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 BCCJillster |
OUT-PART 1 SPOILERS --p170 |
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11/03/07 08:51 AM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE
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I asked Chris where she would split this book for discussion, since it seems to need more than waiting til the end.
THIS PART will discuss up to the beginnning of DARK DREAMS, in my book on p 171, in Chris' p 220 Kind of a shocking book, but intriguing. I'll be back when I get further in.
Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving, you're standing still and the rest of the
world is surging ahead....leading "still" lives, waiting.
Still Life, Louise Penny, p 140 |
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BCCJillster |
#1 | |||
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11/03/07 04:45 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE
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I'm beginning to wonder if the underlying theory of this book, or the author's outlook, is that people are essentially rotten and just below the
surface everything is evil.
It didn't take much digging to get all the people I've met so far to loose their basest selves. Kazuo attacks women when he's not putting himself through some kind of rigorous trial to distract him (he's the Brazilian who waylaid Masuko. The women all caved very quickly. Yamamoto did deserve to die. Satake, well, he may be the most debased and upsetting of all. So where are we going? Yipes. I can't look away, and I hope the worst of the gore is over, but I hope someone redeems themselves. Of all of them, it might just be Satake--at least he seems to control his demons so far. kind of glad I have a Snoopy outlook instead of all this darkness. eeeps
Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving, you're standing still and the rest of the
world is surging ahead....leading "still" lives, waiting.
Still Life, Louise Penny, p 140 |
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 xmaystarx |
#2 | |||
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11/04/07 09:24 PM BCC BookieMonster |
You and I think it was Jane in another thread who said all the characters are bad. I had to think about this for a little while to decide if I agreed with you.
I'm not sure if I think Yayoi (?sp) is bad or just driven to do something bad by putting up with the abuse and hijinks of her husband. Does this make her a
bad person? And Kuniko just helped a friend, though having the ability to cut up a body like that must mean there is a touch of evil in her but overall she
seems like a decent person. The blackmailing friend with the loans, the other Y I think is very mean and evil!
Courtney
Currently reading: I Know this much is True by Wally Lamb and Monsters of Templeton! |
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someonegetchristine |
#3 | |||
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11/05/07 02:03 AM BCC BookieMonster |
I felt that Satake was going to implode - he seemed such a controlled individual. Like Masako he has 'demons' other dark things in his life. We know
what Satake's darkness consists of, but Masako's dark side is difficult to determine, its not all that clear what is driving her, other than a fetish
for tiled bathrooms and corpses (she wasn't desperate for money, unlike Yoshie). There were numerous references in this first section to Masako's
earlier life during which an event happened to her to make her like she was, but we don't learn much about her prior to working for the credit company
where she knew Janouchi. Even at the end of the novel I still didn't feel this aspect of her personality was described fully. Isn't it odd that Yahoi
comes through this first section unscathed - I really thought that Imai and Kinugsa were turning up the heat when interviewing her about Kentji's death.
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BCCJillster |
#4 | |||
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11/05/07 09:10 AM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE
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Courtney, it's not that I think they're all bad; my feeling is that the author sees everyone as bad immediately under the surface. After all, she had
choices other than killing her husband, and she did seem to relish the act of retribution. It's not said whether the Japanese legal system has a
self-defense option, or whether the legal system is any more fair to women than society, but she certainly turned immediately to the darker options.
Yoshie is the most despicable at this point for me--completely amoral, lazy, and stupid to boot. Argh. Satake and Masako are the most complex and interesting characters. Satake intrigues me because of his self-awareness and ability to render his fetishes almost harmless once he realized just how god-awful they are. He limits his sexual inclinations to fantasies so no one else is harmed, including him. Mind you, I'm not saying he's likable, just intriguing. Masako--I hope for her growth; she doesn't seem to have left herself anywhere to improve her life. She seems the most well-intentioned, but what is she doing with her life? Maybe this will wake her up? Given the author's outlook so far, I'm not sure I want to see what happens to her. This book is a bit like the proverbial accident: I can't look away but i can't say I'm enjoying it either.
Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving, you're standing still and the rest of the
world is surging ahead....leading "still" lives, waiting.
Still Life, Louise Penny, p 140 |
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jodijoy |
#5 | |||
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11/05/07 09:27 AM BCC ZEN Bookie MASTER |
Wait, isn't it Kunicha who is lazy and stupid? Yoshi is the "Skipper", with the mother-in-law.
I agree with you Jill about the accident... I don't enjoy the book, but I've kept reading it. Not sure if that will continue though. It's so dispiriting.
Draco Dormien Nuquam Titillandus" --- "Never tickle a sleeping dragon."
(Hogwarts motto)
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xmaystarx |
#6 | |||
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11/05/07 11:43 AM BCC BookieMonster |
Which one is the on one with the loans, who went snooping around and got herself involved that way? I thought that she was the other Y name. Masako is the
"leader" who initiated the chopping, Yayoi is the wife who did the strangling, and then there is yoshi and Kuniko, those are harder for me to keep
separated and I don't have my book right now.
Courtney
Currently reading: I Know this much is True by Wally Lamb and Monsters of Templeton! |
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BCCJillster |
#7 | |||
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11/05/07 12:52 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE
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Yup I got the names twisted: it is Kuniko who is lazy and stupid (the one with the Golf car)
Yoshi is the widow struggling to take care of the MIL and now the grandson--the Skipper I think I would have opted out in the first 50 pp if this wasn't a group read. But I'll finish it--I'm into the second half now.
Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving, you're standing still and the rest of the
world is surging ahead....leading "still" lives, waiting.
Still Life, Louise Penny, p 140 |
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magusachan |
#8 | |||
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11/08/07 01:48 PM |
xmaystarx wrote:
currently reading:
"Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson (ARWZ Summer Group Read '08) finished recently: "The Other Side of The Bridge" by Mary Lawson (!) |
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BCCJillster |
#9 | |||
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11/08/07 03:05 PM BCC ZEN BOOKIE COOKIE
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RIGHT Kuniko is the one who owes all that money; her husband left and Jumonji comes to collect from her.
Life is change. If you aren't growing and evolving, you're standing still and the rest of the
world is surging ahead....leading "still" lives, waiting.
Still Life, Louise Penny, p 140 |
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xmaystarx |
#10 | |||
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11/08/07 03:09 PM BCC BookieMonster |
Kuniko = don't like her one bit!!! Grrr
Courtney
Currently reading: I Know this much is True by Wally Lamb and Monsters of Templeton! |
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MizPam |
#11 | |||
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11/09/07 11:30 AM BCC BookieMonster |
I know. She's a mess and I want to slap her.
"The pleasures provided by books and reading are enhanced many times over in the context of a successful club..." Martha Rosen
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magusachan |
#12 | |||
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11/09/07 06:13 PM |
xmaystarx wrote:
currently reading:
"Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson (ARWZ Summer Group Read '08) finished recently: "The Other Side of The Bridge" by Mary Lawson (!) |
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OK .. some help:
