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The Snow Fox (2004)

by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer

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2512105,187 (3.38)5
"Is one's fate created by the people one is lucky or unlucky enough to love? The Snow Fox raises this question as it brings to life three people who existed almost one thousand years ago in Japan. One of them is Lord Norimasa, whose highest love is to reunify his country and restore peace. The second is a member of his court, Lady Utsu, one of the supreme poetic geniuses of her time. She is also a woman renowned as the country's most beautiful woman, as famous for her cruelty as for her beauty and artistry. The third is Matsuhito, a samurai who apprentices himself to Lord Norimasa, and who, in time, becomes a legendary warrior." "When Matsuhito and Lady Utsu fall hopelessly in love, the lives of these three are forever changed. Separated by the warfare ravaging Japan, Matsuhito and Lady Utsu do not meet until both of them have aged so greatly that they no longer recognize each other. But when they do discover each other, their ecstatic and long-delayed reunion is shadowed by the caprices and cruelty of time, the transience of all living things, or what the Japanese call mono no aware." "The Snow Fox not only portrays a great and moving love story but also paints memorable portraits of characters at all levels of society: a man who loves to paint on skin, Shinda the resourceful bandit, the nobleman who freezes to death for love, and the eta, the untouchables who inhabit graveyards and other forbidden places. Last but not least are two remarkable foxes who in their own way, live as meaningful and influential lives as any human being."--Jacket.… (more)
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Set in fuedal Japan. It’s a meandering, contemplative yet sparsely-told story about a beautiful woman loved by two men, a noble lord and his closest trusted samurai. Half of the story is about the lives of women in the palace- secluded, pampered, and constantly vying with each other, petty cruelties that sometimes turn deadly. Further on the novel suddenly switches narrators, relating rumors and fables that you’re not sure at first have anything to do with this story, then turning to the samurai’s viewpoint. So there are councils of war, strategy planning, battles, villages of poor peasants burned to the ground with no remorse. Men wondering if anyone will recall their exploits when they are long gone, knowing their deeds become legends barely resembling the truth after just a few re-tellings. In the end, this beautiful woman has taken herself to live in seclusion up in the mountains, embittered by what she’s done in the past. The samurai finally encounters her again after what seems like a lifetime of campaigning (and a very long period spent just wandering around in the vast untamed forests with his horse and a fox he tames, when he gets tired of being a soldier). What happens next is idyllic and peaceful- for a while. But it doesn’t end happily.

I just don’t know how to tell about this book. It’s so strange and dreamy and upsetting at the same time. The people speak to each other obliquely and frequently quote poetry. They are enthralled by the beauties of nature, art and poetry, then turn around and cause terribly brutal things to happen. There’s the ravages of disease and other misfortunes- one long segment of the book is about a plague that strikes in summer, very unsettling. The characters for all their high education and artistic poise, are full of superstition and totally inept at dealing with illness or complications of childbirth. It doesn’t take much to bring them down. The feel of this story is very like The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck to me- in the sweeping breadth of its narrative and precise understatement. It also reminds me strongly of The Worm Ouroboros, one which I probably did not appreciate enough at the time. It feels very foreign in many ways, so I didn’t at all mind the mundane details about how people lived. At the same time it is deeply familiar, with all the concerns and dreams of humanity. One I’ll definitely have to revisit again, as there’s a lot I didn’t quite follow but found intriguing. ( )
  jeane | Feb 17, 2023 |
Historical fiction set in medieval Japan. Excellent --- I've read it twice. ( )
  lucypick | Sep 23, 2014 |
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Lady Utsu was summoned to Lord Norimasa's quarters.
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"Is one's fate created by the people one is lucky or unlucky enough to love? The Snow Fox raises this question as it brings to life three people who existed almost one thousand years ago in Japan. One of them is Lord Norimasa, whose highest love is to reunify his country and restore peace. The second is a member of his court, Lady Utsu, one of the supreme poetic geniuses of her time. She is also a woman renowned as the country's most beautiful woman, as famous for her cruelty as for her beauty and artistry. The third is Matsuhito, a samurai who apprentices himself to Lord Norimasa, and who, in time, becomes a legendary warrior." "When Matsuhito and Lady Utsu fall hopelessly in love, the lives of these three are forever changed. Separated by the warfare ravaging Japan, Matsuhito and Lady Utsu do not meet until both of them have aged so greatly that they no longer recognize each other. But when they do discover each other, their ecstatic and long-delayed reunion is shadowed by the caprices and cruelty of time, the transience of all living things, or what the Japanese call mono no aware." "The Snow Fox not only portrays a great and moving love story but also paints memorable portraits of characters at all levels of society: a man who loves to paint on skin, Shinda the resourceful bandit, the nobleman who freezes to death for love, and the eta, the untouchables who inhabit graveyards and other forbidden places. Last but not least are two remarkable foxes who in their own way, live as meaningful and influential lives as any human being."--Jacket.

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W.W. Norton

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