god, that was stupid of me. 
 idiot i was, looking for a (pretty nonexistent) plot. idiot, idiot, idiot. forgive me, world. 
 there's no plot on purpose. nothing happens in the first 3/4 or so of the book because nothing's supposed to happen. we're introduced to a group of people living their own lives, doing their own stuff like killing twins and getting married and visiting neighbors and eating eggs. nothing special, at least not to them, because this is just life in their civilization. 
 which is quickly ruined by the europeans in the final 1/4 of the book. 
 this civilization, this society, that had been going along doing their stuff (nothing exciting, of course, since this is day-to-day life) for the last 3/4 of the book, is suddenly ruined, shattered. 
 i'm slow, apparently. forgive me.