"[Soseki's] private torments have become symbols of an entire age" —Norma Field, author and translator

"A Japanese writer of genius" —Japan Quarterly

One drizzly day in Tokyo, Kenzo is walking to his job as a university professor when he crosses paths with his former adoptive father, Shimada. They have not seen each other for fifteen years, yet Kenzo says nothing; he detests the man and the memories associated with him. Soon, however, Kenzo is entangled with Shimada and begins to reexamine his difficult childhood. Like Soseki, Kenzo was given up for adoption at a young age, only to be taken back by his birth parents several years later—an experience that shaped his family relationships and sense of self for the rest of his life.

In this masterful autobiographical novel written shortly before Soseki's death at age 48, he creates a character whose tormented marriage, struggles with loneliness, and inner conflict between filial duty and distaste for his relatives mirror his own, offering a rare window into the private life of Japan's most popular writer. This new English edition by award-winning translator and Soseki scholar J. Keith Vincent brings into focus the humor, depth and literary importance of one of Japan's greatest novels.