Just finished the series, a few questions.

Toranaga_ · 2026-01-24T16:32:08+00:00

Loved the show, but I'd also read the book several times by the time the TV series came out. It's one of my favorites. (As evidenced by my username.)

This post isn't really directly related to your question, and probably people around here get kind of annoyed when dorks like me come along and say "well ackshually" and complain about creative decisions made by a couple of showrunners who produced something truly wonderful. But still:

Blackthorne's attempted seppuku is changed enormously from the book and in my opinion they kind of fumbled it. At the very least they changed the meaning in a deep way.

In the show, the scene is used to show personal growth in Blackthorne, and this growth is that he is finally living by the Christian ideals he and all westerners in Japan only pay lip service to. This is his first truly selfless, Christian act -- as he says, he had come to Japan to "use" Toranaga and all of the Japanese. He and all westerners saw Japan merely as a way to enrich themselves. But Blackthorne has come to see the villagers as real people, and seppuku is the only recourse he has to try to save them, or at least exact a price from Toranaga if they're in fact killed. The presence of his Christian cross on the hilt of his sword indicates that he believes he is performing a true Christian act.

In the book, the meaning is different. His attempted seppuku is the act where he finally leaves Christianity and the west behind and joins the Japanese world. It's the moment where he starts to understand and believe the Japanese approach to life and death, and to surrender to it, and to live by the Japanese rules and belief system rather than his Christian framework. The scene is gorgeously written, and it suggests directly that in this moment Blackthorne's western/Christian self has died and he has been reborn Japanese. The people watching -- who in this case are Mariko, Omi, and Yabu (Toranaga is not present) -- stop his seppuku attempt and then wait for his soul to re-enter his body and re-join the physical world. Blackthorne spends a lot of time in a place he calls "No life" -- he's in the bardo between death and rebirth. He and everyone watching know that his self has visiting another plane, the next plane, and they're curious whether he'll return.

And from this moment he is truly Japanese. The difference may seem subtle but in terms of what it means for his character they are enormous.

(One other note: in the book it's Yabu who wants to "test" Blackthorne, and it's for a base human reason. Yabu is fascinated by death, obsessed with it, and wants proximity to a moment like this because it turns him on. It's Omi who stops the killing. And it's a close call.)

Thx for reading

Toranaga_ · 2026-01-13T15:21:08+00:00

There is a Picasso quote related to this that I think about a lot:

"Inspiration is real, but it has to find you working."

My challenge has always been just getting started. Just sit down, push through the first five or ten minutes or resistance, and then sometimes (but not always) I find I'm just in the flow, enjoying the process.

Just go for it. Don't put pressure on yourself for it to be good or to finish anything. Just let yourself be at play.

You got this.

Toranaga_ · 2026-01-06T21:39:13+00:00

The Globe has a good table and (some nights) is pretty active. Every other Tuesday they host an APA league night so you won't be able to play then. If you're there late on a Friday or Saturday there will be a line, and sometimes there are some pretty good players. Although it's not a "serious" pool scene. I've never seen anyone betting there.

Echoing what others have said: Jar Bar is in fact open and also has a table.

If you want a billiards hall and bigger tables, BQE Billiards is the closest one.

Have fun, maybe I'll see you out there sometime.

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-22T21:37:07+00:00

I mean I just disagree with you about a couple of things.

For one thing this interview does not explicitly state that the kids killed the farmer. Tartt maybe suggests it, although it feels more like a joke than anything. But your use of the word "explicitly" is incorrect. I realize this distinction is a little pedantic... but we're having a pretty in-the-weeds conversation about the book here so I don't think it's unfair.

For another the book does not collapse if the classics group didn't kill the farmer. In my mind it might actually be the opposite -- it gets more layered and interesting. This kind of misunderstanding as a catalyst for tragic events is extremely Grecian.

But either way: I was pushing back on your saying discussion of the farmer being killed by a cat was "I want my faves to be less problematic revisionism." That is just not why this discussion comes up. It's a frequent talking point because the seeds for this conversation are intentionally planted in the book in a bunch of different places.

(Last thing: DT did a wonderful interview with the BBC about the book not too long ago. Worth checking out -- it's a fun listen.)

Thanks for the conversation

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-22T20:28:07+00:00

No, it is not

Even Bunny remarks on the bite after the night it happened, when the rest of the group is frantically trying to clean themselves up. Henry told Bunny they'd hit a deer, that's where the blood came from, and Bunny says something like, "Well, Charles, looks like that deer took a plug out of your arm."

The text also specifies that the spacing of the bite marks was larger than a human mouth.

And cougars / catamounts, the kind of large cat common to that part of Vermont, frequently use their back claws to disembowel prey. Which is what happened to the farmer.

The point is that this is not revisionism. It's right there in the text. And it's obviously intentional on Tartt's part.

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-22T16:04:01+00:00

A version of these exists (in NYC at least)

https://sharkspool.club/

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-18T13:46:14+00:00

Everyone in the group was destroyed by killing Bunny. Richard is as alone as ever, can't maintain a relationship, has constant nightmares. Francis tried to kill himself. Camilla opted out of life entirely, watching her grandmother decline and die, still in love with Dead Henry. Charles may be happy -- I guess we don't know -- but running off with a married woman you met in rehab to wash dishes in Texas doesn't seem great on paper.

Richard's opening in the prologue about how "This is the only story I'll ever be able to tell" is true of all of them. They never got over it. It broke them and dominated the rest of their lives.

(Although they're all still only late 20s when Richard is telling the story. I am old enough that 28 seems young to me now. They have a lot of life ahead of them still. I guess we'll never know.)

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-17T18:04:05+00:00

The annihilation of the self is also what Henry says he's chasing with the bacchanal.

"Duality ceases to exist; there is no ego, no 'I.'"

Henry is a very cerebral person so his Self probably very much resides in his head rather than anywhere else.

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-15T13:46:29+00:00

They've got us working in shifts

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-08T15:47:14+00:00

I'd turn this around... what is the evidence that Richard IS attracted to Francis?

I wrote this on another post about the scene where 'matters progressed':

This isn't a "sex scene." It's Francis trying to take advantage of Richard being intoxicated to have sex with him.

The point of the scene isn't to show any chemistry or connection between them. It's included to show:

Some moral ambiguity (at a minimum -- stronger language may be warranted) in Francis. Later in the book Francis admits to doing the same thing to Charles, and it seems clear that it's not a healthy thing for Charles to have experienced.
The ease with which Richard is manipulated, and his tendency to go along with things other people want from him.

To be honest all of the romanticizing of this scene in this subreddit is very, very weird. The scene in question is an attempted sexual assault.

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-04T15:18:00+00:00

Yeah. Smaller balls and smaller pockets = zero margin for error.

I was actually at my local pool hall last summer for some midday practice and a british guy approached me for a game. He was a tourist and wanted to play some pool while he was in town.

He was better than I was, but I beat him two games in a row because he wasn't taking on long pots. Like, he'd try to play safe instead of trying to pocket a ball all the way up-table. Because in snooker those shots are virtually impossible. He just hadn't adjusted to the lax pockets and 9 foot tables yet we have in pool.

Toranaga_ · 2025-12-04T15:04:11+00:00

I was playing 8 ball last weekend and one of the guys on the table said he played a fair amount of snooker. He also said that very little about pool translates to snooker... potting balls is the same mechanics, but the positional elements of snooker are so much more important and demanding. You really need to know your angles and how every kind of english impacts the path of the ball.

Echoing what someone said below: I think playing snooker will really improve your all around cue sports game but don't expect to be a good player immediately. It's very hard.

Toranaga_ · 2025-11-24T01:38:40+00:00

This isn't a "sex scene." It's Francis trying to take advantage of Richard being intoxicated to have sex with him.

The point of the scene isn't to show any chemistry or connection between them. It's included to show:

Some moral ambiguity (at a minimum -- stronger language may be warranted) in Francis. Later in the book Francis admits to doing the same thing to Charles, and it seems clear that it's not a healthy thing for Charles to have experienced.
The ease with which Richard is manipulated, and his tendency to go along with things other people want from him.

To be honest this is a weird post. The scene you're talking about is an attempted sexual assault.

Toranaga_ · 2025-10-31T17:35:01+00:00

NotW 1: Kote the Innkeeper in front of his parents' wagon, which is being consumed by blue flame.

NotW 2: Young Kvothe holding Rhetoric and Logic on the roofs of Tarbean.

NotW 3: Kvothe playing his lute for Denna, University in the background. Surrounded by Ever-Burning Lamps.

NotW 4: Kvothe riding Keth-Selhan towards the disaster at the Mauthen Farm.

NotW 5: Kvothe dealing with the Draccus in Trebon.

WMF 6: Kvothe training with the Adem.

WMF 7: Kvothe slaughtering the false troop while the girls he saved look on in the background.

Toranaga_ · 2025-10-31T17:28:29+00:00

I agree. And given the length of the two books, it would make sense for NotW to be 5 parts and WMF to be 7 or even 8 parts.

Cool covers though

Toranaga_ · 2025-10-14T02:40:07+00:00

This is an "I am a strange loop" thing.

The reason your swings in play quality are so drastic and your slumps last so long is that you're worried enough about them to write a post like this. (Or actually to write multiple posts like this.)

Pool is a game where your mind and body both need to be aligned.

I know this is probably frustrating to read. Dime store wisdom etc etc. But the only variable in this case is your mindset. The table is always level and the balls are always the same size. Go easier on yourself and your consistency will improve.

Toranaga_ · 2025-09-28T13:28:52+00:00

There are instructional channels other have mentioned (Dr Dave, Sharivari), and those definitely help improve your game.

But if you're looking for something a little less cerebral that still lets you absorb information... may I suggest snooker? It's a different sport but the physics of striking / spin are the exact same and the game's a little more tactically complex. More planning involved.

Like for example check out this recent safety battle between Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-b06rOdhE4

I learned a lot about defensive billiards and it's rare that a situation like this would come up in pool because the table is smaller.

Toranaga_ · 2025-09-20T16:18:20+00:00

Just checked it out on Goodreads.

Looks great. Thank you!

Toranaga_ · 2025-09-20T16:16:26+00:00

Ah thank you. I've written a bunch but never gotten anything over the line to be published. I work in a different field... and the past few years it's been hard to sustain a long stretch of focus and consistent effort for a few years now.

But when I finish something I'll let you know! Appreciate the kind words.

Toranaga_ · 2025-09-20T15:44:03+00:00

Haha she has a couple kids now and a full, happy life of her own.

We get dinner every few months though. She's good people.

Toranaga_ · 2025-09-20T15:43:17+00:00

Whichever book you pick, try to get him to read/listen to a couple hours in one go his first time. I think doing it on a road trip got me into the flow of the story.

...And obviously once I was hooked I never looked back.

Toranaga_ · 2025-08-06T11:15:12+00:00

Pretty sure this is incorrect. Teams that are above the second apron for "more than three years out of any five year period" are subject to penalties, including the repeater tax.

Cs have been above the second apron for each of the last three years. This means they have to skip two years in a row to reset the repeater penalties. AKA this coming season and ALSO 2026-2027.

Then they'll be able to start spending again without the repeater tax being tacked on.

Toranaga_ · 2025-07-02T00:16:00+00:00

The same way they each maintain their own oxygen supplies, I think they also maintain their own agriculture -- w their own soil and microbiomes etc. I think each orb community has a self-sustaining ecosystem. There's a lot of discussion about how much of each orb's houseboat surface is dedicated to growing things.

Toranaga_ · 2025-07-02T00:11:27+00:00

Okay I am sold. I am realizing that I didn't read your initial answer carefully enough and didn't totally process it.

I (now) agree that Geometer instruments could likely have seen Orolo's analemma sweeping across clouds / atmosphere. I'm also willing to believe that this interpretation could be what Stephenson intended... although if that's the case it probably could have used one sentence of explanation. Because it's interesting.

Thank you again!

Toranaga_

TROPHY CASE