Having trouble with the flair on phone without app.
I didn’t have high hopes for this gem of a book.
The language was simple and none of the characters had names. But it doesn’t need them because Natsume is really trying to write about the inherent loneliness of men in the modern age and they are but a means to an end, and I loved them anyway.
It was a wonderful book and I thoroughly recommend it. I knew as I reached the end that Natsume is writing about his own experiences and feelings, which is rather a given with most writers, but it hit me quite hard because I knew that he felt it deeply.
It was heartbreaking. Ojousan tells him after her mother dies that he’s all she has left. And I suspect that’s where it may have deviated from reality, because most of us even if we fall that deep, remain bound by the people in our lives. Perhaps he wanted to write about a character who was able to push past that barrier. I haven’t read anything about his life yet, for now that gives me more freedom to contemplate.
Has anyone else got anything to share?
by -Zoppo
5 Comments
When I first read it, i felt the first portion of the novel was just fine and didn’t understand the buzz around it, but when it got to sensei’s letter it really came to life for me, and the handling of suicide broke my heart in a way few books really have.
It’s definitely a book I encourage people to stick with, because it emotionally builds up without you realising and is well worth the payoff. Re-reading it just a few years later I can really appreciate some of the themes of naivety etc through the main character.
Natsume Soseki is probably my favourite author of all time, its such a pity that his career was so short (due to illness). But if you enjoyed Kokoro I highly recommend The Gate, And Then, or Kusamakura, all of which are similarly quite easy to read yet very beautifully translated and relatable.
I cant really remember enough about Kokoro to say anything but here’s a little trivia: If you ever visit Tokyo, there is a pond in Tokyo University which is depicted in Sanshiro, another of his most notable works.
I much prefer Sōseki’s *Kusamakura*. In it, the narrator, an artist, wishes to simply observe idyllic countryside life, like walking in a painting. However, the whirlpool of war, human interest, the allure and affairs of others, continually thwart his wish to withdraw. He rants about busybodies in the outset and yet proves to be one himself.
I’ve seen reviewers who were upset, not realizing Sōseki was laughing at his narrator, whose goal is, while intriguing, ultimately futile.
I recommend reading it before diving into Sōseki’s life and his aims.
If you enjoyed it I highly recommend checking out his other work’s especially *I Am a Cat*
I read it years ago but I absolutely adored it, I remember it affecting me on a very emotional level. I keep meaning to re-read it as at the time I considered it one of my all-time favourites!
I also quite enjoyed the first two I Am A Cat books by the same author, bit I remember finding the third one a bit dull. It’s been a long time since I’ve read them, though.