Three-cornered World (Peter Owen Modern Classic) - Softcover

'An artist is a person who lives in the triangle which remains after the angle which we call common sense has been removed from this four-cornered world.' - Soseki 'A writer to be judged by the highest standards.' - SPECTATOR 'Natsume Soseki is generally acknowledged to have been one of the most important writers of the modern period. His importance to the Japanese is that of a counter-reformation figure maintaining the virtues of tradition against the rising tide of western culture. THE THREE-CORNERED WORLD serves a useful purpose in making one aware of the deliberate rear-guard action of a talented and influential writer at a time of intellectual chaos.' - TLS 'Vastly refreshing... Soseki doesn't shrink from seeking and finding exquisite pearls of beauty.' - GUARDIAN 'An Eastern Henry Fielding... very appealing.' - IRISH TIMES 'A poetic translaton... affords the reader penetrating insight into the heart of Japanese sensibility.' - MONUMENTA JAPONICA

THE THREE-CORNERED WORLD is a key work in the Japanese transition from traditional to modern literature. An artist abandons city life to wander into the mountains to meditate, but when he decides to stay at a near-deserted inn he soon finds himself drawn to the daughter of the innkeeper. This strange and beautiful woman is rumoured to have abandoned her husband and fallen in love with a priest at a nearby temple. The artist becomes entranced by her tragic aura. She reminds him of Millais's portrait of Ophelia drowning and he wants to paint her. Yet, troubled by a certain quality in her expression, he struggles to complete the portrait until he is finally able to penetrate the enigma of her life. Interspersed with philosophies of both East and West, Soseki's writing skilfully blends two very different cultures in this unique representation of an artist struggling with his craft and his environment.