Botchan - (Tuttle Classics) by Soseki Natsume (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Soseki remains the great master of modern literature in Japan." --Norma M. Field

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 math 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.

Review Quotes

"Botchan is required reading at school in Japan and you can imagine students identifying with the central character's contempt for the fools around him in much the same way those in the West identify with the characters in The Catcher in the Rye and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- both of which Botchan has been compared to." --The Japan Times

"Filled with light, satirical touches." -- Donald Keene

"Soseki Natsume is a great writer to have in anyone's collection. At his best, his prose is lush and rife with human observation and insight. He is capable of genuine pathos as seen in his novels such as Kokoro and I Am a Cat, but he is also capable of great humor and satire, as in the case of both Cat and Botchan." --Seattle Post-Intelligencer

About the Author

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.

Umeji Sasaki (1873-1929) was a teacher and translator in Japan.