BOOK REVIEW: "Reading Botchan First Hand" by Soseki Natsume (Shueisha)
Reading Botchan First Hand went on sale on October 17 with a first printing of 18,000 copies. Combined with the second printing on November 1, a total of 38,000 copies have been issued.
The opportunity to access the actual manuscript written by Soseki Natsume is no longer something available only to researchers or ardent fans. With the publication of this work, those in the general population now have easy access too. Readers can now peruse the actual manuscript of Botchan printed in color photos just as it was written by Soseki. Notes are provided for cursive characters, old-style kanji forms, and special kana usages which may be difficult to read.
This publication, issued for the 100-year commemoration of Botchan, also marks the 140th anniversary of Soseki's birth. According to Nikkei, Yomiuri and Asahi Newspapers, favorable reviews have ranged from readers in the 30s and 40s to junior high and high school students. (Shueisha Inc.)
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