When I think about it, I realize that the novels I enjoy most are the ones with lots of fascinating supporting characters. The one that leaps to mind is Dostoevsky’s Demons. If you’ve read it, you know what I mean; there are plenty of oddball minor characters throughout the novel. It’s a long novel but holds my interest to the end. One colorful, weird character after another appears, the kind that makes you wonder, “Why this kind of person?” Dostoevsky must have been someone with a huge mental cabinet to work with. In Japanese literature the novels of Natsume Sōseki contain all kinds of
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