Sōseki

Modern Japan's Greatest Novelist

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Pub Date 24 Apr 2018 | Archive Date 28 Jun 2018

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Description

Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916) was the father of the modern novel in Japan, chronicling the plight of bourgeois characters caught between familiar modes of living and the onslaught of Western values and conventions. Yet even though generations of Japanese high school students have been expected to memorize passages from his novels and he is routinely voted the most important Japanese writer in national polls, he remains less familiar to Western readers than authors such as Kawabata, Tanizaki, and Mishima.

In this biography, John Nathan provides a lucid and vivid account of a great writer laboring to create a remarkably original oeuvre in spite of the physical and mental illness that plagued him all his life. He traces Sōseki’s complex and contradictory character, offering rigorous close readings of Sōseki’s groundbreaking experiments with narrative strategies, irony, and multiple points of view as well as recounting excruciating hospital stays and recurrent attacks of paranoid delusion. Drawing on previously untranslated letters and diaries, published reminiscences, and passages from Sōseki’s fiction, Nathan renders intimate scenes of the writer’s life and distills a portrait of a tormented yet unflaggingly original author. The first full-length study of Sōseki in fifty years, Nathan’s biography elevates Sōseki to his rightful place as a great synthesizer of literary traditions and a brilliant chronicler of universal experience who, no less than his Western contemporaries, anticipated the modernism of the twentieth century.

Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916) was the father of the modern novel in Japan, chronicling the plight of bourgeois characters caught between familiar modes of living and the onslaught of Western values and...


Advance Praise

"Sōseki captures the soul of Japan’s greatest modern writer in the best tradition of biography. Here the venerated figure comes fully alive with his infuriating failings and astounding intelligence, his maddening ambitions and biting self-deprecations. The book also offers a vibrant portrayal of Japan’s rapidly transforming society—an extraordinary feast."

-Minae Mizumura, author of Inheritance from Mother

"Sōseki captures the soul of Japan’s greatest modern writer in the best tradition of biography. Here the venerated figure comes fully alive with his infuriating failings and astounding intelligence...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9780231171427
PRICE $35.00 (USD)
PAGES 320

Average rating from 7 members


Featured Reviews

Natsume Soseki was undoubtedly one of Japan's biggest authors and literary figures. Having read a few of his novels and stories, I was vaguely aware of some bits and pieces surrounding his life, so when I found out that a proper biography was out I was ecstatic.

John Nathan has done a really impressive job compiling the life and accomplishments of such a great literary figure in this tome. His prose was academic enough while also being accessible to non-academics and his writing style and way of orginising his content was very engaging and kept me wanting to continue reading. One thing I did not like as much was the analysis of big chunks of Soseki's novels, which seemed a bit too extensive. Perhaps I could have appreciated them more had I read the entirety of his oeuvre and was undaunted by possible spoilers.

Soseki's life story is truly fascinating to read, even though his character was not as praise-worthy as his literary production and contribution was. Nonetheless, no one can deny his massive role in shaping modern Japanese literature and the author of this book has done a wonderful job letting us in on some of his genius.

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