Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki ✦ Book Review

Are all people inherently good or bad? Do we fit into neat little boxes at the onset of time, whittling our days away staying right where we are? Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki is a critique of morality, loneliness, and the way to kill a man with the burden of his own guilt.

Divided into three parts, Kokoro takes place in the Meiji era across the landscape of a changing Japan at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. The beginning introduces the protagonist, a nameless student who lacks concrete direction for the rest of his life. He happens upon a mysterious older man who he calls Sensei and the two form a friendship. Sensei is an enigma who lives comfortably with a lovely wife, but is seemingly overcome by his own sadness. He remains tight-lipped about much of it until the third part… where he finally releases the skeletons in his closet in the form of a confessionary letter and bares his guilt.

Kokoro (1955) dir. Kon Ichikawa

I sped through Kokoro in a matter of hours, held captive by the gentle yet intense prose of Natsume Sōseki, as translated by Edwin McClellan in 1957. It was my first time reading his work, and I found myself drawn in by the slow-building tension and recurring motive of isolation. Everything moved slowly, perhaps too much so, but I was tethered to each heartfelt line.

It's a depressing story, there's no getting around that—and it's brutal.

Exurb from Part 3

Kokoro was written in 1914 yet its significance still holds up today. We are often too afraid to speak our minds. In doing so, we forget that others can be harmed in the aftermath. And then sometimes, it's too late.

Most of the turmoil in Kokoro occurs while the characters deliberate speaking up. Opportunities pass before their eyes, and what they're left with are their own unatonable offences and a lifetime to bear this remorse. There were certain characters who I despaired for, who—through no fault of their own—were trapped in this tragedy.

Kokoro is a devastating story about the heart. The heart that feels and thinks and aches.

But remember, there is guilt in loving. And remember too that, in loving, there is something sacred.

4 Stars | ☆☆☆☆