The gate by Natsume Soseki

Set in Tokyo, Japan. Reread on 2019/01: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsze2FoHpJb/

Under the boisterous appeal of the #10yearchallenge , Soseki is here to tell us all that everything is in constant movement, but nothing changes. I think that is the premise of #thegate and one of our fundamental truths in life. #soseki produces a text which masterfully and elegantly explores how much that constant change is expressed in those things left unsaid, in our silences. The dialogues are purposefully short and inconspicuous, shy and even coy. What’s left unsaid between characters takes center stage not only as the bulk of what #natsumesosekiwrote but also as where the action takes places. The most important part of the action resides on the look someone should have given, the words weighing heavily on the dialogue because of their absence and the actions never undertaken. A lot of reviews see in The Gate a story about #nothing or a story representing the quintessential #japanesesoul and mind. In my humble opinion, what #soseki is so resoundingly proposing here is that even in what we perceive as nothing, there is always something. A something which can define and change us forever. #highlyrecommended #japaneseliterature#tokyo #kyoto #nyrb #夏目漱石 #門 #東京#nothingness #nyrbbooks #leftunsaid#rereadmarathon

Reviewed on 2018/02: tps:

Just when I was pretty certain that #humangreatness could be summarized by Tanizaki, Kawabata and Mishima, along comes #natsumesosekiHow can I describe this book? An exercise of #streamofconciousness on steroids? #soseki is basically turning a #japanese or dare I say #japanesesociety inside out for all of us to see, to read and to feel. A priori nothing is really happening here. No actions per se. But as almost all in life, underneath appearances and that which was left #unspoken everything is said, done and felt. And the result of putting all those #contradictions doubts and mental labyrinths in a book of only 200-pages long is simply a #literaryachievement on its own. I’m still very early in my readings for this month and year. But I think I might have just read one of the best books of all times. #highlyrecommended #thegate#japaneseliterature #tokyo #kyoto #nyrb #夏目漱石 #門 #東京 #thebest #nothingness