reading notes, どちらかが彼女を殺した

どちらかが彼女を殺した～第５章～１

From page 241 to 256.

I must admit that every time that I start a new chapter, I am secretly hoping for a focus change, thinking that the narration will turn to Detective Kaga, like it did in 悪意・あくい…  But it didn’t in chapter 5.

If any fan of Hercule Poirot is reading this, you certainly know what it feels to buy one of your favourite detective’s story and wait desperately for him to make an entrance to finally understand that he won’t appear until the second half, or even worse than that, like in The Clocks… (I was traumatised by this Poirot-less Poirot story). In どちらかが彼女を殺した I am facing the same kind of deception, but it is okay since we know that Kaga is investigating, too, and we glimpse now and then his progress. Also, the fact that he works more or less against, and not with, the protagonist Yasumasa makes it much more interesting.

Anyway, here we go to a new chapter with Yasumasa!

  • 取り澄ます・とりすます to look unconcerned, to assume a composed look
  • 敷く・しく to spread out, to lay out
  • 氷解・ひょうかい melting
  • 上の空・うわのそら inattention, absent-mindedness
  • やたらに randomly, recklessly
  • 啜る・すする to sip, to slurp
  • 渋い・しぶい bitter
  • ぼそぼそ whispering
  • 目を剥く・めをむく to open wide (the eyes)
  • 幻・まぼろし phantom, vision, illusion
  • 嫌悪・けんお disgust, hate, repugnance
  • 面食らう・めんくらう to be confused, to be bewildered, to be taken aback
  • 爪先・つまさき tiptoe
  • 狙い・ねらい aim
  • 探る・さぐる to investigate, to search for, to look for
  • 合点・がてん consent, assent, understanding, comprehension
  • かきむしる to tear off, to pluck, to scratch off
  • 妄想・もうそう wild idea, delusion
  • 垢抜け・あかぬけ refinement, style
  • 堕ろす・おろす to abort, the dictionary says that it has a negative nuance
  • 念仏・ねんぶつ Buddhist prayer? I guess that here it means something like an incantation, repeating, again and again, the same phrase.
  • むっつり taciturnly, silently, gloomily
  • 見越す・みこす to anticipate, to foresee
  • 襟首・えりくび nape of neck
  • 鷲掴み・わしづかみ grabbing hold, eagle grip, tight hold.

That’s it for the beginning of chapter 5!

About

I’m learning Japanese, Korean and Chinese to read mystery novels and play video games in these languages.

Learning languages has always been one of my favourite hobbies, but I’m not a social person, I don’t like to meet new people and make friends, this is just not me. I keep hearing that languages are meant for communication, that we have to actively use them, talk to people, etc. and for a long time, I thought I was weird to learn languages just for me, just to enjoy media, culture and entertainment in a foreign language, with absolutely zero interest in communicating with natives.

Now I don’t really care what people think, and this blog helped me a lot to stop doubting myself and just do what I enjoy doing.