Reviews

Kusamakura by Natsume Sōseki

alexeball's review

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

addiestanley's review

5.0

I'm still trying to decide if the narrator is deeply insightful or just a bit of an elitist asshole (and indeed, they're not mutually exclusive). Either way, the whole experience of reading this book is poetic; peaceful and meditative; focused on observing the surrounding natural world without completely abandoning the notion of a plot. The description "haiku-like" is entirely appropriate.

tarugani's review

2.0

argh

briancrandall's review

4.0

The main path has become indistinguishable among the numerous paths that meet and part and intersect. All are a path of some sort, and none is the path itself. A further interesting confusion is the intriguing patches of of dark and red earth that are visible here and there in the grass, not clearly connected to this or that track.

I wander through the grass, looking for a place to settle myself down. The landscape that looked so suitable for painting when viewed from my balcony also seems suddenly to have lost its unity and coherence. Its color too is gradually fading. As I plod stupidly hither and yon in this fashion, all desire to paint deserts me. With the need to paint gone, the selection of a place no longer matters—wherever I choose to sit will become my home. The warmth of the spring sunlight has penetrated to the roots of the grass, and as I plump myself down, I sense that I am inadvertently crushing beneath me an invisible shimmer of heat haze. [130]

sartomiki's review against another edition

3.0

il libro è un susseguirsi di riflessioni in un'atmosfera fabiesca.

benrogerswpg's review against another edition

3.0

It was okay.

Sad book though. Quite a tough read!

Surprisingly, I did not enjoy this as much as I thought I would - unlike other Soseki books.

3.0/5

kumipaul's review against another edition

3.0

An artist wanders, pondering how everything is art and how everything can be turned into poetry. That's about it. Don't look for plot or characterization. This is a poetically written book, not a novel or an essay or a non-fiction piece, about finding poetry.

elisa19's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Un'opera che si apprezza di più se si è amante di arte e poesia... decisamente non di azione....

aliencatl0rd's review

I wanted to finish this book [and like it], truthfully. But the narrator was so annoying and full of himself at times that I just couldn't stick through it. The parts in which there's actual dialogue are brilliant but so few and far between. The rest of the text contains so little actual material; just unfiltered brain goo that could be described as "philosophical" at times and I have the feeling that's what the author was going for. But at the end of a long day when I curl up with a book, the entire point is to be whisked away to some far off place with an interesting agenda, not struggling through jumbled thoughts which only give me a headache. If I wanted to be stuck in such an awfully jumbled stream of consciousness, I have my own brain, thanks.

If you can manage to get through these or skip over them—seriously, I never thought I'd say this about a novel but for the most part these are irrelevant to the actual story—the dialogues and interactions are really great: a mixture of mystery and humor. The drama surrounding the inn keeper's daughter and her escapades is really amusing and makes you want to stick through the brain mush to uncover the truth about her.

Counting this one as read because I did read all the dialogues and scenes pertaining to the actual plot, and only skipped/skimmed the mumbo jumbo in between once I got to chapter six and couldn't withstand it anymore.

ricardorcesar's review

inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

“It’s not simply beautiful. It cares not if the wind blows.”

Kusamakura follows a young artist on a tour around the mountain, narrating his day to day activities in the village through the lens of poetry, haiku-style. Turning inwards at the time when Japan was opening its doors to the rest of the world, touching themes of old Japan at the start of the 20th century.

This translation has a powerful, poetic lyricism to its prose, taking on themes like art, fate, beauty and the modernizing world. 

This scenery—scenery that adds nothing to the belly or the pocket—fills the heart with pleasure simply as scenery, and this is surely why there is neither suffering nor anxiety in the experience. This is why the power of nature is precious to us. Nature instantly forges the spirit to a pristine purity and elevates it to the realm of pure poetry.

Sitting silent in this quiet world I sense a faint light deep within me. The human world is thronged with busyness Yet how could one forget such peace? By chance I gain a day’s serenity and learn how hectic is the life of man.

Such is an artist that he aknowledges and rejects the speed at which the world advances and how modernization strips us of the pleasures of life, true then at the end of the Meiji restoration and true now at the current peak of 21st century globalization. There is no greatest activity in the human experience than keeping still and contemplating the scene around you.

I’m more than happy simply to be registering a beautiful thing as beautiful.

In today’s society, one is so entrapped in the belief that everything one does must produce a capitalist benefit, either through money or skill, product or service. In Kusamakura, the artist went in what you could call an “artist’s retreat” yet he feels no pressure to produce art. He embodies the essence of an artist regardless of the art, that which admires the pure beauty of the world and tries to recreate it.

I have not made a single painting since arriving, indeed I almost feel that to have brought the painting box along at all was a mere whim. And you call yourself a painter? you may say with a sneer. But sneer though you may, I am for the present a true artist, a magnificent artist. Those who have attained this state don’t necessarily produce great works—but all who produce great works must first attain it.

“A world where falling in love requires marrying is a world where novels require reading from beginning to end.”

This world in which an artist need not produce art, need not read a book from beginning to end, is a world in which the arbitrary rules set by society can be broken for the mere purpose of simply enjoying, contrary to the modern belief. One can just exist freely, without immediate consequence.

That is the wonderful thing about the natural world; while on the one hand it has neither pity nor remorse, on the other, it is neither fickle nor arbitrary in its dealings with people—it treats all indifferently alike.

This comes close to the talk about fate, a theme Soseki delves into multiple times throughout the story. Fate as an acting party in the story instead of a conclusion to said story. 

Fate has for a brief and unexpected moment brought us together in this room, but beyond that it speaks no more.

The bonds of fate are compelling him to a dark and fearsome land far to the north, and we whose fate is tangled with his are likewise compelled to travel with him until the ties that bind us at last give way.

Here, Soseki takes fate as a catalyst for multiple scenes, acknowledging that just as fate may be the cause that brings two (or more) people together, it is not simply fate that will keep the promise of company, revisiting the idea of a world that “treats all indifferently alike” with a fatalist air to it. Sometimes, a person must take advantage of fate and act upon their desires, instead of waiting for everything to fall into place. However, not all change brings satisfaction of said desires.

“Easy, difficult—you can make it whatever you want, depending on your state of mind. There’s no point in moving to the land of mosquitoes because you’re sick of the land of fleas.”

All these were some of the quotes that resonated with me and were delightful to read. 

At last, the artistic narration was a pleasure to read.

I have a sense that a million moons have cast themselves over a million roof tiles there.

I like to imagine what it would be like to read this book in its original language. I feel like this translation does justice to the original lyricism, but oh how beautiful would it be to read the haikus, the metaphors and the talk of nature in its original tone.

I don’t usually enjoy reading books with such poetic prose and without much engaging plot, but reading through my highlighted quotes I can assure myself that it was a pleasant read, not over complicated, over saturated, or overstimulating.