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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Sanshirō is a brilliant and playful slice-of-life style novel. I’ve always been fascinated by the Meiji era and this book paints a very vivid and tangible atmosphere of that period in time. There are an abundance of loveable characters. My only wish is that it was a bit longer so I could indulge in more misadventures with Sanshirō and co. Just like a 12 episode slice-of-life eh? Soseki is a master of the craft, he had a well earned place on the ¥1000 note.
I really liked this. It was in some ways a typical bildungsroman, but without a lot of the typical melodrama I've come to expect from them. The novel seemed to largely revolve around Sanshiro's relationship to women, and his eventual maturation and acceptance of his place in what he calls the 'third world' full of women. Mine had an introduction by Murakami that was truly awful.
Liked this quote as well:
“What startled him most of all was Tokyo itself, for no matter how far he went, it never ended. Everywhere he walked there were piles of lumber, heaps of rock, new homes set back from the street, depressing old storehouses half demolished in front of them. Everything looked as if it were being destroyed, and at the same time everything looked as if it were under construction. The sheer movement of it all was terrible”
Liked this quote as well:
“What startled him most of all was Tokyo itself, for no matter how far he went, it never ended. Everywhere he walked there were piles of lumber, heaps of rock, new homes set back from the street, depressing old storehouses half demolished in front of them. Everything looked as if it were being destroyed, and at the same time everything looked as if it were under construction. The sheer movement of it all was terrible”
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I found this book incredibly hard to get through, and even then, only did it because I had to read it for an exam. I found the writing to be slow-paced, and from the beginning to the end I just couldn't bring myself to like the characters. Definitely one of my least liked books from the one of the greatest Japanese authors.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A great book. Reminded me of something from Machado de Assis actually, maybe because I read Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas relatively recently. You have a protagonist who is likeable but is far from perfect, a friend of the protagonist who is a bit quirky but generally well-intentioned, a love interested who is as mysterious as she is interesting.
In summary, the novel is about Sanshiro, a country boy who goes to university in Tokyo around 1900. The story is about him dealing with the new urban scenery and the people he meets along the way, with the catch that he is much more of a passive observer than an active protagonist. Things just happen and Sanshiro most frequently does not really deal with them because he is unable to, not because he doesn't want to. He's unable not only because he's a coward (a theme repeated multiple times throughout the book), but also because he's much more thoughtful and introspective than other characters in the same novel. Because of this, I don't dislike Sanshiro. His actions (or inactions, to be more precise) can be irritating sometimes, but the character feels real and likeable enough because he's honest - and honesty is likeable, as Professor Hirota puts it excellently in the middle of the novel.
The most important character other than Sanshiro is Mineko. Mineko is the Capitu to Sanshiro's Bentinho, in a way a human encapsulation of everything he feels regarding this new phase of his life. And even though we never get a glimpse into his mind it's amazing how the author makes us understand her through what she doesn't say and do more than from the little she says and does.
I can write much more about the other characters such as Yojiro and Hirota. But I won't, maybe later. I like them all though! Yoshiko, Nonomiya, etc.
Even though the ending isn't really something I'd call happy, I wouldn't say it's sad. It's logical. I guess the feeling it generates is bittersweet at first, but it's in line with the whole novel. I empathized with Sanshiro a lot, but the ending just felt a bit inevitable in a sense. I'm a sucker for happy endings, particularly romantic ones, but I accept this. Mineko, by the end, is a stray sheep as much as Sanshiro is. I guess we all are!
In summary, the novel is about Sanshiro, a country boy who goes to university in Tokyo around 1900. The story is about him dealing with the new urban scenery and the people he meets along the way, with the catch that he is much more of a passive observer than an active protagonist. Things just happen and Sanshiro most frequently does not really deal with them because he is unable to, not because he doesn't want to. He's unable not only because he's a coward (a theme repeated multiple times throughout the book), but also because he's much more thoughtful and introspective than other characters in the same novel. Because of this, I don't dislike Sanshiro. His actions (or inactions, to be more precise) can be irritating sometimes, but the character feels real and likeable enough because he's honest - and honesty is likeable, as Professor Hirota puts it excellently in the middle of the novel.
The most important character other than Sanshiro is Mineko. Mineko is the Capitu to Sanshiro's Bentinho, in a way a human encapsulation of everything he feels regarding this new phase of his life. And even though we never get a glimpse into his mind it's amazing how the author makes us understand her through what she doesn't say and do more than from the little she says and does.
I can write much more about the other characters such as Yojiro and Hirota. But I won't, maybe later. I like them all though! Yoshiko, Nonomiya, etc.
Even though the ending isn't really something I'd call happy, I wouldn't say it's sad. It's logical. I guess the feeling it generates is bittersweet at first, but it's in line with the whole novel. I empathized with Sanshiro a lot, but the ending just felt a bit inevitable in a sense. I'm a sucker for happy endings, particularly romantic ones, but I accept this. Mineko, by the end, is a stray sheep as much as Sanshiro is. I guess we all are!