Arbie's Unoriginally Titled Book Blog
It's a blog! Mainly of book reviews.
Currently reading
I am a Cat, Soseki
Apparently this is a classic of Japanese fiction. It dates from the period following the collapse of feudalism and opening up to outside influence, with consequent social upheaval. Soseki pokes gentle fun at the culture he finds himself in and gets away with it, mainly through the twin devices of making the observations those of a nameless kitten and making himself the chief butt of the jokes - though people from many walks of life and social stations are examined in order to fully capture life in Japan at the time.
Whilst there are some through-line "plot threads" e.g. the impending wedding of one character, this isn't really a novel, regardless of what the cover blurb would have you believe and I wouldn't recommend treating it as such: I found that too much at once became a bit of a grind and treating each "chapter" as a separate story, with big breaks between each, worked better. Taken that way, this was a lot of fun and an insight into a time and culture I knew little of.