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.