Kokoro cover art

Kokoro

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Kokoro

By: Natsume Soseki
Narrated by: Matt Shea
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About this listen

"The subject of Kokoro, which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach to it. In the course of this exploration, Soseki brilliantly describes different levels of friendship, family relationships, and the devices by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness. The novel sustains throughout its length something approaching poetry, and it is rich in understanding and insight. The translation, by Edwin McClellan, is extremely good." (Anthony West, The New Yorker)

©1957 Regnery Publishing (P)2015 Regnery Publishing Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction United States World Literature

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All stars
Most relevant  
A fairly interesting story where a naïf young man meets and attaches himself to a sage. Told first from his point of view, then the sage’s. Marred for me by the reader’s voice, which makes one forget that the would-be disciple is Japanese. The reader makes a better job of reading the thoughts of the melancholic older man.

Narrator’s American voice

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Love Japanese literature but this one didn’t appeal to me. Tedious in the way the story is told, the end predictable, the way the two characters met each other not terribly credible… take it or leave it.

Not for me

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I really enjoyed this book, it made me think about how separated we are today, Sendai would probably feel more lonely in this age. It has a perfect mix of darkness, love and philosophy which gets the gears working in your head. At times the story was predictable but the way these aspects were addressed was very interesting! The book was read well and I went as far as to get a paperback copy for the bookcase!

An interesting take on life

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Definitely recommend this book, what a story! I personally didn't guess the ending or any of the end themes whilst listening. Will purchase the book to re-read again properly. This is why I love Japanese fiction!

Oh boy that was good

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I think I'm glad I listened to it, but I don't think I would go back to it again. I found the narrator frustrating at times, mostly his pronunciation of 'okaasan' (oak'sun) which drove me mad. But I also found the narrative a little difficult to engage with - I found myself getting quite annoyed with these foolish young men and their poor decision-making. I think part of the point of the book is that loneliness can make one foolish, but they came across to me as rather self-important and not as sympathetic as perhaps the author wanted. I do wonder if I would have found it more engaging if I were male.

If you’ve listened to books by Natsume Soseki before, how does this one compare?

I've not experienced any of Natsume Soseki's writing before. The closest I've come (being the other early-mid 20th century Japanese writer I've experienced) would probably be reading Yukio Mishima's "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion", which I think has a similarly unsympathetic male character who doesn't deal with his problems in a particularly healthy way. Give me "The Tale of Genji" any day.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

His Japanese pronunciation. He also didn't really distinguish vocally between different speakers. Most of the time this was OK (and far better than very forced different voices), but occasionally it meant I got a little confused about who was speaking during dialogue.

Could you see Kokoro being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

It has been adapted at least three times, according to Wikipedia. I can see it working on the screen, although I find it difficult to imagine it being anything other than an art house movie.

Not for me perhaps.

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I only decided to read this book because of a rather huge assignment for one of my classes in school. However, after I listened to this book I feel so that I am very glad that I did! Part 3 was a very intriguing part of this book! It felt like a book within a book! I do stand left with some unanswered questions.

The narrators poor pronunciation of the Japanese words in this book bother me a bit, seeing that I am fluent in Japanese, but I feel like he tried his best!

Compelling

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