Contraption

In case yesterday's post was not sufficiently tempting to get you to read Matsuura's Triangle, here's a brief passage that is representative both of the protagonist's challenges and of the skill of Matsuura's writing and observation (and Karashima's translation):

When things fall apart, it doesn't just suddenly happen. Things shift out of line 0.01 millimeters, or more like 0.001 millimeters, every day, until the tiny shifts accumulate and one day you've got a big problem. The cogs stop turning, and the wheel won't turn. You wonder what the matter is and apply a little pressure to see what will happen, and to your utter surprise, the entire wheel comes flying apart, breaking the entire contraption.