One of my personal favourites. A cold, sad and lonely novel, with beauty seeping in at the corners. Though it focuses on a decaying patriarch, it also includes his encounters (almost portraits) with different kinds of women, and engages themes of family and legacy. ( )

i loved that kawabata didn't turn this into a short story. so little happens in this book that it could certainly have become just that. instead, i'm glad i was able to stew in the mood of this book for a longer time. although seidensticker won a major award for the translation of this novel, i feel that it was not exactly his best translation. he did much better with sembazuru than yama no oto. (it might be disrespecful to type something like this so soon after his death, but i mean it with respect.) not my favorite kawabata, but it was a great book. ( )

Excellent book. Kawabata's books all have this slow pace, and the elder male character struggling to keep up with fairly everyday events also seems a stock in trade, and yet these books are oddly intense and utterly compelling. ( )