Martian sandstorm."
Awesome simile there. Murakami makes a lot of references to being on
water in this chapter, being on Mars is something different, or maybe riffing on
whether or not there is water, or life, on Mars.
Expanding my vocabulary:
Vicissitude
Regular change or succession from one thing to another, or one part of a cycle to the next; alternation;
mutual succession; interchange. (often plural) a change, especially in one's life or fortunes.
Paucity
Fewness in number; a small number.
Smallness in size or amount; meagerness.
Monday, January 2, 2012
1Q84
Going to start reading 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami. Will post thoughts, observations, and general progress updates on this blog.
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