Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Daisuke è un giovane ragazzo figlio di una famiglia benestante che lo mantiene nella sua vita sfaccendata e decadente. Daisuke si compiace della sua esistenza, della sua sensibilità e delicatezza. E' attratto dal decadentismo occidentale e si ispira a D'Annunzio. La sua vita potrebbe essere tranquilla se non fosse che la sua famiglia vorrebbe che lui si decidesse a sposarsi piuttosto che rifiutare ancora una volta una ragazza scelta per lui. Ma se in precedenza i rifiuti di Daisuke erano stati dettati dalla sua pigrizia e dalla voglia di mantenere il suo tenore di vita, questa volta c'è una ragione precisa.
Se nella prima parte del racconto il protagonista ci lascia un po' interdetti per la sua indolenza, col proseguire della storia invece ci intenerisce, dimostrando il suo animo nobile anche se avulso ad ogni forma di compromesso o di buon senso.
Se nella prima parte del racconto il protagonista ci lascia un po' interdetti per la sua indolenza, col proseguire della storia invece ci intenerisce, dimostrando il suo animo nobile anche se avulso ad ogni forma di compromesso o di buon senso.
I like how deep this book is; every word written implies so much more and the whole book basically implores you to think deeper, much deeper, to fully understand, not just the characters and their actions, but every thing that goes on in their world.
Daisuke's ability to speak with so much eloquence impressed me, but his innate laziness really puts me off. However his intriguing complexity sort of makes up for it.
It's really an interesting read. The ending really lets readers conclude the story for themselves—no doubt there's not reunion between Michiyo and Daisuke, nor is there any 'happily ever after' or even close, but it's really fun to ponder about. Really worth one's spare time! ☺
Daisuke's ability to speak with so much eloquence impressed me, but his innate laziness really puts me off. However his intriguing complexity sort of makes up for it.
It's really an interesting read. The ending really lets readers conclude the story for themselves—no doubt there's not reunion between Michiyo and Daisuke, nor is there any 'happily ever after' or even close, but it's really fun to ponder about. Really worth one's spare time! ☺
When was the last time something moved you?
Mine was four months ago. A sunset in Banyuwangi.
A dusk that is only for me. I had it in me when something is going through a change two things will foreshadow. First, everything is going fine, too fine. Second, a huge current that stirs your entire being. Just like a calm before the storm. Everyone
felt it except it's only you changing.
And something moved me once again. This time it's a book. Just a 246 page book written over a decade ago by a writer whose name was widely known. Bu
@flandiana recommended me and I happened to found it at a bookshop in Bandung. Have been sitting on my shelf ever since. My previous read was a collection of Japanese short stories with Natsume Soseki in it, and I knew it was the right time to pick up Sore Kara as my next book.
To me, Sore Kara (And Then) is a monumental book.
It begins with amazement how Soseki write each and every paragraph to smallest detail and ends with his realistic storytelling style like l'm imagining a screenplay in my head. Like a food to the mind, I find myself consciously attracted to forest of deep thoughts the main character cosplayed. The crisscrossing thoughts is very similar to what
I'm facing constantly and somehow calming to have somebody write it down in a book. That way, I get to know myself properly.
It was a story about Daisuke in his late twenties-living between traditional cultures and emerging modernity. Soseki identified his character as a highly self-conscious one, an eternal outsider. As someone who was born into a family that practiced business, family and friends criticised Daisuke for having no intention to work. Far from being dispirited or indecisive, he just found it unacceptable if his reason for work was merely to eat. Such a profound young man, I must say.
To read it you have to have an empty glass.
Someone wrote it in Goodreads review and I very much agree:
"I drank the book with slow sips of strong sake, and it made me light headed and pensive".
Mine was four months ago. A sunset in Banyuwangi.
A dusk that is only for me. I had it in me when something is going through a change two things will foreshadow. First, everything is going fine, too fine. Second, a huge current that stirs your entire being. Just like a calm before the storm. Everyone
felt it except it's only you changing.
And something moved me once again. This time it's a book. Just a 246 page book written over a decade ago by a writer whose name was widely known. Bu
@flandiana recommended me and I happened to found it at a bookshop in Bandung. Have been sitting on my shelf ever since. My previous read was a collection of Japanese short stories with Natsume Soseki in it, and I knew it was the right time to pick up Sore Kara as my next book.
To me, Sore Kara (And Then) is a monumental book.
It begins with amazement how Soseki write each and every paragraph to smallest detail and ends with his realistic storytelling style like l'm imagining a screenplay in my head. Like a food to the mind, I find myself consciously attracted to forest of deep thoughts the main character cosplayed. The crisscrossing thoughts is very similar to what
I'm facing constantly and somehow calming to have somebody write it down in a book. That way, I get to know myself properly.
It was a story about Daisuke in his late twenties-living between traditional cultures and emerging modernity. Soseki identified his character as a highly self-conscious one, an eternal outsider. As someone who was born into a family that practiced business, family and friends criticised Daisuke for having no intention to work. Far from being dispirited or indecisive, he just found it unacceptable if his reason for work was merely to eat. Such a profound young man, I must say.
To read it you have to have an empty glass.
Someone wrote it in Goodreads review and I very much agree:
"I drank the book with slow sips of strong sake, and it made me light headed and pensive".
I like the story and the quiet beauty it conveys that's quite often depicted in Japanese literature, but I don't get the ending, it's like seeing the lightning in rainy days and as a reader, I expected the story to continue and then found out it ends, out of shock. That's so sad.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There's two pieces of reading that I highly suggest in relation to Sorekara. The first is the introduction to the Penguin edition of Sanshirō by Murakami Haruki, and the second is the afterword by Norma Field (which can be found in the Tuttle edition of this book). While not necessarily centred around the book, I think both do a good job of establishing the context that Sōseki's trilogy was written in. Field's afterword, in particular, is solid enough that it's clear she understands Sōseki, the work, and perhaps literature in general at an insightfully deep level. This trilogy is not a trilogy in the sense of a story or of characters - the three books are related only thematically. To get the full context of this book requires reading the book before (Sanshirō), though it's certainly not necessary.
Sorekara follows Daisuke, the protagonist, as he navigates the latter end of the Meiji-era. Sōseki writes a truly despicable protagonist - one that lazes around all day, ponders what he thinks is a deep and consistent personal philosophy, and is content to advance his life in his head but not in real life. This is one of the core frustrations with the novel - the pace in the beginning is excruciating. Daisuke is content to mostly do the same acts in a monotonous cycle for the beginning half of the book. This is not a joke - he sits, thinks about life, meets his friend, and the cycle continues for about 120 pages.
Eventually the cycle breaks (as it must) near the halfway point of the book. By this point, Daisuke slips into a forbidden love affair. The extent of his previous and current passion, and even what in the relationship between the two has changed since the beginning of the novel is left as an exercise for the reader to determine. I'd wager a guess that at least half of the progression in this affair largely takes place inside Daisuke's head. The prose here is melodramatic - and gets tedious at times.
I felt especially that Sorekara was outright impenetrable at times. It's true that there are compelling explorations of societal themes - like alienation, and the effects of Westernisation and modernisation. Unfortunately I largely felt it was markedly lacking - especially compared to the richness of Kokoro, one of Sōseki's later works.
2.5/5
Sorekara follows Daisuke, the protagonist, as he navigates the latter end of the Meiji-era. Sōseki writes a truly despicable protagonist - one that lazes around all day, ponders what he thinks is a deep and consistent personal philosophy, and is content to advance his life in his head but not in real life. This is one of the core frustrations with the novel - the pace in the beginning is excruciating. Daisuke is content to mostly do the same acts in a monotonous cycle for the beginning half of the book. This is not a joke - he sits, thinks about life, meets his friend, and the cycle continues for about 120 pages.
Eventually the cycle breaks (as it must) near the halfway point of the book. By this point, Daisuke slips into a forbidden love affair. The extent of his previous and current passion, and even what in the relationship between the two has changed since the beginning of the novel is left as an exercise for the reader to determine. I'd wager a guess that at least half of the progression in this affair largely takes place inside Daisuke's head. The prose here is melodramatic - and gets tedious at times.
I felt especially that Sorekara was outright impenetrable at times. It's true that there are compelling explorations of societal themes - like alienation, and the effects of Westernisation and modernisation. Unfortunately I largely felt it was markedly lacking - especially compared to the richness of Kokoro, one of Sōseki's later works.
2.5/5
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
"He was a man so attached to life that he could scarcely bear to picture his heart calmly beating to the coursing of his blood."
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes