Light and Dark: A Novel (Weatherhead Books on Asia)
This is Natsume Soseki's longest and most complex work, his most ambitious in terms of social description and psychological analysis, and his most intricately plotted. It is a book for the ages, a modernist masterpiece, masterfully translated.(Alan Tansman, University of California, Berkeley)With its dramatic expansion of the use of stream-of-consciousness narration, which Natsume Soseki had experimented with in previous novels,Light and Darkis a landmark in world literature. This new rendering by one of the very best translators of Japanese fiction reintroduces this modern masterpiece to a twenty-first-century audience.(Michael K. Bourdaghs, University of Chicago)Light and Darkis the greatest novel by modern Japan's greatest novelist. What Natsume Soseki achieved in this, his last, work is a pure miracle: no other word can do justice to the irony and precision of his character delineations and the gripping reality of his portrayal of a Japan in transition. Thanks to John Nathan's fine new translation, literature lovers everywhere can finally share in savoring this treasure, a detailed and unforgiving limning of love and marriage, faith and betrayal.(Minae Mizumura, author ofA True Novel and The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English)Natsume Soseki'sLight and Darkis one of the most gripping novels in modern Japanese literature. It represents a historical turning point in the development of Japanese fiction. John Nathan, a distinguished translator, has produced a masterful rendition that captures the subtle nuances of the original.(Haruo Shirane, Columbia University, author ofJapan and the Culture of the Four Seasons)Despite its missing denouement, the novel, now available in a superb translation by John Nathan, nevertheless stands out as an enduring masterpiece.Times Literary Supplement(Times Literary Supplement)Unusual, in several respects,Light and Darkis nevertheless an accomplished work of art and a fascinating example of Japanese fiction of its time.(M.A. OrthoferComplete Review)