Light and Darkness

Japan's preeminent modern novelist, Natsume S seki (1867-1916), may be better known for his works of fiction Kokoro, Botchan, and I Am a Cat, than for his last novel, Meian, uncompleted at his death, which remains something of an enigma -- a neglected masterpiece. A simple plot summary doesn't do it justice: the marriage of Tsuda and O-Nobu is threatened when Kobayashi and others begin dropping hints about another woman. Tsuda departs on a trip to rendezvous with the woman in question, Kiyoko, his former fianc e. The novel is a study of human character, a marriage tested, and what it means to be an individual in the modern world.