Sanshiro (Penguin Classics)

"He drifted off, and when he opened his eyes the woman was still there."Country boy, Sanshiro is on the days-long train ride from the hinterlands to Tokyo where he will study at the University. The mystery woman (and it's not too far out to note that Soseki does not say 'he woke and the woman was there', 'he opened his eyes', as one could in a dream) asks Sanshiro to help her find an inn at their overnight stop. They end up in the same room, in the same bed. Sanshiro timorously erects a sort of divider between them of towels and sheets, a flea-guard as he describes it, but clearly he's petrified at the intimate proximity. When they part, the nameless woman remarks, "You really are quite a coward, aren't you?"When it comes to women, Sanshiro has no clue. When he first comes upon Mineko, it is outdoors, by a pond. In passing him, she drops a flower petal at his feet, but he doesn't take the opportunity of connection. Mineko turns out to be, through academic and familial branches, connected to Sanshiro enough so that they spend numerous times together. Through happenstance rather than mutually acknowledged attraction, Sanshiro ends up picking Mineko's perfume for her, off-handedly, but no less definitively. And when Mineko has her portrait painted, what is the moment the artist captures but the very moment the two met. Mineko's subtle dance of flirtation is the most exquisite, even as Sanshiro's innocent indifference is excruciating.He's also not the brightest of bulbs. Soseki often voices his narrators as extremely eloquent and philosophical internally, even though they may be tongue-tied in public. Sanshiro's insights and even inward descriptions and reactions are awkward and ill-formed. The prose takes flight only in the descriptive and evocative voice of Professor Hirota, a mentorial nexus of this young community. There are many gazes skyward, to the future, but to me Hirota's description of the apparent slow movement of clouds is most illuminating: even though clouds' passing seems noble and serene, that slow motion perceived on the ground of formations 10s of thousands of feet in the sky would translate to hurricane speed if felt at ground level.

It's the year 1907, an unsettling time for the Japanese. Intellectuals feel oppressed by the West and by old Japan at the same time. They want to create an entirely new culture and literature. But it's not as simple as the new construction going on with great noise and violence all over Tokyo.Even young women are behaving strangely, like Ibsen characters, complicated and dissatisfied.Twenty-two-year-old Sanshiro takes the train from Kyushu to university life in Tokyo - and steps right into the ideological turbulence of his time.He falls in love with a young woman as disturbing as modern art - and joins a confusing circle of scholars who are alternately profound and affected. Distinguishing pearls of wisdom from arrant nonsense is challenging - and Sanshiro floats through subtle social interactions in politely concealed anguish or perplexity.I must admit I felt a certain disconnect with the meandering plot and timid protagonist. But Soseki is a major Japanese writer, and SANSHIRO a classic beloved in Japan, so I turned to the introductions for encouragement.There's a delightful introduction by Murakami Haruki, who compares Sanshiro's coming of age with his own. According to Murakami, Japanese readers are quite comfortable with Sanshiro's "lukewarm life stance" - which I conclude makes reading this novel not just a literary experience but a learning experience about the Japanese.The translator's introduction is also excellent, and in the chronology, the reader can pick up some fascinating details about Soseki's life and works (like the origins of the playful pen name "Soseki," meaning "Garglestone"). Soseki has a quirky sense of humor, and this is definitely an enjoyable aspect of SANSHIRO.So in the end I'm glad I read the book. It was a memorable encounter with the Japanese sensibility in a pure form, no Western additives.

This was the first novel I have read by Natsume Soseki and I just loved it. The protagonist is Sanshiro a country boy who goes to Tokyo to attend the university. Sanshiro has little worldly experience and seems overwhelmed by the big city and the people who inhabit it. He tries to make friends and even falls in love but they all seem to be far beyond Sanshiro. The first person he meets is Nononmiya who is a scientist at the university and who his mother pushes him into going to meet. At their first encounter Nonomiya asks Sanshiro to look through the telescope and tell him what he sees. Sanshiro sees nothing because the lens cap is still on the telescope. After the removal of the lens cap the two guys have a discussion which leaves Sanshiro clueless. It's not that Sanshiro is slow or dumb, it's just that all the people he comes into contact with are so enamoured with themselves they attempt to speak above everyone else's heads. Sanshiro falls in love with Mineko upon first seeing her. They later develop a lovely though odd friendship which keeps the reader guessing which way it is going to turn out.For the novel to be over 100 years old there is still a quality in it that can relate to our modern time. Many young people today will feel overwhelmed when first attending university and find some of the people there equally pretensious as many of the characters in this novel. It is quite a fun, light-hearted read which I highly recommend. Plus it has an introduction by Haruki Murakami which is quite interesting as well.

It's nice to read something where you can really find yourself drawn into a particular character, where you sympathise with him, feel his emotional, want to give him a shove and say "just get on with it". It's a frustrating book, but only because you want the main character to succeed and want to push him until he does. At the same time, it's a snapshot of everyday life in another time and place and is genuinely relaxing to read

It is hard to believe that this book is over 100 years old - it reads like a modern novel. The book follows the trials of a new university student who moves from the country to Tokyo.

Sanshiro is a tale of the social learnings of latest teenager-hood/earliest adulthood. Subtle, innocent and honest. Like real life Sanshiro ends on a sour note as our protagonist tries to deal with that most unfathomable of enigmas: The Opposite Sex!

Loved this book. I was transported to another era every time I picked it up. It was almost hard to rejoin reality afterwards!

Very interesting and enjoyable.his-other novel I Am aCati also absorbing.