Title: Socrates in Love

Author: Katayama Kyoichi

Publisher: Viz Media

Year: 2001 (Japan), 2008 (US)

Welcome back to the next exciting installment of J-Shelf! This week we are going to take a look at the best-selling Socrates in Love, or as it is known in Japan as 世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ or “Crying out love, in the center of the world.” The author, Katayama Kyoichi, revealed in the English language edition of the book that the English title was actually the original working title of the book, and thus that is why the English title is so different from the Japanese one used. By 2004, this became the book that sold more copies than Murakami Haruki’s Norwegian Wood, but did it surpass it in quality as well? Let’s find out!

Socrates in Love is a bittersweet love story that follows the young lives of classmates Sakutaro and Aki through junior high and high school. The story is tightly told in under 170 pages of simple prose about the two young friends bonding together and eventually falling in love. Unlike Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, where love was something of a fickle and sometimes destructive beast, the love found in this book is very pure which may either lull readers into a sense of nostalgia and comfort, or push them away for being perhaps at times overly mellow dramatic.

Regardless, without giving too much away of the plot (the following can all be found on the back blurb on the book), Aki becomes gradually ill with leukemia and Sakutaro most come to terms with what this will mean for their relationship. From the very first page, readers are sucked into a world of sadness and grieving, but the recounted memories of the young lovers brightens the page with fleeting moments of hope and happiness.

Despite the overly dramatic backdrop of two lovers about to be separated by leukemia, I found the characters to be real and easy to relate to. Sakutaro can be seen as the average guy, and he occasionally gets in arguments and disputes with Aki. I enjoyed that amount of realism in the book. Despite this coming at a time in what was known as the “Pure Love” boom of popular Japanese literature, the characters have flaws and don’t always gel well together. There’s one scene in the book where a friend is trying to help Sakutaro be alone with Aki on a trip to a secluded nearby island, and they scheme up a plan together to make it look like the friend has to leave and thus the two young lovers will have to be alone. Perhaps not the most noble of intentions, but it was this sort of very human quality about the characters that really saves the book from being a wishy-washy by the numbers piece of fluff love story.

For a book to sell millions and copies, it is thus going to be deemed pop literature and not something to really gain the respect of more culturally refined readers. And while Socrates in Love may not be the most complex book ever written, I think it really is a worthwhile read. Those looking for a light book to read to pass away a rainy day would do well to give this one a try. While it doesn’t quiet have the depth or staying power of Murakami Haruki’s work, this is a solid little book that should not be missed.

As of February 2009, no other works of Katayama Kyoichi have been translated into English. However, the mega popular manga version of Socrates in Love has also been released in the states, and in Japan the story has been made into a drama series and movie much in the same vein as say 電車男 (Train Man). Young lovers should give this book a try, as it captures the uncertain emotions that go along with such a powerful relationship early on in life, and those more experienced in life will be able to look at the scenes in this book with a sense of bittersweet nostalgia that comes only from losing those close to us.

That’s all for this week, happy reading and see you next time!

Tokyo Swan

If you liked this you may also enjoy: Kitchen: Banana Yoshimoto, Norwegian Wood: Murakami Haruki