

Like the first whiff of burning incense, or like the taste of one’s first cup of saké, there is in love that moment when all its power is felt. Between two people who have always known each other, that necessary stimulus can never be felt. “I may be simply repeating what has always been known, but I do believe that for love to grow there must first be the impact of novelty. I’ll leave you with two of my favourite passages from the book. Reading ‘Kokoro’ made me realize that my first impression was correct, that Natsume Sōseki is my guy, that he’s my favourite Japanese author of that time.

It was very different from ‘ The Three-Cornered World’ (‘Kusamakura’). It is a tragic, heartbreaking story of love, of friendship, of betrayal. This story is about the complexities, the contradictions, and the unfathomable depths of the human heart.

What happens after this and the events which unfurl and the past secrets which are revealed form the rest of the story. Which he refuses to reveal to his new protégé. Something tragic seems to have happened in his past. But Sensei seems to be a mysterious person. And soon Sensei becomes like a mentor to him. The young man feels a kind of magnetic pull towards the older man. In ‘Kokoro’, a young man meets an older man at the beach. The beauty of this simple story outweighs my moments of eye rolling.After reading my first Natsume Sōseki novel and loving it, I decided to read another. It's written from the perspective of a man in early 20th century Japan and they had very strong views about women and their place. It doesn't have any flashy action or grandiose plotlines, but small moments will make your heart stop and give you pause. Being less than 200 pages, I highly recommend it to those interested in a deep character study. But the narrator and Sensei feel like real human beings.

You never leave the main characters' head the entire time. The prose is self reassuring, sometimes distracted, and often slightly askewed, but is also the most honest first person narration I have ever read. It doesn't feel heavy handed by giving over the top metaphors and similes, but instead is honest and wanders back and forth before arriving at it's destination. I am not an expert and have a very superficial knowledge of japanese history, but the prose alone balances beautifully between poetry and narration. Written in the early twentieth century, it takes place during Japan's transition from the Meiji era to the Taisho era and beautifully epitomizes the shifting cultural dynamics. A slow exploration of loneliness and isolations, depression, guilt, and the search for human connection, it gently leads you through the complex trauma of a changing culture and the relationship of two central characters. If you have a couple of afternoons to sit in the sunshine with a cup of tea and silence, please please please give Kokoro a chance to charm you.
