The title story, "House Of The Sleeping Beauties", is my favorite novella!
I didn't care for the two short stories.
I thought "One Arm" was horrible. ( )

I finished this book weeks ago but the spectre of writing a review completely stalled me. I kept telling myself to get over here and write but I could not do it. I don’t know exactly why but I suspect it is because I found this book enthralling and repellent. Amazing and disgusting. I consumed it rapidly and wanted then to vomit it back up. Seldom has a book so engrossed me while leaving me so unhappy.

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a brothel of virginal sleeping prostitutes, a man fascinated with the disembodied talking arm of a girl, and a misanthropic pet collector. Three surreal works of fiction that explore common themes of Japanese Literature in a slow whirling phantasmagoria. Lurking yet intense eroticism within a chilling atmosphere. Masterful short fiction from one of Japan's most significant modern writers. ( )

Three excellent short-stories. One Arm is my favourite. Haunts after all these years. ( )

the title story of this book was creepy and weird. i loved it. kawabata is truly a master of autobiographical fiction. ( )

Rather bizarre but powerful concept of old man paying for the privilege of fondling young women who are in drug-induced sleep. Raises serious moral issues when one young woman dies. ( )

A man's obsession with young girls. Brilliant, lyrical prose. Good comparison to Lolita. ( )

The first book by Yasunari Kawabata I read. I got it at an insurance liquidators, they had these big brown paper bags (around 8 liters?) and you could fill them with books for $2. This book ended up costing me far more as I've purchased every Yasunari Kawabata book I've been able to find. ( )