The novel recounts the story of a young man who begins working in a mine following a failed relationship, with extensive attention paid to his perceptions, both at the time of events and in retrospect as a mature adult.

[2] The protagonist's perceptions and later reflections are described in great detail, such that a "split-second of visual clarity" is accorded three pages of analysis.

And I was exactly like these men, a human being of flesh and bone, entirely ordinary and entirely meaningless.The Miner began serialization on 1 January 1908 in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

[2] Apart from these basic plot elements, the novel was, according to Jay Rubin, a "direct result of [Sōseki's] continuing exploration of his own internal landscape.

[2] The Miner, which followed two other critically panned works (Nowaki and The Poppy), was perceived as a confirmation of Sōseki's decline as a writer.

[2] Jay Rubin, who translated it into English, regards The Miner as Sōseki's "single most modern work, an antinovel that set him at the very forefront of the avant-garde in world literature.

[2] In contrast, Rubin sees The Miner as a turning point in Sōseki's view of the average human being — from an evil "other" to an unreliable "self" — that persisted in his later works.

[2] Shin'ichirō Nakamura viewed The Miner as an early example of stream of consciousness fiction, though Rubin considers this characterization inaccurate because of the retrospective, rather than immediate, narration.