[Originally recorded on 2-4-23]
#ReadingTheStone discussion centered around Chapters 91-95, though we began the conversation where we left off the previous Saturday, on Daiyu willing her own demise by refusing to eat. The group discussed how Daiyu is absolutely the main character of the final 40 chapters, and whether this is yet another element that marks the difference of the Gao E sequel from the Cao manuscript, or whether this Daiyu-centric narrative was there all along. We also chatted about Xifeng's daughter Qiaojie (and Grandmother Jia's view of how girls should be educated), Baoyu and Daiyu's "Zen koan" exchange, and the great reversal of fortune for the Jia family in Chapter 95.
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