GG: The Three-Cornered World

["Junichi Miyazawa" <Junichi_Miyazawa@msn.com>]

*The Three-Cornered World* is the novel GG loved in his
late years.  It was written by the Japanese writer
Natsume Soseki (1867-1916).
As many Gouldians know GG read the first chapter
for a CBC radio broadcast in 1981.

In 1992, I read a paper on the novel itself at the GG Festival
in Groningen, the Netherlands, and got a good response.
I brought copies of the English translation, the same one as 
GG read, and some people boutht it.  I wonder they found
it interesting or not.

I am curious to know what impressions they got from the novel.

For those who of the list has read the novel, 
let me know of your impressions.
A friend of mine in the US once told me that she felt as if
GG himself instead of Soseki wrote the novel.

For those who has not read the novel,
please read it:

Natsume Soseki,
*The Three-Cornered World*
tr. by Alan Turney,
Tokyo: Charles E.Tuttle, 1968.

NB. Natsume is the first name, and Soseki is the family name.
If you want to see the author's face,
ask someone you know who is Japanese to show a One-Thousand Yen
bond, where his face is printed.
The original Japanese title of the novel is "Kusa Makura," 
which means--a journey.


Junichi, Tokyo.

P.S.  I must write down the content here.  I quote the explanation 
from the back cover of the book:

   In *The Three-Cornered World*, an artist wanders off into 
the mountains to meditate, buth when he decides to stay
at an almost deserted hotel, he is soon drawn toward the hostess,
O-Nami.  She is strange, almost mad, and rumor has it that
she deserted her husband and fell in love with a priest.
The artist becomes haunted by the mystery and sense of tragedy 
that surrounds her.  She reminds him of Millais's portrait of Ophelia

drowning and he wants to paint her.  Yet there is always some
quality lacking in her experssion, and he is unable to complte 
his picture until, finally, he solves the enigma of her life.
   Natsume Soseki examines each event and scene in this novel 
with a master's precision and a slight satirical twist.
His imagery is so sharp that every small situation becomes 
a perfectly balanced picture within itself.