Reviews
(4.20/5)I enjoyed this overall, but found it a slow and difficult read that I only got through at perhaps half the speed I can read a more average novel. The cat, as narrator, loves complicated sentences, and never uses a simple word when a more obscure one is available -- expect to be doing a lot of dictionary lookups (and the amount of furigana provided depends a lot on which edition you're reading). It might be among the hardest books I've managed to actually finish.
The other source of trouble here is that the text has a ton of references and allusions to the Western, Japanese and Chinese literary canon. I would have been totally lost if I wasn't reading a version with a lot of endnotes that explained most of these references (and even with them, it takes time flipping back and forth and reading the endnotes).
Content-wise: this was published in a magazine, in installments, and I think it takes Soseki a while to figure out what he wants to write, so the first chapter isn't entirely representative. It settles down after a while to a bit less cat hijinx and more observations of and conversations between people (who are mostly highly educated university grads showing off about their literary knowledge). I’m interested in the period it’s set in and the Japanese/Western interaction that’s one of the themes, so it works for me.
If you want easier Soseki, I liked Sanshiro – same author, same setting, vastly easier read.
This is a lot harder than people seem to think it is. It's not so bad if you just want to understand on the level of "the narrator is a cat haha - some funny stuff happens with his owner and his owner's friends." That is to say, the basic plot - to the extent that it even exists - isn't too hard to follow. The soul of the book, however, is in the humor and the references, so if you don't follow those (and I often didn't, e.g. because I don't know the names of Imperial Japanese admirals or historical Chinese poets) much of the writing falls flat. I've heard that there are annotated editions explaining the allusions - if I'd had one I might have had an easier time.
If you just want to read something by Soseki, read こころ instead - it's much easier. Or read this, but stop after the first chapter or two, before you get tangled up in the hard parts.
Lots of rare kanji, but as you'll have plenty of furigana this isn't much of an issue.
Interesting stories, if you can wade through them.
First off, the language is quite difficult and dense, it may not be worth it to use this to learn Japanese. Much of what is written in this book will not be spoken in any conversation; and a lot of difficulty comes from the kango and by extension kanji usage which for me is incredibly interesting, but for the regular learner might not be. for example, grammar, which in modern Japanese is rendered almost fully in kana is in its full glory in kanji; an example from the first chapter would be 加之 which is read しかのみならず; an already advanced grammar point. or an easier one being やはり which in some versions is rendered as 矢張. Most versions have furigana though, so if you know the base word in those cases it will be fine.
The story, (or stories i should say as each part was publicised in a magazine monthly before being compiled, and can be seen as seperate stories) from the first 3 parts I have read is quite intriguing, especially taking into account the narrator is a cat. For the average reader it may not be much interesting, being the daily lives of teachers and middle class Japanese people, but it is swathed in contemporary references which give me an idea of how life was back then. The paper book which I own has these cultural references in the back with page numbers for reference but I've found it easier to just use sosekiproject.com which has the references in an easy format along with a vocabulary bar and audiobook readings for free.
Since im only a few chapters in I'll leave comments on the story/plot as a whole to the side.