Mon or The Gate is the third book in Natsume Soseki’s trilogy, with his first two books including Sanshiro and And Then. I place Mon as the second strongest book within this series, with Sanshiro being the strongest and And Then as the weakest. While Mon is the most psychologically complex of the novels (the lead of And Then is a bit of a whiny, self-indulgent brat) Sanshiro, with its humor and criticisms of academia and so-called intellectuals, is probably the better book. It is tough to argue, for on one hand, Sanshiro has a bad translator and Mon is probably the most depressing novel I’ve ever read. It’s not depressing in the sense that I was left crying, but it was a very dour and isolating experience, and while that’s not so much of a critical assessment as it is emotional, I still believe that Soseki is at his best when he laces humor within his narratives. When he tries to do straight drama, it’s not that the works are without merits, but he actually evokes more pathos when he is funny, believe it or not.
Mon tells the story of a married couple who spend years together in isolation. They have no children and they suffer financial troubles. Sosuke lives with his wife, Oyone, and their financial troubles cause them to suffer with regards to certain comforts and amount of grooming (Sosuke’s teeth are causing him pain and he can’t afford decent shoes). The couple believes bad luck has fallen upon them, and that they are meant to live their lives in miserable isolation. Eventually, Sosuke seeks answers via a Buddhist Temple that ultimately bears no fruit. He tries to seek answers, in other words, but as result, nothing in their lives really changes, and they go on as they’ve been. In a sense, reading Mon is like reading a giant epilogue to someone’s life, where the story has never been, and the characters have chosen to allow any story to pass them by. So instead, it seems as though their lives are over and they’re just going through the motions of survival, without any real purpose or pride.
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