Botchan

Soseki’s narrator is a blunt, quick-tempered young man from Tokyo who takes a mathematics post at a middle school in the provinces and finds a nest of flattery and quiet malice waiting for him. He hands out nicknames instead of learning names, Redshirt and Porcupine and Badger among them, and blunders through his colleagues’ scheming with far more honesty than sense. The comedy is all in the narration, which is fast, rude, and helpless to hide how badly he wants to do right. Underneath the jokes sits the question Soseki asked all his life: what becomes of a plain, decent temperament in a society that rewards cunning. Published in 1906, it is still one of the most widely read novels in Japan. Free PDF and EPUB editions are here.