Straw Pillow

Straw Pillow is one of the important masterpieces of Natsume Soseki in the early period. The novel writes about "e;I"e; - A young painter, who, in order to avoid the secular concerns and seek for an "e;inhumish"e; world of beauty, came to a remote village, as well as what he saw, think and hear there. The work focuses on the people and scenery in the village, interspersed with a large number of "e;my"e; monologues on the theory of art and aesthetics, and compared the differences between Eastern and Western art. The most critical view of these monologues is "e;inhumanity"e;. The so-called "e;inhumanity"e; is a realm beyond morality or humanity, an otherworldly condition, and also a kind of artistic aesthetics. Therefore, the Straw Pillow is not so much a novel, more like a work of Natsume Soseki on the art; both the description on the village style and the occasional haiku and poetry make the work more like a beautiful travel prose. In a word, Straw Pillow is a unique work that is very worth reading.