INSIDE MY GLASS DOORS (156 pp.); THE 210TH DAY (96 pp.); SPRING MISCELLANY (184 pp.), by Soseki Natsume, translated by Sammy Tsunematsu, with introductions by Marvin Marcus. Tuttle Publishing (Boston, Rutland, Tokyo), 2002, all volumes 2,300 yen (paper) with black-and-white photos

In 1915, having just finished writing "The Heart" ("Kokoro") and about to begin "Grass on the Wayside" ("Michigusa"), two of his finest works, Soseki Natsume put together "Inside My Glass Doors" ("Garasudo no Uchi"), a collection of biographical fragments.

These were zuihitsu (loosely translated as "the wanderings of the brush"), a genre which describes the writer's perceptions and reflections. In these, as Donald Keene has observed, "one reveals one's character and attitudes not with grand gestures . . . but by a sensitivity to the seemingly trivial events of daily life."

Soseki's "Spring Miscellany" ("Eijitsu Shohin") of 1909 had been just such a collection. It had chronicled the author's thoughts and feelings and his more than occasional miseries. These were considerable since Soseki suffered from stomach ulcers (a complaint that would eventually kill him) and was in discomfort for much of his adult life.