Reading the Chunksters discussion

This thread is for discussing Book 2, chapters 5-8. Discussion scheduled to take place February 19-25th.

Hi Linda, I have a general question that might be a cultural issue. I think in the USA it's always been okay for people to co-author books, then put a psuedonym or both actual author names on the book. Is this something that is frowned upon in Japan? It just seems that they could have easily published 'Air Chrysalis' as a book by 2 authors, or is the contest in the book for just a single author, hence the 'cover-up'.? Also, later is the book Fuka-Eri is called Eriko Fukada. So, culturally, is one - the latter - a formal full name and Fuka-Eri just a nickname? Just some cultural questions. And did you get hungry a lot while reading this book? They keep talking about 'simple' meals but these meals sound fantastic, fresh, and carefully prepared.

I was thinking the same thing about tengo helping with the book. It sounded like he just was acting as an editor, but maybe it is different in Japan. I don’t know.

This section, I hardly seemed to notice anything that was going on with tango. I guess I was sad about something happening to his girlfriend even though she was married. The story of the cats was interesting, but I wish the conversation with his father wasn’t so vague still.

Aomame on the other hand entered into some really exciting territory. I will probably have to read ahead a little bit.

Greg wrote: "Hi Linda, I have a general question that might be a cultural issue. I think in the USA it's always been okay for people to co-author books, then put a psuedonym or both actual author names on the b..."

Just my thoughts - I inferred that Fuka-Eri had already submitted to the contest and the publisher wanted to make sure it won because it was a unique story which is why he asked Tengo to straighten it out. It had already been submitted, which is why it would have been unethical to add Tengo's name to it at that point. Purely a theory.

During this section, I keep thinking if the author is adding 'red herrings'. Mysteries do this so it would be hard to decide who the murderer is or whatever so is Hurakami doing this. I see a lot of mention of plants: the lilies in the Dowager's living room, the rubber plant that Aomame bought, the little potted plant. I feel that I am trying to connect everything because I don't think Hurakami would waste any of his writing. Every word must have a meaning.

I feel the same about the cats - You have two separate stories. 1. Aomame and the vegetarian cat. 2. Tengo and the city of cats. How are they connected? Or are they? Is it just fluff to lead the reader in the wrong direction. And, "irrevocably lost" (I think was the phrase) was used for the man in the cat city and Tengo's mother and Tengo's girlfriend. Are these clues connected to the cult and its complex?

One more question: Did anyone else think Ayumi (the cop) was murdered because she was asking questions about the cult?

I think ayumi got killed for investigating the cult too. That part made me sad. I was really starting to like her character.

Tammy Dayton wrote: "During this section, I keep thinking if the author is adding 'red herrings'. Mysteries do this so it would be hard to decide who the murderer is or whatever so is Hurakami doing this. I see a lot o..."

Tammy, I'm not sure...but I thought it unnecessarily cruel. It just hurt. Yes, she's being punished in some way.

Marie wrote: "I think ayumi got killed for investigating the cult too. That part made me sad. I was really starting to like her character."

Me too, sad. But Murakami quickly moves to a good 'love scene' of sorts in the next chapter. If he'd gone any darker at that point, I might have closed the book.

Tammy Dayton wrote: "Greg wrote: "Hi Linda, I have a general question that might be a cultural issue. I think in the USA it's always been okay for people to co-author books, then put a psuedonym or both actual author n..."

Tammy, depends. Do you recall if 1) F.E. submitted directly to the publisher, and the publisher directed the contest or 2) F.E.submitted directly to the contest and the publisher didn't run the contest. If the publisher and the contest are the same people, all okay. But if the contest is different from the publisher, surely someone would read the contest submission AND the published submission and notice the difference. Therefore, it seems to me that the contest/publisher are the same folks, in which case what difference would it make? or am i just going down a pointless road?

I liked the addition of Tengo's father into the story in this section. His way of describing people as filling a vacuum was interesting as this makes sense in the everyday would in terms of filling a space in peoples lives but in the context of this book could mean something completely different so it will be interesting to see where this goes.

I like people's theories about the cult at work in this part. I have big questions about how this group who want to give Tengo the grant, who clearly aren't who they say they are, know what they know.