Does anyone know what the correct pronunciation of Orual, Redival, and Ungit?

I don't think pronunciation really matters, but I say:

Oar-you-uhl
Rehd-i-vuhl
Un-git (with a hard "g" rather than Un-jit)

What are other people's pronunciations?

I pronounce them:

or-u-Ahl

Rehd-i-vuhl

Un-git (with a long 'U', as in 'cool' or 'student.')

Sorry about my bad phonetic spellings.

"Orual" is hard to pronounce no matter how you say it! I say "Or-oo-all," but the last two syllables run together so much.

Redival: "ready-vahl"

Ungit: "uhn-git" (hard g sound, same as Digs')

*is relieved it's fine to read ahead* Although, I'm at part 2 now and might have a re-read so that I can stop and see the descriptions instead of tearing through the book to find out what happens.

My favourite thing about the book so far is seeing the characters develop gradually. And, for a scene,

I pronounce
Orual: O-roo-al
Redival- Red-eye-val (the "a" having the ə sound.)
Ungit: Un-git (with the hard g and the "u" having the long u sound)

Ay, I don't know how much longer it's going to take me to read this book. It ruined my mood for the weekend. Too depressing. I've been sobbing randomly and overwhelmingly sad. It's WAY too hopeless for my taste. I would stop reading it but I want to see if it ends at all happy. I relate to Orual in too many ways so I think that might contribute to my upset feelings about it. I'm going to take a slower pace though, even out the depression.

GtG, I'm sorry to hear that the book is difficult for you. It could be that you're just not ready for it — and that is completely okay. If you need to put it down and come back to it a few years later, we aren't going to judge you for that. I know it carries a lot of heavy themes (the reason we wrote this warning).

On the other hand, part of me is delighted that you are struggling through it because that means you are grappling with those heavy themes rather than just flying over them. You aren't oblivious; they mean something to you. It could just be that you need a few years to grow into them. I don't want to put you off reading it though, just because it's hard.

How about everyone else? Is the book bothering you at all? If so, why do you think that is?

It isn't really bothering me, it is just one of the most complex books I've read. I have to think about it more and consider what things mean. But I still like it even though its complicated.

ww: yeah I might not be ready for it, but I'm also extremely emotional and sensitive so I get depressed and I cry easily. Yeah I am grappling with them. It's taking me a little longer to read than I normal book b/c whenever I read a paragraph about what Orual is feeling (about Psyche or the Fox or whomever) I think about it alot. And I think that thinking about it so much is what's making it so dark for me. But I think I'm going to finish it, I'm already to the part when

I don't remember if I had a hard time reading it the first time or not. But I will say that if you can handle it, GTG, then do keep reading! If not, then put it down and come back to it later. It does deal with a lot of hard stuff. In the meantime, here's a hug: .

*zips her lips so she isn't tempted to talk about how it ends*

GtG, I can totally understand. My mom got it on audio for me, and there were parts where I certainly wanted to cry. It leaves you feeling...sad and happy at the same time. Your mind tells you that its all for the best, but the lump in the throat is still there for a long time.... it left me feeling semi-depressed for about a week after I finished it. (I'm kind of emotionally sensitive too, especially to things like that.) Maybe it was better for me to listen to it rather that read it since I can't stop to think about it

I finished it on Friday. I'm still kinda confused. I don't know whether to be happy or sad, and I'm not sure...what was going on at the end...

I haven't had trouble with it yet, but I definitely know what it is like to have trouble with books / movies / TV shows etc. If I watch too many episodes of 7th Heaven in a short amount of time, I get really overwhelmed and just don't feel quite right (if that makes any sense ). I do find that if I'm in a discouraged, stressed, or overwhelmed mood it helps to watch something "fluffy." Get Smart is great for that.

I'm trying to read the book on scheduled so there is still time for it affect me. By the way, are we supposed to read the next three chapters for tomorrow?

Yes, we're doing three chapters a week

I apologize for not posting the reading group assignments. A lot of the mods had a party from Wednesday to Monday. We all gathered at my house and had a real humdinger of a good time.

As Amy pointed out, read chapters 13,14 & 15 for tomorrow