Inside My Glass Doors
Translated by Sammy I. Tsunematsu ISBN 0-8048-3312-5
Originally published in daily serialization in the Asahi newspaper in 1915, Inside My Glass Doors is a collection of thirty-nine autobiographical essays penned a year before the author's death in 1916. Written in the genre of shōhin ("little items"), the personal vignettes provide a kaleidoscopic view of Sōseki Natsume's private world. The story is filled with flashbacks to Sōseki's youth—his classmates, his family, and his old neighborhood—as well as episodes from the more recent past.
The 210th Day
Translated by Sammy I. Tsunematsu ISBN 0-8048-3320-6
The 210th Day, first published in 1906, is written almost entirely in dialogue form. It focuses on two friends, Kei and Roku, as they attempt to climb the rumbling Mount Aso as it threatens to erupt. During their progress up the mountain and during a stopover at an inn, Roku banters with Kei about his background, behavior and reaction to the things they see along the way. The book reveals Sōseki's gift for the striking image, as well as his talent for combining Western autobiography and the Japanese traditional literary diary.
Spring Miscellany
Translated by Sammy I. Tsunematsu ISBN 0-8048-3326-5
First published in serial form in the Asahi newspaper in 1909, Spring Miscellany is an eclectic pastiche—a literary miscellany—of twenty-five sketches, heir to the great zuihitsu tradition of discursive prose. These personal vignettes, which reveal Sōseki's interest in authentic, unadorned self-expression, are clearly autobiographical and reveal his kaleidoscopic view of his private world. There are scattered episodes from his youth and from the more recent past. Of particular interest are the accounts of his stay in England between 1900 and 1902.
The Wayfarer
Translated by Beongcheon Yu ISBN 4-8053-0204-6
Written in the years 1912-13, The Wayfarer explores the moral dilemma of individuals caught in the violent transition of Japan from feudal to modern society. The protagonist Ichiro is caught in a triangle with his wife Onao and his brother Jiro. What ensues is, in a sense, a battle of the sexes between a couple forced to live together by tradition, a constant duel of two minds which allows for no finality. Ichiro's plight is not only the plight of the modern intellect, and modern man in general, but of the predicament of modern man in isolation from his family, society and culture.
Grass on the Wayside
Translated by Edwin McClellan ISBN 4-8053-0258-5
Completed in 1915 during a period of rapidly declining health, Grass on the Wayside is Sōseki's only autobiographical novel and the first book of its kind to appear in modern Japan. It is the story of Kenzo, Sōseki's alter ego, an unhappy, self-centered man. The book is remarkable not only for the depth and liveliness of its supporting characters—no modern Japanese novelist ever created as complex a personality as Kenzo's wife—but also for its treatment of Kenzo himself, who remains one of the most fully developed characters in Japanese fiction.
The Three-Cornered World
Translated by Alan Turney ISBN 4-8053-0201-1
In The Three-Cornered World, an artist leaves city life to wander in the mountains on a quest to stimulate his artistic endeavors. When he finds himself staying at an almost deserted inn, he becomes obsessed with the beautiful and strange daughter of the innkeeper, who is rumored to have abandoned her husband and fallen in love with a priest at a nearby temple. Haunted by her aura of mystery and tragedy, he decides to paint her. As he struggles to complete his picture, his daily conversations with those at the inn in the village provide clues and inspiration towards solving the enigma of her life.
Mon
Translated by Francis Mathy ISBN 4-8053-0291-7
Mon is an intimate story of the consequences of an impulsive marriage, keenly portrayed in the daily life of a young couple and the quiet frustration, isolation and helplessness they face. Alienated from friends and relatives, living a lonely and frugal life, the wife, Oyone, placidly accepts their fate and blames herself for her ill health and their inability to have children. Sosuke, the husband, is content with their lives as they are. Things change when Koroku, Sosuke's much younger brother, comes to live with them. Not only does he become Sosuke's responsibility, but he also provides the impetus for Sosuke to finally re-examine his place in the world.
Kokoro
Translated by Edwin McClellan ISBN 4-8053-0161-9
Written in 1914, Kokoro provides a timeless psychological analysis of a man's alienation from society. It tells the story of a solitary and intensely torn scholar during the Meiji era. A chance encounter on the beaches of Kamakura irrevocably links a young student to a man he simply calls "Sensei". The student gradually learns the reasons for Sensei's aloofness and withdrawal from the world, and finally the tale of guilt in his marriage and what he believes to be his betrayal of a friend.