The Miner

by Natsume Soseki, Jay Rubin (Translator)

Overview

The Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well-known novel of the great Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916). Written in 1908, it explores the indeterminate nature of human personality. An absurdist tale, in many respects, The Miner anticipates the work of Joyce and Beckett. The story unfolds entirely within the mind of an unnamed protagonist, a young man whose love life has fallen to pieces. As the man flees Tokyo, he is picked up by a procurer of cheap labour for a copper mine, and then travels toward - and finally burrows into the depths of - the mine, where he hopes to find oblivion.In a stunning translation by Jay Rubin, and featuring an introduction from Haruki Murakami, this new edition of The Miner brings a lost classic to a new audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781805334699
Publisher:	Steerforth Press
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

NATSUME SŌSEKI is widely recognised to be Japan's greatest modern novelist. Born Natsume Kinnosukein Edo in 1867, the year before the city was renamed Tokyo, he survived a lonely childhood, being traded between foster and biological parents. At the age of twenty-two, Natsume chose from a Chinese source the defiantly playful pen name Sōseki ("Garglestone") to signify his own sense of eccentricity. Though hoping to become a writer as early as the age of fourteen, Sōseki chose the more respectable path of English literature scholar, and was sent to London by the Ministry of Education in 1900 for two years. In 1907, Sōseki took to writing full time. His early works relied on a freewheeling sense of humour, but they darkened as Sōseki wrestled with increasingly debilitating bouts of depression and illness. He died in 1916 with his last and longest novel still unfinished.Each new generation of Japanese readers rediscovers Sōseki, while Western readers find in him a modern intellect doing battle in familiar territory, a truly original voice among those artists of the world who have most fully grasped the modern experience.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Sōseki:

'The Miner may be a product of its time and place, but so is To the Lighthouse, so is A Man Without Qualities, and books about thought – or mining for the nature of thought – are a valuable addition to any healthy reading diet. Warmly recommended for the curious reader' David Mitchell, author of The Bone Clocks

‘It makes me very happy to know that even now I can read this novel written over a hundred years ago as if it were a contemporary account and be deeply affected by it. It cannot and should not be overlooked. It is one of my favourites’ from the introduction by Haruki Murakami

'Sōseki predicted the problems we are facing today. He had a long-term view of civilization. His popularity will become more global in the future' Kang Sang-jung, political scientist and principal of Seigakuin University

'This is a handsome and welcome new edition' The Japan Times

'Strangely compelling, it has a distinct flavour of Beckett or even Kafka and I found it intriguing and more accessible than much Japanese literature. An interesting read' M. Jenkinson, NetGalley reviewer

'With Jay Rubin's reworked translation and the modern feel of the voice, it reads like contemporary auto fiction. Definitely worth reading as part of Sōseki's oeuvre' M. Carter, NetGalley reviewer 

'A must for Sōseki fans and those fascinated by the complexities of the mind' Hank Stephenson, bookseller, Flyleaf Books

'It was written over one hundred years ago, but seems very modern indeed' San Francisco Book Review

'It is almost meditational. The affective nature of the text is quite remarkable' T. Lunt, NetGalley reviewer

'This revised translation of The Miner presents an underappreciated gem from one of Japan's greatest novelists' Shelf Awareness

'The Miner is an awkward, fascinating novel — yes, novel — that deserves a new generation of English readers' Book Slut 

Praise for Haruki Murakami:

In April 2015, Murakami was named one of the TIME 100's most influential people.
'Readers wait for [Murakami’s] work the way past generations lined up at record stores for new albums by the Beatles or Bob Dylan' Patti Smith, The New York Times Book Review

Praise for Jay Rubin:

'Translators generally don’t garner much attention, but Jay Rubin has distinguished himself' Seattle Times 

From the Publisher