The Soil (Voices from Asia) [Paperback]

Nagatsuka Takashi (Author), Ann Waswo (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520083725 | ISBN-13: 978-0520083721 | Publication Date: January 29, 1994

Nagatsuka Takashi's novel The Soil, published in Japan in 1910, provides a moving and sensitive but unsentimental portrait of rural peasant life in Japan during the Meiji era. The community described is the author's native place, and the characters whose lives are described in vivid detail over a period of years are drawn from life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every time I read this novel I am struck by Nagatsuka's sincerity as a writer, the beauty of his descriptions of nature, which are informed by the acuity of his power of observation, and his lyricism. I have never doubted that The Soil is in a class of its own in the history of Japanese literature." -- Taeko Midorikawa Crump, Japan Forum

"Nagatsuka Takashi (1879-1915) in The Soil achieves a highly visual story in which he builds up a picture of life in a rural village in intimate detail. . . This novel's most remarkable achievement is its portrayal of a relationship between nature and man of such closeness that, indeed, nature and man are one." -- Maria Flutsch, Asian Studies Review

"This richly detailed novel is both fascinating and informative. Credit must also go to Ann Waswo for so effectively rendering this textured and lively portrait of a vanished past so vividly in English." -- Francis Bosha, Mainichi Daily News

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (January 29, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520083725
• ISBN-13: 978-0520083721
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Japanese

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, Sensitive, but Pragmatic, May 20, 2001

By 

Charlotte A. Hu (San Antonio, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Soil (Voices from Asia) (Paperback)

Takashi's portrayal of the rigorous life lead by Meiji-era Japanese farmers is so vivid and realistic that this book was selected by the University of Maryland, Asian Division history department as a supplemental text in the Japanese history class. The professor promised it would be a excellent read. He was right! Emotional and visual, the book makes the reader a part of the Meiji world. Yet, as sublime as the work is at moments, there are other moments when it is suprisingly harsh in the presentation of life's hard realities. After I returned the text to the university, I had to buy a copy for my own library.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic that Transcends Culture, March 4, 2004

By 

Tommy Moo (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soil (Voices from Asia) (Paperback)

Takashi's The Soil is an enrapturing gallery of tribulation, pathos, and the fortitude of the human spirit. It does not merely have value as an educational tool for the Japanese historian, but also as an inspirational primer on humanity and mortality. Takashi's vivid portrayal of Meiji Era Japanese culture ties seamlessly with his seemingly effortless chronicles of nature to create a world where mankind is religiously tied to the ground he stands on.

I purchased this book for a Japanese history course, and it is the only one that I refused to sell back to the campus bookstore at the end of the semester.

5.0 out of 5 stars Our lives don't suck this bad, September 26, 2011

By 

Freyja's Books (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soil (Voices from Asia) (Paperback)

I'm very glad that I had to read this book for a college course on Japanese history, because it gives a detailed explanation of life in the impoverished farm country of Japan in the early 1900s. I guess the explanation for why I like this book so much is that it makes me feel like my life doesn't suck as bad as the lives portrayed in this book, that I don't realize how good I've got it until I read this. It's a pleasant book to read and I'm sure not at all pleasant to live like the characters in this book do. Well worth the time to read it.