The Gate

Written by Natsume Soseki and Pico Iyer

Narrated by Cindy Kay

An NYRB Classics Original



A humble clerk and his loving wife scrape out a quiet existence on the margins of Tokyo. Resigned, following years of exile and misfortune, to the bitter consequences of having married without their families' consent, and unable to have children of their own, Sosuke and Oyone find the delicate equilibrium of their household upset by a new obligation to meet the educational expenses of Sosuke's brash younger brother. While an unlikely new friendship appears to offer a way out of this bind, it also soon threatens to dredge up a past that could once again force them to flee the capital. Desperate and torn, Sosuke finally resolves to travel to a remote Zen Mountain monastery to see if perhaps there, through meditation, he can find a way out of his predicament.



This moving and deceptively simple story, a melancholy tale shot through with glimmers of joy, beauty, and gentle wit, is an understated masterpiece by one of Japan's greatest writers. At the end of his life, Natsume Soseki declared The Gate, originally published in 1910, to be his favorite among all his novels. This new translation captures the oblique grace of the original while correcting numerous errors and omissions that marred the first English version.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Translator: William F. Sibley
• Release date: Mar 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798765079287

Natsume Soseki

Soseki Natsume, pseudónimo literario de Kinnosuke Natsume, naceu en 1867 no seo dunha familia de samurais en decadencia. Cando tiña dous anos, os seus pais dérono en adopción a un dos seus serventes. Estudou lingua inglesa na Universidade de Toquio e tras graduarse comezou a traballar como mestre. En 1900 estableceuse en Inglaterra cunha bolsa do goberno xaponés, pero levou unha vida de miseria. Á súa volta ao Xapón, deu clases na universidade e comezou a publicar novelas: Eu, o gato, A torre de Londres e Botchan, obra que o levaría á fama. Escribiu catorce novelas ao longo da súa vida.

Reviews for The Gate

[Mohsin Ali · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mundane in the most sublime way- subtle, peaceful, charming, and quiet.

[Colleen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's not the type of book which you read for the plot but it's enjoyable for the glimpses it gives into the everyday life of an ordinary man and his wife and the neighbourhood they live in. The pleasure is to be found in the details and the description.

[drfp_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Whilst not as tedious as Sanshiro or obscure as Kusamakura, The Gate still falls short of Soseki's best. At times it's a frustrating read, since the author withholds much information that would have been useful had it even been glimpsed earlier, but overall its tale of ordinary people getting by in the world is mildly affecting. It would have been better if trimmed down and shorn of its more wooly aspects (the Zen training, the ongoing but going-nowhere relationship with the cousins) or, alternatively, expanded upon to give more life to its very regular main characters.

Fairly average as a whole. Not Soseki's best but far from his worst, too.

[missizicks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In a word: perfection. I didn't want this book to end. Its gentle pace and documentation of the mundanity of life hides a deeper story of betrayal, frustration and disappointment. Beautiful.

[nicktingle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a new translation from the Japanese with an introduction by Pico Iyer. Originally published in 1910, this is an interesting novel from several perspectives. A look at the social world of Japan around the turn of the century, with consumerism starting to appear. Talk of "combustion" engines. Also perhaps a look into Japanese psychology with an emphasis upon repression and the avoidance of conflict. Hard to know how applicable either might be to the Japan of today. A very quiet book, slow in spots, called a novel of "everyday life," things threaten to happen but don't. The "hero" is hardly heroic but elicits sympathy.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Was very grateful for the introduction as it explained some of the Japanese culture and how this writer has as much meaning in what is not said as in what is said. Very different read for me, but I did like it. The writing is beautiful and the meaning of this story is universal. After being married for over 19 yrs. both partners are set in a routine and find it hard to deviate from it. Part of this is cultural and part is just the characters. They wonder if this is what the rest of their life is going to be like, doing the same old things, day in and day out. Sosuke especially notices things outside of his life and wonders if he will ever experience unabated joy again. Than things happen, events that will stir up the status quo of their marriage and life. How they handle this is the basis for the story. Very different read for me but I really admired the way this author writes and handled this story.