Heart

1. It is recommended to read in a relatively quiet environment where you can focus and reflect, so as to fully appreciate the inner turmoil of the characters.
2. It may help to first gain a brief understanding of the social background of late Meiji Japan, especially the conflict between “Meiji spirit” and modern self-awakening, which helps in understanding the characters’ motives.
3. After finishing the section of “Sensei’s” testament, you may wish to close the book and reflect, or discuss with others the eternal questions of “crime and punishment” and “the self and the other.”

Northern Literature and Art Publishing House focuses on contemporary and modern literary and artistic works, literary theory, and translations of foreign literature, while also covering categories such as history, popular science, Eastern philosophy, and world classics. Its collection includes 737 titles, with representative publications ranging from traditional Chinese classics such as Records of the Grand Historian, The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, and The Analects to foreign literary works including the complete classic plays of Shakespeare, Balzac's Old Goriot and Eugénie Grandet (in celebrated translations by Fu Lei), and The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Its author resources span classical figures such as Sima Qian, Song Yingxing, and Confucius, foreign writers such as Shakespeare and Balzac, and translators such as Zhu Shenghao and Fu Lei. The press combines the transmission of classics with an orientation toward general reading, developing a distinctive profile in both the editing of traditional texts and the translation of foreign literature. Public information is limited, so the above emphasizes the publishing profile reflected in the books held in the collection.