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The Gate
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
An NYRB Calssics Original A humble clerk and his loving wife scrape out a quiet existence on the margins of Tokyo. Resigned, following years of exile and misfortune, to the bitter consequences of having married without their families consent, and unable to have children of their own, S?suke and Oyone find the delicate equilibrium of their household upset by a new obligation to meet the educational expenses of S?sukes brash younger brother. While an unlikely new friendship appears to offer a way out of this bind, it also soon threatens to dredge up a past that could once again force them to flee the capital. Desperate and torn, S?suke finally resolves to travel to a remote Zen mountain monastery to see if perhaps there, through meditation, he can find a way out of his predicament. This moving and deceptively simple story, a melancholy tale shot through with glimmers of joy, beauty, and gentle wit, is an understated masterpiece by one of Japans greatest writers. At the end of his life, Natsume S?seki declared The Gate, originally published in 1910, to be his favorite among all his novels. This new translation captures the oblique grace of the original while correcting numerous errors and omissions that marred the first English version.
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review
BarbaraBB
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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Mehso-so

Sosuke and his wife Oyone lead a quiet, monotonous life in a shabby rented house in Tokyo. Although they live isolated due to past events, they are still relatively happy. However, when the events of the past gradually catch up with them, Sosuke is faced with a dilemma. How much obedience do you owe to those around you and what are the consequences when you choose to listen to yourself?

youneverarrived Sounds interesting! 3d
60 likes1 comment
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BarbaraBB
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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#WeeklyForecast 46/24

I‘ve found my escape in another John Marrs, and am halfway through now. Next will be this Japanese #NYRB book, also comfort reading!

squirrelbrain Glad you‘ve found some solace in a book! 2w
sarahbarnes The NYRB sounds very intriguing! 1w
61 likes2 comments
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BC_Dittemore
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

One of my first impressions of Soseki‘s The Gate is that it reminded me of an Ozu film. Like water boiling, there is so much happening, while seemingly nothing at all. It is a fantastic little novel. Soseki‘s prose is precise and non intrusive, allowing the reader to slowly move through the day to day mundanity of a married couple while enriching our imagination and propelling us to an at once profound and prosaic conclusion.

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BC_Dittemore
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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sisilia
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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NYRB Classics Reading Society Singapore 💖 We read The Gate in July. One person read it in the original Japanese, another read the Chinese translation. It‘s interesting to find out the differences and what‘s lost in translation. I loved The Gate more after the lively discussion. Soseki left the readers with so many unsaid things, inviting different interpretations that make this an excellent bookclub pick

Crazeedi That's awesome!!👏😍 5y
TheSpineView Great picture!😊 5y
See All 10 Comments
emilyhaldi How fun!! 👏🏻👏🏻 5y
Tamra Looks like a great time! 5y
AlaMich Different people reading the book in different languages would make for a fascinating discussion! 5y
AlaMich Just out of curiosity, what is your first language? 5y
sisilia @AlaMich Indonesian 😃 5y
AlaMich @sisilia Was your schooling in English? 5y
sisilia @AlaMich I started learning English at age 10 but didn‘t really use it until I went to Australia to study at the university. My first few months in Australia was quite a challenge as it was the first time for me to live and breathe in English. The first adult English novel that I read was Sue Grafton‘s B is for Burglar. I read it in my sixth month in Australia, I think. Really pushed myself to finish it without the help of a dictionary 5y
80 likes10 comments
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sisilia
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

4⭐️ “He had come here expecting the gate to be opened for him. But when he knocked, the gatekeeper, wherever he stood behind the high portals, had not so much as showed his face. Only a disembodied voice could be heard: “It does no good to knock. Open the gate for yourself and enter.””
This pretty much summarises what one should do with one‘s life. Easy to say, quite tricky in reality 🧐 #nyrb #nyrbclassics

Soubhiville Oh my gosh those orchids! *swoon! 5y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks So pretty 💜💜💜 5y
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sisilia
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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Did I just hop into a time machine? Tokyo in 1910 feels so romantic 🥰

AlaMich It sounds lovely! 5y
batsy Another one to add to the list 😍 5y
74 likes6 stack adds2 comments
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LukkiAnn
The Gate | Natsume Soseki
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Pickpick

It is a wonderful Japanese classic literature where you find beautiful language but no much happenings in the story, that is so common for Japanese novels. Written in 1906 the novel is considered as Soseki's best writing and feels so contemporary and fresh. It is about enigma of human nature and no taken chances life. It left more questions than answers and totally worth a re-reading for sure. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

JoS-L Amen to that! I read The Decagon House Murders not too long ago, a classic example of Honkaku, and it irritated me in its pace. But I honestly can't stop thinking of it and feel I should read it again. What up Japanese fiction?! 8y
LukkiAnn @JoS-L most of Japanese novels are slow motion, not-much-happen enigmas, that stuck for a while in your mind))) i do not know that's New, but my previous read was 8y
14 likes2 comments