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Botchan
Botchan | Soseki Natsume
12 posts | 11 read | 8 to read
A modern classic in Japan on par with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or The Catcher in the Rye, Botchan is a very popular Japanese novel and still widely read decades after its first publication. Botchan, a timeless Japanese novel written by Japan's most beloved novelist, Soseki Natsume, is now available in a revised edition featuring a new foreword by Dennis Washburn, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages at Dartmouth College. Prof. Washburn's foreword places the importance of both the author and the book into perspective for the modern reader. Botchan's story is a familiar one: the youngest son in a middle class Tokyo family, he is consistently in the shadow of his elder brother. With a practically nonexistent relationship with his family, Botchan finds himself cast adrift after both his parents die. Now on his own, Botchan drifts through college only to find himself thrust into a teaching job in the unfamiliar realm of a country school, far from Tokyo and the life he has known. Botchan's difficulty adjusting to his new life is eloquently described, from his nosy landlord to his students, who delight in tormenting the newcomer from the big city. Through it all, Botchen's life is threaded with his vacillating concern for Kiyo, the family servant he left behind who was the only person to give him love and understanding in his life. Regardless of where he goes or what he does, he is always trying to apply the lessons she taught him to his life.
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review
Aida_Nam
Botchan | Soseki Natsume
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Pickpick

⭐️ 3/5

Botchan gives a sneak peek into the Japan from it's era. I could not connect to the book though. Excruciatingly slow pace. It would have been wonderful if read in it's original language. Wordplay puns and colloquial references seem to be a tool that the author resorted to often. In conclusion, the book's charm was lost in translation.

My recommendation : Read it in Japanese or find a better translation.

#Botchan #Japan #Natsumesoseki

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Aida_Nam
Botchan | Soseki Natsume
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"...Be that as it may, a mystery is the world, where he to whom one has an instinctive aversion is kind, while those to whom one can open his heart as friends are rascals."

Illustration by Shinsui Ito

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Aida_Nam
Botchan | Natsume Soseki

I wonder what sasa-ame cakes from Echigo are....

The moment and way it's mentioned in the book made them appear like a delectable treat to me. A quick google search brought forth nothing. Any ideas anyone?

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Aida_Nam
Botchan | Soseki Natsume
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"Imagination is a happy enchantress: she will put up a fine castle in the air."

2 likes1 stack add
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erzascarletbookgasm
Botchan | Natsume Soseki
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‘In Japan, Natsume is often considered as the greatest writer in modern Japanese history. So important in fact that from 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000 yen note. He is best known for his novels Botchan, Kokoro, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness.‘

The tagged book is on my tbr.

#WanderingJune #BigInJapan

BarbaraBB How comes I never heard of him? That must change! 5y
82 likes2 comments
review
Mystic.Archives.Of.Dantalian
Botchan | Soseki Natsume
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this one - a bit odd, but very funny! It's a kind of coming of age story.

Botchan wanders into a career as a teacher in a provincial school and comes face to face with treachery, hypocrisy and the complexities of human nature. His trials are related with verve, energy and the occasional leavening of lyricism. The characters Soseki paints may not be the deepest but his satire does strike home.

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violet.ashes
Botchan | Soseki Natsume
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" Indeed , humans are the least reliable in this world ... "

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violet.ashes
Botchan | Soseki Natsume
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Pickpick

Although the end was bad for me , I liked this novel so much 💖 but I wish the author ended things in a better way . #thelistchallenge
أحببت الرواية كثيرًا 💕 على الرغم من كون النهاية سيئة بالنسبة لي ، تمنيت لو أنهاها الكاتب بطريقة أفضل . #تحدي_القائمة

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Carolyn11215
Botchan | Natsume Soseki
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1st book finished in 2017 and goal set for the year. Increased from last year's goal of 55 books which I surpassed.

JoeStalksBeck 🎶📚❤🤓👏🎉❤️ 7y
5 likes1 comment
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Carolyn11215
Botchan | Natsume Soseki
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So many gorgeous covers of the book over the years! Just a couple with portrait of Soseki.

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Tonton
Botchan | Natsume Soseki
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Impulsive, straightforward, and stubborn Tokyo boy in early 20th century takes first job as math teacher in countryside, finds himself embroiled in sly personal/professional shenanigans with colleagues nicknamed Red Shirt, Porcupine, Madonna...sit back and read with a pot of green tea and rice crackers! Things much simpler then but people still the same.

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Tonton
Botchan | Natsume Soseki
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My stack for this week!