Botchan has a chip on his shoulder. His elder brother is his parents’ obvious favorite and Botchan only receives any attention at all if he misbehaves. After his parents die, Botchan is cut off by his brother and drifts into a job teaching maths in a small provincial town far from the big city. Thrust into this alien environment, Botchan finds nothing but trouble from his nosy landlord; his students, who delight in tormenting him; his fellow teachers, each of whom he christens with a sly nickname Porcupine, Green Squash, Badger, Red Shirt and others who insist on complicating his life. The result is chaos, told with great wit and irony that make this Soseki’s funniest novel.
