Norman > Recent Status Updates

Ooh so close. This is like Misery

Im gonna bet none of it will matter. All this narrative only for him to die right? It's a bit abrupt! But we shall see

Wut

Ok so the dream must have some significance. Or is it aoyama's imagination of what amani was going through as a child or smth

Pretty descriptive sex memory. Tho in this case it seems warranted. I guess he wants us to feel the longing.

Ok so he told her how he feels. She ran away. They reconciled. He's now being told by a trusted source, someone who liked his wife, that she's either a monster or a saint. Obviously it must be monster, but as far as we see, it's all justified and explicable by trauma or something. We shall see

This guy. Something bad's gonna happen to him. She's too eager.

Someone cut off Shibata's feet. "At leas the rumor had nothing to do with Yamasaki Asami." What do you call it where the reader knows more than the protagonist? It's like watching a car crash in slow motion lol

Men fall for women who have hard histories.

Foreshadowing no doubt. She gon be some kinda crazy!

It's possible though that this murakami enjoys putting in about "sex workers." From this one as well as the In the Miso Soup, there's this matter-of-factly vibe about sex workers. Maybe it's a Japanese thing?

I like this dude's writing. It's a more fun murakami. Even when aoyama is daydreaming about women or thinking about women's legs, it feels less gratuitous than haruki's weird fixation vibes.

Also, i thought aoyama was a girl's name. Then again, i've only read aoyama in haruka murakami's book

End of the chapter about standing behind her husband, naked, holding a chicken leg "like a weapon," but what does it mean? That he didn't bother to look up from the TV at her in the mirror... he doesn't notice? She got away with it? Some sort of foreshadowing? He is a cop after all, which, I guess, is another blatant irony.

She is in control. She is aware she is in control. But she is creating a story within herself to justify it all. It is clear how innocent Jack is.

A little on the nose with the whole "pretty women can get away with it and nobody would suspect she's a fucking deviant maniac," but i get it.

These are insane thoughts. How did the author come about them? It's like one insane thing after another. Either she did some deep brainstorming or some good research... or had some personal thoughts of her own. It's so much.

This lady's crazy!

What the illegal smut is going on!!!

I do wonder: are these types of sexual hedonists this obsessive all the time? Are all of them that way? Is it from repression? Hebephilia in this case, right? Or is it just the narrative? We are only getting glimpses of the her thoughts during sexual obsession. Maybe she thinks other things? But maybe it really is an addiction or something. Chemical wiring.

I remember reading scarlet letter in AP language in 11th grade. What the hell are these 8th graders reading it for? And what's with the sex discussions in class? I don't know. It feels like it's just an expositional device. I can't not see the writing.

Man this is an uncomfortable book. Is that how the grooming really is? It seems so overt. Or is that because we know her perspective. Is jack not suspecting anything weird?

I don't know if we are supposed to be rooting for her with jack or something. Is that the point? It's like a weird villain hero thing? Trevor was just an obstacle. A plain and simple narrative device. Something to keep us occupied along this unfortunately lewd and lascivious journey.

At least the janet relationship is interesting in her revulsion. That whole bit with trevor was unrealistic tho. Is she REALLY that lustful? Or is that some weird play on Romeo and Juliet? Obviously it's the whole forbidden thing, but is there something with Trevor specifically? Or was it supposed to be unrealistic like she says? Would she really go through all these lengths and risks just for her lust? Idk

I'm trying. I really am. But it's just reading as gratuitous to me, so i'm finding myself really really skimming everything now. I don't know, maybe there's a reason for the neurotic sexual fantasy descriptions... like maybe it makes the whole experience of the book work. It just feels like some weird play on Patrick Bateman. Perhaps this is TOO transgressive for me.

She's talking about wads of "crisped in the center" tissue of some 8th grader's trash she would happily dig for if nobody were looking. Am i to continue reading?

Alright so she's a distinct predator. It reads one-dimensional so far, like as if someone is imagining a predator might be. Possibly rightfully so, but it's so direct that it feels false. It's uncomfortable and disturbing. I wonder if she's doing likd a Patrick Bateman inner monologue thing.

Alright wtf am i reading? I asked gemini for recs for western authors that i might enjoy reading. Apparently i'm on a transgressive fiction kick. I'm only a few pages into this one, and what the hell is going on? Still, i'm actually legitimately interested in reading while also being uncomfortable. I guess this was a good rec by gemini so far but dang again wtf

Snare:

Well, this one starts like some fable. Fox, mountains, some selfish dude. It eventually devolves into some craziness. Dude's son becomes the fox or something, then he abuses the son by feeding him his daughter's blood. Eventually the son impregnates his sister. Daughter dies. Son runs away with his own son. That son eats the son. Phew.

Ooh i guess i read it too superficially. So teacher lee is the one who had an affair with teacher choi's husband, which drove teacher choi to suicide. The frozen finger is teacher choi's ghost finger. Ironically, teacher lee's ghost is what caused the accident to begin with. Big spectral loop.

The Frozen Finger:

Why's it called the frozen finger? This one reads much more like a horror tale. Some sort of looping paranoia and dread. Lady in an accident, saved by an unknown, following an unknown... We're left to speculate who this voice is or what the truth actually is. I guess not knowing is the biggest fear?