The Three-Cornered World was written in 1906, but it's "action" if one can use that term with regard to so static a work is set two years earlier, at the time of the Russo-Japanese war. The war plays no direct part in the novel, at least in not the last few pages but, at that point, its rather jarring denouement has an uncanny similarity to the World War 1 motif which brings to a close another great, alpine novel: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. The Three-Cornered World, is among other things, about meditation versus action, detachment versus duty, about Western versus Eastern value systems, about the perceived perils of modernism. In my opinion, it's one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. ( )

While I was very impressed with this work in the first twenty or thirty pages, I became the less enthusiastic the more I read. The plot is minimal: an artist retreats to the mountains and stays in a remote, almost empty inn where he becomes infatuated by the divorced daughter of the inn’s owner. The book begins promisingly, is often beautifully written, and the artist’s initial musings are clever and well worth considering. Sadly—for me, anyway—these musings soon become the essence of the book. Soon the artist’s thoughts on art, aesthetics, the place of the artist in society, and a comparison of art and poetry take over the book. Soseki’s artist frequently refers to Western art, beginning with his comparison of the owner’s daughter to Millais’s painting of Ophelia. In the course of the (short) book, he mentions not only classical Chinese poets (and occasional Japanese writers) but Oscar Wilde, Henrik Ibsen, and even Laurence Sterne. By the end, the reader has to choose between being intrigued or increasingly bored by what I found to be self-important, posturing, and increasingly tiresome thoughts. I have no doubt that this may well be a book others will adore. Just not me. ( )

This lacked the fluency and magnetism of Kokoro. Perhaps expects or requires a more refined level of receptivity from the reader. This first attempt failed; I may try again later. ( )

This is an interesting book. As I was reading it, I wasn't sure if I was enjoying it or not. It's the story of a young Japanese artist who is in search of serenity and an emotional state from which he could paint a picture. He travels to an inn on a mountainside to paint as well as write poetry. He meets a few people, but he is mostly trying to avoid becoming entangled with anyone else. His encounters with others have to do with them ensnaring him into their lives rather than vice versa.

The flow of this book is so gentle that the presence of people when they do come by is startling. However, this book without interactions from others would have been disturbing to me. The few people with whom our artist interacted showed what a deep contrast there was in the way he lived his life and others did. ( )

Este ha sido mi primer contacto con Soseki, y no estoy seguro de haber escogido el título más indicado para sumergirme en su obra.

Se trata básicamente de una novela sobre el Japón rural de esa época. ¿O acaso es un ensayo sobre la pintura, la música y la poesía? Tal vez lo mejor sería elegir una descripción intermedia: la bitácora de un artista arquetípico, contando las experiencias y soliloquios del trayecto hacia su opera prima. Sí, esa es una opción perfectamente válida para este híbrido.

La pluma del Soseki novelista es exquisita, no hay duda. Las imágenes mentales que evoca son bellísimas, por lo que me quedo mil veces con este Soseki, y no tanto con el ensayista, que si bien interesante, por ahí me sacó algún bostezo. Rescato su crítica de la sociedad moderna, eso sí.

De todos modos, me ha causado una buena impresión, y me ha dado ganas de leer más títulos del autor; solo que no lo recomiendo para quienes quieran iniciarse en su obra. Tal vez las más conocidas [b:Kokoro|23483039|Kokoro|Sōseki Natsume|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1414754620s/23483039.jpg|1977713] o [b:Soy un gato|8438558|Soy un gato|Sōseki Natsume|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1509459182s/8438558.jpg|60969] sean más adecuadas para eso, lo comprobaré ni bien tenga la oportunidad. ( )