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One of Soseki's most beloved works of fiction, the novel depicts the 23-year-old Sanshiro leaving the sleepy countryside for the first time in his life to experience the constantly moving 'real world' of Tokyo, its women and university. In the subtle tension between our appreciation of Soseki's lively humour and our awareness of Sanshiro's doomed innocence, the novel comes to life. Sanshiro is also penetrating social and cultural commentary.
An NYRB Classics Original A humble clerk and his loving wife scrape out a quiet existence on the margins of Tokyo. Resigned, following years of exile and misfortune, to the bitter consequences of having married without their families’ consent, and unable to have children of their own, Sōsuke and Oyone find the delicate equilibrium of their household upset by a new obligation to meet the educational expenses of Sōsuke’s brash younger brother. While an unlikely new friendship appears to offer a way out of this bind, it also soon threatens to dredge up a past that could once again force them to flee the capital. Desperate and torn, Sōsuke finally resolves to travel to a remote Zen mounta...
Originally published: Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, c1978. (UNESCO collection of representative works. Japanese series)
Haunted by tragic secrets, Sensei slowly opens up to his young disciple, confessing indiscretions from his own student days that have left him reeling with guilt.
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"The Theory of Literature foreshadows the ideas and concepts that would later form the critical foundations of formalism, structuralism, reader-response theory, cognitive science, and postcolonialism. It remains an unprecedented work of literary theory, unmistakably modern yet also clearly (and self-consciously) non-Western. In a later series of lectures and essays, Soseki continued to develop his ideas. This material, some of it never before translated into English, is also included in the volume. The editors offer a critical introduction that contextualizes Soseki's theoretical project historically and explores its contemporary legacy."--BOOK JACKET.
For the first time, English readers have access to Soseki’s Spring Miscellany. Originally published as Eijitu Shohin in serial form in the Asahi newspaper in 1909, before appearing in book form, Spring Miscellany is an pastiche of twenty-five sketches, referred to as shohin (little items), heir to the great zuihitsu tradition of discursive prose. These personal vignettes are clearly autobiographical and reveal Soseki’s kaleidoscopic view of his private world and his interest in authentic, unadorned self-expression. The stories range from from episodes from his youth to his adult musings. Of special interest are the accounts of Soseki’s stay in England between 1900 and 1902, where he at...
A stirring and insightful novel from an author Japan Quarterly calls "a Japanese writer of genius."From beloved author Soseki Natsume, And Then tells the story of Daisuke, a man in his twenties who is struggling with his personal purpose and identity as well as the changing social landscape of Meiji-era Japan. As Japan enters the 20th Century, ancient customs give way to Western ideals, and Daisuke works to resolve his feelings of disconnection and abandonment during this time of change. Thanks to his father's wealth, Daisuke has the luxury of having time to develop his philosophies and ruminate on their meaning while remaining intellectually aloof from traditional Japanese culture and the d...
"Filled with light, satirical touches." — Donald Keene Reckless but unfailingly honest, Botchan is the youngest son in a middle-class Tokyo family. Following his graduation from college, he takes a job as a math teacher on the island of Shikoku, far from the city. Thrust into this alien small-town environment, Botchan encounters nothing but trouble from his students and fellow teachers. Among his tormentors are the pompous, two-faced vice-principal; his fawning sidekick—the art teacher; the spineless principal; and a pack of brawny, prankster students — all of whom seem out to get him. Mayhem ensues, but in the end Botchan prevails through honesty and dogged determination. A modern classic, Botchan rivals Soseki's famous I Am a Cat in popularity in Japan. This is the funniest of Soseki's novels, a penetrating portrait of a young man's quest to survive the suffocating hypocrisy of everyone around him while remaining true to his beliefs. Recommended for readers ages 14 and up due to explicit language
A timeless psychological study of a young man's deep alienation from society. Set in the early 20th century, Kokoro opens with a chance encounter on a beach near Tokyo that irrevocably links a young student to a man he simply calls Sensei (Teacher). Intrigued by Sensei's aloofness, the student calls upon him with increasing frequency. Eventually, Sensei and his beautiful wife open their home and their lives to him. Only later does the student learn the devastating secret that has haunted Sensei since his youth. Kokoro has sold millions of copies in Japan where it is taught in schools and is a perennial favorite. Its lucid prose and universal themes of friendship, betrayal and the struggle for meaning in a changing world have made it popular internationally as well. This English-language manga version will make the book accessible to a new generation of foreign readers. The manga includes depictions of suicide and may not be suitable for some readers.