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3.5/5

Starting without much expectation and not really getting into it till some good deal of pages, I started liking the book by the time I finished it last night.

Botchan is a boy who acts and speaks impulsively. As a child, he jumped out of the second floor of his school on being provoked by fellow students. He also caused wrecks here and there. His brain is pretty straightforward, almost devoid of the "complex chain of thoughts" that make us human. So when he gets a job to teach math in middle school far away from his birthplace Tokyo, he takes it without much consideration. At his heart, though, he is a proud, egotistical 'Edokko'. So naturally, when he actually lands up in the far countryside where you can only reach by boat, Botchan has no idea of how things work and what to expect.

As he deals with the complex social chain and events around him, the story progresses. It is comical and frustrating (because of how Botchan deals with them mainly, which is different from the shrewd way people function in society, but that's really the point). Eventually, the issue moves away from the one Botchan faces and becomes much more wider in its nature. You almost start rooting for Botchan to navigate around them.

The relations Botchan has in the book with several characters like The Porcupine, The Redshirt, the landlady, and most importantly Kiyo are mentionable. Overall, a nice slow read. Looking forward to read the later works by Natsume Sōseki.