Kokoro
Natsume Soseki, Damian Flanagan, Edwin McClellan
£10.99
Description
‘Exactly what you would ask a novel to be’ Spectator
In the seaside city of Kamakura, a student is drawn to an enigmatic older man who swims at the same beach. The man becomes his Sensei. Against a backdrop of the rapid modernisation of Japan, their relationship endures – until one day, the young man receives a letter that divulges the full story of his Sensei’s past.
One of Japan’s most admired and bestselling modern classics, Kokoro is a psychologically rich, delicately drawn meditation on loneliness, desire and duty.
Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.
Translated by Edwin McClellan.
Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) was one of Japan’s most prominent novelists of the Meiji Era. After studying in England on a government scholarship, Soseki began a career at Tokyo University as a scholar of English literature before later devoting himself to his writing. He is best known for his works I Am a Cat, Kusamakura, Botchan and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1,000-yen note.
Publisher Review
‘Soseki is the representative modern Japanese novelist, a figure of truly national stature’ – Haruki Murukami
‘Kokoro is exactly what you would ask a novel to be… Soseki manipulates every detail with the same thrilling mastery” – Spectator
‘Sparsely populated, simple but perfect… it is a melancholy but stoical study in loneliness” – Sunday Telegraph
‘This elegant novel…suffuses the reader with a sense of old Japan’ – Los Angeles Times
Find this book on the following lists
-
August 2024 New Releases: Fiction
Browse The List
Book experts at your service
What are you looking for?