Botchan is a story about a bull-headed young teacher from Tokyo who is humiliated and disgusted by the two-faced faculty at a high school in the provinces. In his insistence on the truth, treating others as they should be, readiness to put up a fight, and his hatred of artifice, Botchan is a welcome antidote to the pop-psychology about Japanese culture.

How Botchan and his fellow math teacher (“The League of Divine Vengeance”) catch and take down the duplicitous Vice-Principal in a closely guarded hypocrisy is satisfying. However, the novel in general is somewhat bland. Though he has some admirable characteristics, Botchan is not one to reflect (save some notable instances) and the plot centers on the not-so-thrilling discovery of how will he be discharged from his position and return to Tokyo.

Botchan is a quick, readable, sometimes funny book. Worth your time, but it is easy to find better or funnier books.

I just can't see the supposed charm of this book. I'm tired of stories, real or fictional, where the supposed hero is a self-righteous, impulsive, ignorant, maniquean, violent, egocentric, stupid harbinger of Divine Retribution. ( )

Funny to the last. ( )

One of the funniest books about teaching I have ever read. Though set in a rural Japanese school in the nineteenth century, much of it rings true today --student
pranks (the "fried prawns" incident is brilliant) -- faculty
rivalries, are all vividly portrayed. ( )

I have a copy of the Gutenberg edition (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8868). The translator, while fluent, is clearly not a native speaker, and the translation doesn't have much commentary, which leaves me a bit bewildered at times. Nonetheless, it's pretty clear why Natsume Soseki was such a popular author; the work runs along quickly and with a good sense of humor.