NOTA |
(*)(trans. by Aiko Ito and Graeme Wilson) ()(Follow the further adventures of Soseki NatsumeLs nameless cat in this sequel to the first volume of Aiko ItoLs and Graeme WilsonLs translation of LI Am a Cat.L In its inimitable way, in language praised by the Japan Quarterly for its Lelegance,L this cat muses on the follies of humanity. From its position as cat-in-residence in the home of a less-than-successful Japanese schoolteacher of English, the cat pokes fun at the customs of early twentieth-century Japan, at manLs ridiculous habits of dress, at marriage, at pretentiousness, at literary fads. Soseki, one of the Meiji eraLs foremost writers, delights in taking a catLs-eye view of the world. The Japanese public bath, a burglary, God, rats, the fine art of eating noodles --littele escapes the catLs uncharitable eye. The chapters of LI Am a CatL were first serialized in a magazine, then collected and published in three volumes by Soseki. The translators have chosen to follow Soseki in presenting this feline fable in three volumes, of which this is the second. Readers who laughed through the pages of the first volume will welcome this sequel, while readers new to SosekiLs cat need have no fear that they will be lost. Each chapter is a unit in itself, and readers may begin with the chapters in this volume. SosekiLs cat indulges in what The New Yorker calls La nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracksL that can be picked up at any point. Written decades ago, these scathing observations on the human race remain unquestionably funny, pointed, true.) |