Am i only one that is fan of this novel? It's so intimate with it's first-person narration, especially when it's in form of letter to a friend. Its full of wisdom that feels both and personal and deeply universal. Like main character struggle with sickness of his father, then his death and parallel with Sensei problems with his own father's inheritance - and i also got fucked out of my uncle inheritance and this theme felt very real almost prophetic while i was reading it. Novel gets pessimistic in it's view of interpersonal relationships in general. Personally i much prefer it to No Longer Human, i feel that Kokoro will remain long as one of my favourite novels, as i really dig this kind of "personal" style
Which translation is the best
There's this weird take that Kokoro is too Japanese for westerners to get anything out of, as if westerners don't already consume all kinds of niche Japanese media, and as if reading about european aristocracy from 300 years ago is somehow more relatable to the average reader.
>>24798225arent there a bunch of people on this board who take the view that translations are essentially worthless
>>24798225Soseki studied in London and was heavily indebted Quincey so that's weird opinion
>>24798213that guy from the great ace attorney was a real person??
>>24798213Kokoro translates culturally much better to other cultures than Botchan. The way that I tend to refer to Soseki is essentially that he's one of the first Modernist Japanese writers. Mid-century Japanese modernists are some of my personal favorites, because reading something that resonated the first time was special in a way that was hard to describe. "Bone Meat" by Taeko Kono was a short story that made me feel very similar to reading Kokoro the first time.>>24798216I've only read the McClellan translation. It was really enjoyable.
That book is the most popular among students in Japan, I'm almost sure. Is it even fair of a comparison? Dazai stands nowhere near Natsume Soseki
