A review by ihashem
And Then by Natsume Sōseki

And then, a story about a man and his role in society. Where he stands as a breadwinner and a man of honour. Natsume Soseki gives us a glimpse into Japanese culture and its expectation of men, by delving deep into the inner thoughts of the protagonist Daisuke.

'Daisuke would silently ponder to what end he had been born into this world'. 'Maybe you can work furiously, but it's hard to work sincerely. If you're working in order to eat, which do you think is the main object work or food?' Here we see multiple examples of how Soseki cleverly asks the big questions through the protagonist, one wonders how much of Daisuke's thoughts and emotions belong to Soseki. In this own right Soseki is a genius writer, he ends Daisuke's journey of philosophical discovery and urge to understand the world, by portraying him as a character who knows nothing and has no respect for tradition and family honour. '... you are a fellow who doesn't understand anything at all. There's nothing more dangerous in the world than a person who doesn't understand.'

For those seeking to read Japanese translation Soseki is a brilliant author and the Norma Moore Field translation to be excellent.