There’s two pieces of reading that I highly suggest in relation to Sorekara. The first is the introduction to the Penguin edition of Sanshirō by Murakami Haruki, and the second is the afterword by Norma Field (which can be found in the Tuttle edition of this book). While not necessarily centred around the book, I think both do a good job of establishing the context that Sōseki’s trilogy was written in. Field’s afterword, in particular, is solid enough that it’s clear she understands Sōseki, the work, and perhaps literature in general at an insightfully deep level. This trilogy is not a trilogy in the sense of a story or of characters - the three books are related only thematically. To get the full context of this book requires reading the book before (Sanshirō), though it’s certainly not necessary.
Sorekara follows Daisuke, the protagonist, as he navigates the latter end of the Meiji-era. Sōseki writes a truly despicable protagonist - one that lazes around all day, ponders what he thinks is a deep and consistent personal philosophy, and is content to advance his life in his head but not in real life. This is one of the core frustrations with the novel - the pace in the beginning is excruciating. Daisuke is content to mostly do the same acts in a monotonous cycle for the beginning half of the book. This is not a joke - he sits, thinks about life, meets his friend, and the cycle continues for about 120 pages.
Eventually the cycle breaks (as it must) near the halfway point of the book. By this point, Daisuke slips into a forbidden love affair. The extent of his previous and current passion, and even what in the relationship between the two has changed since the beginning of the novel is left as an exercise for the reader to determine. I’d wager a guess that at least half of the progression in this affair largely takes place inside Daisuke’s head. The prose here is melodramatic - and gets tedious at times.
I felt especially that Sorekara was outright impenetrable at times. It’s true that there are compelling explorations of societal themes - like alienation, and the effects of Westernisation and modernisation. Unfortunately I largely felt it was markedly lacking - especially compared to the richness of Kokoro, one of Sōseki’s later works.
2.5/5
Written 9 August 2022 Adapted from my review on Goodreads.