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Kokoro
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
No collection of Japanese literature is complete without Natsume Soseki's Kokoro, his most famous novel and the last he complete before his death. Published here in the first new translation in more than fifty years, Kokoro--meaning "heart"--is the story of a subtle and poignant friendship between two unnamed characters, a young man and an enigmatic elder whom he calls "Sensei". Haunted by tragic secrets that have cast a long shadow over his life, Sensei slowly opens up to his young disciple, confessing indiscretions from his own student days that have left him reeling with guilt, and revealing, in the seemingly unbridgeable chasm between his moral anguish and his student's struggle to understand it, the profound cultural shift from one generation to the next that characterized Japan in the early twentieth century. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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review
catness
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Mehso-so

Psychological drama from the beginning of last century. It reflects on the issues of friendship, trust, loneliness and responsibility, and provides an insight into Japanese culture of these times. For me, it felt old-fashioned and I could not really connect to the characters, especially with all the sexism. The book started with an intriguing promise of dark mystery surrounding the "Sensei" character, but I found the resolution disappointing.

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BarbaraBB
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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#12BooksOf2022

I read way too few classics in 2022 but I am so glad that I did read this one. It is fantastic. And it‘s Japanese of course, which I always seem to enjoy just a bit more!

Andrew65 Looks good. 2y
57 likes1 comment
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BarbaraBB
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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#BookReport 36/22 and 37/22

I am back home. These are the books I read during my trip. I chose many pageturners which I spent a good time with, yet the two that stood out are the ones the least easy to read, the Japanese ones: the tagged one and Tokyo Express. Japanese fiction might well be my favorite genre.

robinb Glad you‘re safely home. 😊 I‘ve enjoyed your travel pics. ❤️ 2y
Ruthiella The books that make me work while reading often become favorites! Welcome home. 😃 2y
LeahBergen What a great stack of holiday reads! Your trip looked fantastic. 2y
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BarbaraBB @LeahBergen Thank you! It was 🥰 2y
BarbaraBB @robinb Thank you Robin 😘 2y
BarbaraBB @Ruthiella Thanks. And I agree! 2y
Cinfhen Welcome home!!!! Your trip looked fabulous and how cool that you can now visualize some of the places when you read Japanese thrillers 2y
TrishB Lovely stack of reads and looked like you had a great trip. 2y
Megabooks You got a lot of reading done! It really sounds like an amazing trip! 💜💜 2y
Suet624 I really enjoyed seeing your beautiful travel photos and I'm doubly glad you made it home safe and sound.
2y
BarbaraBB @Suet624 Thank You my dear friend. I am glad too. It‘s time to face the things I‘ve been avoiding and running away from and I think Japan strengthened me for that 🤍 2y
Suet624 💕💕💕 2y
84 likes12 comments
review
BarbaraBB
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

To read this book while arriving in Japan and spending the night in a ryokan (Japanese inn) with all its traditions, certainly has added to the experience. But I loved this book about a special friendship between a student and an elder man in the early 20th century. The quietness, the simplicity of the writing style and all that it stands for, the Japanese culture and history. A real gem. #1001books

Pic: Ryokan in Kanazawa, Japan

Leftcoastzen So beautiful! 2y
TrishB Great synchronicity 😁 2y
batsy How wonderful! From Korea to Japan... Sounds amazing. Hope you're having a fantastic time. 2y
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LeahBergen Oh, wonderful! 👏👏 2y
BarbaraBB @batsy My boyfriend had to go to Japan for with, me to Korea, so we decided to combine things but you‘re right, it‘s amazing. 🥰 2y
Megabooks I‘m so happy that you‘re finally in Japan! It‘s been such a long wait for you! 💜💜 2y
BarbaraBB @Megabooks I am extremely happy to be here 🤍 2y
84 likes6 stack adds7 comments
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tokorowilliamwallace
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki

#sundaysoapbox @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @puzzledbooks

Shocking endings are always those sad, tragic endings, but also it seems Haruki Murakami always has some fun situational serendipities up his sleeve. For me the endings looming and clouding foremost in my mind are the tagged and Knut Hamsun's 'Grimm,' imaginative, neurotic internal trip with his Mysteries. I really need to find and read more with these dark, depressing, clouded-minded themes.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Thank you for playing 👏🏻📚🙌🏻 3y
10 likes1 comment
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serllolo
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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#goodmorning
Beautiful cover

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Palimpsest
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

This book takes place during the Meiji timeline into modern society and not that many decades after Japan had opened its boarders to Westerners. It looks at these generational differences though the college student and the man he calls Sensei. The story is divided into three sections. First from the point of view of the young narrator and his country parents and the 3rd from the Sensei. Themes of change, isolation, and inaction. Enjoyed this one.

silentrequiem Oh I remember reading this in college and loved it. Was very much a "Great Gatsby" vibe for me, chock Fu of ennui. 5y
48 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Palimpsest
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Friday night plans hopefully include finishing this book with some tea. How about you?

46 likes1 stack add
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DePaepe
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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This was my first time reading Soseki. I really enjoyed the story and felt that it painted an honest portrayal of the end od the Meiji era in Japan. I look forward to reading more works by one of the founders of modern Japanese literature. This left me with a strong feeling of melancholy at the same time a longing for continued attempts at compassion and understanding.

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DePaepe
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Starting this today while setting up for a farm party and doing laundry.

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CafeMom
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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Pickpick

Kokoro means “the heart of things”.
This was a character study of Sensei mostly but also of his friend of the present and the friend of the past. I appreciate the story as being 'modern' for its time period; men talking about their feelings and internal struggles. I enjoyed the quietness of the story for parts one and two but part three was a bit long in Sensei recounting his past but I know it was necessary to bring the story full circle.

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thegreentealibrarian
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

I'm still processing this one. It's difficult to explain. At the center are two characters: a student and the man he calls Sensei. But it is also about family and friendship. I would also argue that it is about transition and depression (even though that word is not used). This is definitely a character driven story and it affected me deeply.

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robbgc
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

A deep dive into despair, a naked look into grief, Soseki‘s Kokoro is a transcedental epic that paints a powerful picture of intimacy. If there is someone who understands the human psyche all too well, that is Natsume Soseki. Sensei and all of Kokoro‘s elaborately realized characters are swimming in an ocean of metaphysical animus where love, jealously, regret, and betrayal coalesce with one another to produce a classic that has outlived its time.

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Paty1
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

My friend Caitlin recomended me this book saying it was a Japanese classic. It's a heartbreaking novel but so worth it! I learnt so much about human relations. Basically it's a story of how our lifes are changed by those we meet on the way and the decisions we make. Can't wait to reread it!

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RebeccaRenner
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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Panpan

@shawnmooney Posted a review of this book on goodreads, and it made me remember reading it in high school. So I dug it up and found this. #highschoolmarginalia #marginalia

Foxyfictionista Your annotations are amazing. I hope you write a book one day. 8y
shawnmooney LMAO! This is brilliant! The best Litsy post ever! 😂😂😂😂 8y
RebeccaRenner @Foxyfictionista I'm working on it. 8y
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Foxyfictionista @BeckyRenner Wonderful! Keep us posted! 8y
RebeccaRenner @shawnmooney Thanks! Lol finally got something out of that high school misery. My favorite is the "metaphor for the tediousness of this book" part. Lol #FutureEnglishTeacher 8y
Marchpane OMG this is hilarious ? especially "time of death" LOL. We were taught not to write in red because it would seem "angry" - completely appropriate in this case ? 8y
RebeccaRenner @Marchpane I usually don't write in red as a teacher, but I did this annotation when I was 16. It might have been just what I had on hand. Seems appropriate now though. Lol 8y
112 likes7 comments
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shawnmooney
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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Panpan

I felt there were about 20 pages of story here and the remaining 230-odd pages were nothing but ponderously dull rhetorical atmospherics. Sensei must have gone on for 50 pages in his looong letter to the narrator, warning him that he was about to reveal his secret, again, about to, and again, soon about to, and again, wait for it, the big reveal is coming... Oh my god! I was too bored to shoot myself; otherwise, I just might have.

MyBookLife Haha, enjoyed your review though 😂😂 8y
shawnmooney Check out @BeckyRenner – After she saw my review, she posted a GIF of her high school marginalia on the pages of this novel. Hilarious! 8y
Suet624 😂😂😂 8y
40 likes3 comments
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OutlandishLit
Kokoro | Natsume Soseki
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#seasonsreadings2016 day 4: #notinenglish
This is totally an old insta, but I love it so much. I have the English copy and I got the Japanese copy in a train station bookstore in Tokyo when we were about to head to Kamakura on the coast. I started trying to read it on the train and it is set in Kamakura! Spooky. Still haven't finished, because I only know 700-something kanji, but I'm working on it.
#japanese @RealLifeReading

RealLifeReading Pretty photo! 8y
DebinHawaii Lovely pic! 👍😀 8y
51 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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shawnmooney
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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shawnmooney
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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shawnmooney
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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shawnmooney
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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shawnmooney
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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22 likes1 stack add
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shawnmooney
Kokoro | Soseki Natsume, Natsume Soseki, Bishop Of Hippo Soseki
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I am finally reading this Japanese classic - well, listening to it on audio.

Seonjoon Have you read Toto Chan? (I think that's the title...) My mom owned a copy of this sweet little memoir-esque story of a little girl growing up in Japan, and the educator who changed her life. 8y
shawnmooney @Seonjoon No this is my first of Soseki's novels. I can't find a reference to the novel you mentioned on Wikipedia. Another of his novels, Botchan, is about a teacher but I can't find any reference in its plot summary to a relationship with a little girl student as being central to the plot. 8y
Seonjoon Hmmm...it was a little paperback with hand-made paper for the cover--I have no idea where my mom got it (and it's not by this author, simply a tangential title that your post jogged to memory). 8y
25 likes3 comments