Botchan
A Novel by Soseki Natsume
Botchan has a chip on his shoulder. His elder brother is his parents' obvious favorite and Botchan only receives any attention at all if he misbehaves. After his parents die, Botchan is cut off by his brother and drifts into a job teaching maths in a small provincial town far from the big city.
Thrust into this alien environment, Botchan finds nothing but trouble – from his nosy landlord; his students, who delight in tormenting him; his fellow teachers, each of whom he christens with a sly nickname – Porcupine, Green Squash, Badger, Red Shirt – and others who insist on complicating his life. The result is chaos, told with great wit and irony that make this Soseki's funniest novel.
A modern classic in Japan, Botchan is as widely read today as when it was first published, occupying a place in the canon similar to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The Catcher in the Rye. Botchan's coming-of-age quest to navigate the hypocrisy of his peers while remaining true to what is honest and good never fails to capture the hearts and imaginations of readers.
'Soseki remains the great master of modern literature in Japan.' – Norma M. Field
Soseki Natsume was born in Tokyo in 1867 and attended prestigious University of Tokyo before working as an English teacher for a time. He went to London for three years in 1900 on a government literary scholarship, where he developed a love for Shakespeare. Returning to take up a position at his alma mater, his writing career began with I Am a Cat in 1905. Botchan followed in 1906 and these remain his most popular works, along with Kokoro. Soseki enjoyed great popularity during his lifetime, and when Japanese readers and critics are asked today which author they most admire, Soseki's name always appears at the top of the list.
Dennis Washburn is Burlington Northern Foundation Professor in Asian Studies at Dartmouth College. His translations of Japanese literature include The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu and Laughing Wolf by Yuko Tsushima, among others.
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