The Miner

The Miner is the most daringly experimental and least well-known novel of the great Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916). Written in 1908, it explores the indeterminate nature of human personality. An absurdist tale, in many respects, The Miner anticipates the work of Joyce and Beckett.

The story unfolds entirely within the mind of an unnamed protagonist, a young man whose love life has fallen to pieces. As the man flees Tokyo, he is picked up by a procurer of cheap labour for a copper mine, and then travels toward - and finally burrows into the depths of - the mine, where he hopes to find oblivion.

In a stunning translation by Jay Rubin, and featuring an introduction from Haruki Murakami, this new edition of The Miner brings a lost classic to a new audience.