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/lit/ - Literature

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19069451 No.19069451 [Reply] [Original]

Kokoro - Natsume Soseki

I want to read some Japanese literature. Is it any good?

>> No.19069453

>>19069451
what a beautiful cover

>> No.19069459

>>19069451
Doesn't kokoro stand for something akin to a hipster?

>> No.19069465

>>19069459
Kokoro means Heart

>> No.19069468

>>19069465
Yea I was thinking of rococo, my apologies.

>> No.19069473

>>19069468
and even then it was the wrong definition

>> No.19069564

>>19069451
Stop being a weeb, first

>> No.19069588

It’s a slow burn but still great. 2/3rds in you’ll be bored but the last 1/3rd will reel you in.

>> No.19069608

>>19069588
i felt the opposite, last third felt predictable to me and then just ended abruptly

>> No.19070138

>>19069451
Yes, I would say it encompasses the "japanese feeling"

>> No.19070139

>>19069564
I'm not a weeb, I just want to read something good from Japan.

>> No.19070623

>>19069451
it’s nice book, and a perfect place to start with modern jap lit

>> No.19070681

>>19069451
I preferred 'I am a cat'. It is lighter and more endearing.

>> No.19070722
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19070722

I recently read A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe and really loved it.

>> No.19070740

>>19069451
I liked it a lot. It's one of those books where the secondary character is more compelling than the main character.

>> No.19070999

bump

>> No.19071019

>>19070740
You mean Sensei? I found the protagonist to be more interesting then him. I'm almost done with it and feeling >>19069608

>> No.19071093

>>19069451
can someone rec a book that feels rike the OP cover?

>> No.19071145
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19071145

>>19070722
This was what originally got me into niplit. Even after reading most of pic related it still holds up. I have mixed feelings about the ending, and translations are never 100% the same, but otherwise it's great.

>> No.19071156

>>19071145
Why is most nip literature like "a boy meets a girl"?
Over half of books from your pic are like that.

>> No.19071805

>>19069564
Natsume Soseki was a Japanese writer who was very deeply influenced by Western literature and had a strong awareness of the battle between traditionalist Romanticism and positivist-minded modernist thinkers and artists that took place in 19th century Europe, which he indirectly alluded to in his fiction, seeing as he lived in the times of modernization and industrialization in his own country. A "weeaboo" who has a very surface level knowledge of Japanese culture would most likely not understand the themes concerning cultural paradigm shifts present in the novel.

>> No.19071870

>>19071156
>boy meets a girl
It's what a lot of fiction written in Europe and America is about too. Dickens wrote a few novels that start off like that. The 3 Bronte sisters wrote novels that are centered on that. Hemingway and Fitzgerald both wrote novels about that. Notes from Underground doesn't start off this way, but it ends like this.
Many myths in Greek mythology begin with a man encountering a beautiful woman too.
Fiction can more or less be broadly divided into stories about a person's upbringing, stories about conflicts, and stories about love, which often get intertwined in epics.

>> No.19072503

I read a Soseki once about some rural kid going to university in the city, can't remember it's name but it was a nice little book.

>> No.19072578

>>19069451
It's very good.

>> No.19072602

>>19069468
you're genuinely a retard
never post on this board again

>> No.19072624

>>19069451
Kokoro is how I started with Japanese literature. After I finished it I went back to read on of Soseki's first works, because I was told he was more of a funny writer before, Botchan. I think I enjoyed it even more.
If you can find Penguin books on cheap check out "Of Dogs and Walls" and "Three Japanese Short Stories".

>> No.19072646

Hello anon,

For the love of God anon do not listen to these fucking pseuds in this thread. There is a reason why Natsume Soseki is regarded as one of the best novelists of Japan. His works are very profound and are worthy of the classic title it retains. 'Kokoro' is Soseki's last novel and I would say one of his best. I think his western style is very readable and enjoyable for us. He is very
>me_irl
type of guy to be honest.

Side note on the faggots in this thread, take information from this board with a grain of salt as there are people that dont read at all or just skim thru the pages and pretend they have read some work. But please read the book it's nice.

>> No.19073217
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19073217

>>19069451
>>19072646
>Is it any good?
No, it's not bad either but very mediocre to alright, some parts are really good. However if it wasn't one of the first japanese novels no one would bat an eye and if you are not interested in reading about depression I would skip it. If you want to dwell in japanese aesthetics because you are a weeb than you should skip it as well, because it doesn't give a lot of information about japanese society .
I read no longer human/ningen shikaku after that, expecting something special but that wasn't the case either. I'm one of the few here that doesn't enjoy japanese literature, I prefer their other artistic outputs more.

>> No.19074081

>>19072602
your words say one thing, but i'm getting another message entirely. i love you too.

>> No.19074188

I can't find a pdf for this book. PLEASE ANONS I NEED

>> No.19074227

>>19074188
https://b-ok.lat/book/1701099/fdd9d7

>> No.19074239

>>19069451
although it's probably his most famous novel i think a better first soseki would be "sanshiro."

botchan is pretty darn funny and kasumakura is beautiful and a favorite but maybe not a great first.

basically go with sanshiro or botchan for fun. kokoro is really morose but good too.

i highly recommend kenzaburo oe. his novel "the silent cry" is brutal. "nip the buds, shoot the kids" is also good. a personal matter is his most famous work but it's not the best place to start. maybe start with a short story set that includes "the catch" (aka prize stock).

i also dig kawabata. maybe try "snow country" or "thousand cranes."

there are tons of good jap lit but these books are great starters.

>> No.19074344

>>19071145
They really struggled to fit 100 books in there

>> No.19074437

>>19074227
God bless you.

>> No.19074449

>>19073217
>I read no longer human/ningen shikaku after that, expecting something special but that wasn't the case either.
brainlet identified

>> No.19074457

The best Japanese novel is Full Metal Daemon Muramasa

>> No.19074462

>>19074449
How could you not like my favourite books? You must be a brainlet!

>> No.19074475

>>19074462
not about liking, if you found it not unique and the same as any normal novel you'd see on goodreads then your iq can't be above 50
>How could you not like my favourite books? You must be a brainlet!
this but unironically