The Miner

"It makes me very happy that I can read this novel written over a hundred years ago as if it were contemporary and be deeply affected by it. It cannot and should not be overlooked. It is one of my favorites."—Haruki MurakamiThe Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well-known novel of Japanese writer Natsume Soseki. An absurdist tale written in 1908, it was in many ways a precursor to the work of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.Translated by Jay Rubin, and with an introduction from Haruki Murakami, this is bound to appeal to fans of Japanese literature. The Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well-known novel of the great Meiji writer Natsume Soseki. An absurdist tale about the indeterminate nature of human personality, written in 1908, it was in many ways a precursor to the work of Joyce and Beckett. The result is a novel that is both absurd and comical, and a true modernist classic. Written in 1908, this absurdist novel about the indeterminate nature of human personality anticipates the work of Joyce and Beckett. Almost devoid of plot and characterization, it unfolds within the mind of the protagonist. His ruminatations constitute the theoretical core of the book.