Le mineur

"Natsume Soseki Story Selection vol.12

Titles Included: KOUFU

SOSEKI NATSUME

Soseki NATSUME (February 9, 1867 - December 9, 1916), born Kinnosuke NATSUME, isa distinguished writer and novelist in modern Japanese literature, and often considered as one of the two ""BUNGO""s, or foremost Japanese novelists, of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), together with Ougai MORI. Soseki is best known for his masterpiece anecdotal novel works such as Kokoro, Botchan, and Wagahai-wa Neko Dearu.

Soseki took a degree in English from the University of Tokyo (1893) and later in the year 1900, he was assigned to visit England as a visiting scholar on a government scholarship. In 1903 he became lecturer in English at the University of Tokyo. His reputation as a novelist was quickly made with two very successful debut novels, namely, Wagahai-wa Neko De Aru (1905?06; I Am a Cat) and Botchan (1906; Botchan: Master Darling).

Soseki wrote 14 novels. One of his core themes is often analyzed as ""the conflict between individual needs and the demands of society"" by literary critics. Characters appears in his novels often suffer from feelings of ""guilt"" and of ""alienation"" after acting against the wishes and wills of their family and traditional values. Expressing these dilemmas Soseki later expressed in the slogan ""Sokuten Kyoshi"" (literary translated as to following heaven by abandoning oneself). Soseki died of stomach ulcer on December 9, 1916 in Tokyo, leaving his last work ""Meian"", left unfinished. "