The miner - Wyrms.de

No cover — Natsume Sōseki: The miner (1988, Stanford University Press)

189 pages

English language

Published Nov. 23, 1988 by Stanford University Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-8047-1460-0

(1 review)

The Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well known novel of the great Meiji novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916). Written in 1908, it is an absurdist novel about the indeterminate nature of human personality, which in many respects anticipates the work of Joyce and Beckett. Virtually devoid of plot and characterization, it unfolds entirely within the mind of the unnamed protagonist. Focusing on a young man whose love life has fallen to pieces, The Miner follows him as he flees from Tokyo, is picked up by a procurer of cheap labor for a copper mine, and then travels toward - and finally burrows into the depths of - the mine where he hopes to find oblivion. The young man reflects at length on nearly every thought and perception he experiences along the way, in terms of what the experience means to him at the time and in retrospect as …

The Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well known novel of the great Meiji novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916). Written in 1908, it is an absurdist novel about the indeterminate nature of human personality, which in many respects anticipates the work of Joyce and Beckett. Virtually devoid of plot and characterization, it unfolds entirely within the mind of the unnamed protagonist. Focusing on a young man whose love life has fallen to pieces, The Miner follows him as he flees from Tokyo, is picked up by a procurer of cheap labor for a copper mine, and then travels toward - and finally burrows into the depths of - the mine where he hopes to find oblivion. The young man reflects at length on nearly every thought and perception he experiences along the way, in terms of what the experience means to him at the time and in retrospect as a mature adult narrating the tale. The narrator concludes that there is no such thing as human character, and the many passages in which he ruminates on the nature of personality constitute the theoretical core of the book. The intellectual distancing carries over into the style of writing as well, and instead of a tragedy of alienation, we find here an absurdist - truly absurd and comical - allegory of descent into the psyche.

1 edition

Stephanie Jane reviewed The miner by Natsume Sōseki

An intriguing premise

4 stars

I received a copy of The Miner by Netsume Soseki from its publishers, Gallic Books, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. This is my fourth book towards Sophie And Suze's NetGalley Challenge and I am also counting The Miner as my 1900s read for the Goodreads / Bookcrossing Decade Challenge as it was first published in 1908. In my ignorance of classic Japanese literature I didn't realise that Soseki is one of their lauded authors although apparently The Miner, an experimental work, is often excluded from his collected writings. I think this is a shame. It is certainly an odd novel, but I enjoyed reading it especially as its unusual structure was unpredictable.

The eponymous miner talks to the reader in the first person throughout the novel. He describes what he sees and the people he meets, while also explaining his own thoughts and feelings. This is a …

I received a copy of The Miner by Netsume Soseki from its publishers, Gallic Books, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. This is my fourth book towards Sophie And Suze's NetGalley Challenge and I am also counting The Miner as my 1900s read for the Goodreads / Bookcrossing Decade Challenge as it was first published in 1908. In my ignorance of classic Japanese literature I didn't realise that Soseki is one of their lauded authors although apparently The Miner, an experimental work, is often excluded from his collected writings. I think this is a shame. It is certainly an odd novel, but I enjoyed reading it especially as its unusual structure was unpredictable.

The eponymous miner talks to the reader in the first person throughout the novel. He describes what he sees and the people he meets, while also explaining his own thoughts and feelings. This is a very introverted book. We never learn the Miner's name. A young man, he has walked from Tokyo to a forest where he meets a man procuring men to work in a copper mine. Much of the book is about the sheer pain of long distance walking. Soseki also examines the point of life, honour in suicide, human dignity, and degradation caused harsh labour. His portrayals of the miners en masse are frequently shocking to read although he also finds hope in a claustrophobic underground scene that is particularly moving to read.

The Miner could perhaps be a coming of age tale. It reads more as a memoir than a novel and I was intrigued by both the premise and its unfolding. I think the story style is probably of niche interest and I would recommend it to quietly adventurous readers.