Reading the Chunksters discussion

Sorry for the late posting...What are the thoughts on this week's section??

The book is turning more and more into a Kafkaesque novel. Some plot twists are totally unpredictable, but at the same time enjoyable.

The chapter with Aomame where she suddenly becomes personally involved with her potential human target is the most intriguing one. Some might say that intrigue-wise it is not essential, but I find the debate about the nature of religion quite interesting. As a humanist, I do see how people who can not accept the responsibility for their decisions and the hardships of life as part of life try to find a special meaning for their existence and the inexplicability of life. It is daunting to know that you one on one with the Universe which does not have an inherent feeling of fairness in it.
It also has an interesting commentary on the evolution of values. The good and the bad can be viewed differently with the course of time. Let us juxtapose the role of women. Earlier in the medieval times, so many beautiful, smart, and spiritually independent women were burned as witches. Now, this feminine independence turned into a powerful trend. The same is true about slavery and homosexuality. So if you read between the lines, I find this chapter the most intriguing.

I am also intrigued by a constant reference to Russian literature, namely to one of the biggest novel by Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov.

And again, the these chapters are virtually permeated by the idea of the omnipresent, omniscient, God-like Big Brother who seems to know everything and pulls the invisible strings in the 1Q84.

Now, Tengo's sexual arousement is a new raunchy twist ... :-) But it was coming, wasn't it?

This was a great section! On the one hand, we have Aomame, who even though she has an ulterior motive going on with the Leader still continues to do the job she was hired to do and works with his muscles. A very impressive display of professionalism on her part. And the conversation they end up having is just wonderful and really makes you think about good and evil and the lines between them. Zulfiya, I totally agree that the conversation that takes place between them is really interesting and adds a lot to the story. It's obvious he knows why she is really there -- I am surprised it took her so long to figure out that he knew. And he knows her term 1Q84?! Intriguing.

Then on the other hand, we have Tengo. And we finally meet his father. Poor old guy. I am so curious what he means by the vacuum (especially since I've read the next section and know that someone else uses this exact same term...) And the town of cats - what a sad story!

Ushikawa continues to be incredibly creepy, though he denies knowing anything about what happened to Tengo's girlfriend, or even that anything HAD happened to her. It seems like he is just a puppet... a very creepy puppet.

Deana wrote: "This was a great section! On the one hand, we have Aomame, who even though she has an ulterior motive going on with the Leader still continues to do the job she was hired to do and works with his m..."

Ushikawa is undeniably creepy; I even find him threatening. I also find him repulsive even there are no actual reasons so far ...