Grass on the Wayside

Grass on the Wayside (道草） is Natsume Sōseki's one and only autobiographical novel. This novel touches on Sōseki's own personal experiences in life and his resentment towards life. The main points in this novel portrayed his own personality deteriorating, and his feeling of wanting love and acceptance, but at the same time rejecting it because he does not want to feel betrayed by those he loves. Reading this novel, a reader can feel author's fear to love because of the consequences that may follow. Although most of his novels reflected his life, this novel really illustrated a different side to Natsume Sōseki because the novel had a sense of realism to it.