Kokoro

Name: Kokoro
Author: Natsume Soseki

Natsume Soseki · 1914

Soseki is to Japanese literature what Dickens is to English: the central figure. Kokoro (meaning "heart/mind"), published in 1914, is a meditation on loneliness, honor, and the transition from Meiji-era to modern Japan. The Sensei's final letter is a devastating set piece, among the most wrenching in world fiction.

The case against

on the second section
“In the second section, the unappealing student goes to visit his ignorant parents”
a book blog
on the narrator’s passivity
“I wanted to shake him into asking Sensei bolder questions”
four stars · a book blog
on the translation’s style
“I couldn’t escape the feeling that the translation had left the book a little staccato.”
a book blog
on Sensei at the start
“Sensei is a puzzle at the start which did not help me appreciate the story.”
a book blog