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.
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