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A review by erasmios
Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki
5.0
I finished this masterpiece yesterday. Here I try to wrap up some thoughts (with minor spoilers).
Kokoro is a story about lonely people and its main themes are loneliness and death. Why its two main characters, Sensei and the nameless university student, become friends was quite a mystery to me at first until I realised it must be, deep down, loneliness that connects them. Why else would a young man befriend someone much older than him? Someone who's almost entirely cut out from society and any social connections. The reader never finds out what exactly it is they so often discuss when the student visits Sensei. Philosophy? Politics? What makes this mysterious and bitter man so important to the student?
Sensei's disappointment in humankind is a result of past betrayals. His fate reminded me that it's often worse to be betrayed by one's self than others. That's also why Sensei is so bitter. He swore he'd never forgive his enemies, but in the end he was unable to forgive himself. I found the message astonishingly simple: Some men will do anything for money and women. I doubt Sensei's enemies felt guilty for betraying Sensei, whose only revenge was to leave his home and distrust all of humankind. Had he reacted differently on the other hand... In this light I felt every betrayal is a gamble, the bigger the betrayal the higher the stakes.
Death, both natural and unnatural, is present throughout Kokoro. Each month Sensei visits a certain grave by himself. The student's father is incurably ill. The Meiji emperor also dies, bringing an end to an era. That of course is not all. As if there's a clock ticking away precious time before unavoidable tragedies. Both the student and Sensei seem indecisive and they tend to procrastinate a lot. Much of their despair could've been avoided had they been men of action instead of thought. They know what they should do and yet put off important decisions. Then when the time's up they'll act impulsively and rashly. What a cruel paradox.
I think I had much more to say about Kokoro, but I really can't put into words why I liked it as much as I did. Such a great novel.
Kokoro is a story about lonely people and its main themes are loneliness and death. Why its two main characters, Sensei and the nameless university student, become friends was quite a mystery to me at first until I realised it must be, deep down, loneliness that connects them. Why else would a young man befriend someone much older than him? Someone who's almost entirely cut out from society and any social connections. The reader never finds out what exactly it is they so often discuss when the student visits Sensei. Philosophy? Politics? What makes this mysterious and bitter man so important to the student?
Sensei's disappointment in humankind is a result of past betrayals. His fate reminded me that it's often worse to be betrayed by one's self than others. That's also why Sensei is so bitter. He swore he'd never forgive his enemies, but in the end he was unable to forgive himself. I found the message astonishingly simple: Some men will do anything for money and women. I doubt Sensei's enemies felt guilty for betraying Sensei, whose only revenge was to leave his home and distrust all of humankind. Had he reacted differently on the other hand... In this light I felt every betrayal is a gamble, the bigger the betrayal the higher the stakes.
Death, both natural and unnatural, is present throughout Kokoro. Each month Sensei visits a certain grave by himself. The student's father is incurably ill. The Meiji emperor also dies, bringing an end to an era. That of course is not all. As if there's a clock ticking away precious time before unavoidable tragedies. Both the student and Sensei seem indecisive and they tend to procrastinate a lot. Much of their despair could've been avoided had they been men of action instead of thought. They know what they should do and yet put off important decisions. Then when the time's up they'll act impulsively and rashly. What a cruel paradox.
I think I had much more to say about Kokoro, but I really can't put into words why I liked it as much as I did. Such a great novel.