Snow Country; and Thousand Cranes
by Yasunari Kawabata
On This Page
Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Kawabata has a power and range that is nothing short of breathtaking. He navigates the intricate, nuanced aspect of relationships, developing his stories in a quiet, almost fragile manner. Snow Country is a lyrical story of a young woman who gives herself in an relationship doomed by transience.
Thousand Cranes is one of the most powerful novels I have ever read - a tinder-box of tightly controlled emotion just waiting to burst into flames. A young man, son of a recently deceased tea-master, caught between two women who were involved with his father. It is an emotional tug-of-war. Kawabata portrays the fine, subtle aspect of human relationships with perfect skill.
Thousand Cranes is one of the most powerful novels I have ever read - a tinder-box of tightly controlled emotion just waiting to burst into flames. A young man, son of a recently deceased tea-master, caught between two women who were involved with his father. It is an emotional tug-of-war. Kawabata portrays the fine, subtle aspect of human relationships with perfect skill.
There were moments in Snow Country where I was transported but often I was confused either about who was talking or where I was. In part, this could have been the translation but in, in part, it was due to abrupt transitions and contradictions such as on page 102-103 when Shimamura is at first thinking about leaving and then suddenly is getting off a train at a random station, which is not really random at all
n example of a sublime moment was show more when Komako sees him in a taxi:
Overall, I was hoping for more from this story and a Nobel Prize winner. For me the story went nowhere. show less
He thought of going to see Chijimi country. That excursion might set him on his way to breaking away from the hot spring.
He did not know at which of the towns downstream he should get off the train. Not interested in moderen weaving centres, he chose a town that looked suitably lonely and backward.
n example of a sublime moment was show more when Komako sees him in a taxi:
She had lept at the car as if to devour it, but for Shimamura something warm had suddenly come near. The impulsive act struck him as neither rash nor unnatural. Komako raised ne arm, half-embracing the closed window. Her kimono sleeve fell back from her wrist, and the warm red of the under kimono, spilled through the thick glass, sank its way into the half-frozen Shimamura. p. 105.
Overall, I was hoping for more from this story and a Nobel Prize winner. For me the story went nowhere. show less
I picked this up, partly because of the fab psychadelic cover, but also becuase its translated by Seidensticker who also tranlated the Tales of Genji, which I love.
I didn't understand the first story (snow country) at all - everyone seemed to be behaving in a toally incomprehensible fashion. Maybe a lot of a subtelty got lost in translation. However, the second story was excellent. Of course, since it was all about tea, tea ceremonies and romance, it was always going to be much more to my taste, but at least I oculd understand why the characters were acting as they did. An interesting read
I didn't understand the first story (snow country) at all - everyone seemed to be behaving in a toally incomprehensible fashion. Maybe a lot of a subtelty got lost in translation. However, the second story was excellent. Of course, since it was all about tea, tea ceremonies and romance, it was always going to be much more to my taste, but at least I oculd understand why the characters were acting as they did. An interesting read
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Books Referenced by Izetbegovic's Islam Between East and West
233 works; 2 members
Author Information
211+ Works 16,119 Members
Author Yasunari Kawabata was born in Osaka, Japan on June 14, 1899. He experienced numerous family deaths during his childhood including his parents, a sister, and his grandparents. He graduated from the Tokyo Imperial University in March 1924. He wrote both short stories including The Dancing Girl of Izu and novels including The Sound of the show more Mountains, Snow Country, Thousand Cranes, and The Old Capital. In 1959, he received the Goethe Medal in Frankfurt and in 1968 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He committed suicide on April 16, 1972. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Snow Country; and Thousand Cranes
- First words*
- Tausend Kraniche: Kikuji war in den Garten des Enkakuji-Tempels in Kamakura eingetreten, aber er wusste immer noch nicht recht, ob er an dieser Teezeremonie teilnehmen sollte.
Schneeland: Als der Zug aus dem langen Grenztunnel herauskroch, lag das "Schneeland" vor ihm weit ausgebreitet. - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Tausend Kraniche: "Aber die Kurimoto bleibt am Leben ..." rief Kikuji, als speie er jedes Wort wie Gift gegen einen unsichtbaren Feind, und schritt rasch den Schatten unter den Bäumen des Parkes zu.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Schneeland: Als er wieder festen Fuss gefasst hatte und aufsah, da schien es ihm, als stürze die Milchstrasse mit einem Donner in ihn hinein.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 117
- Popularity
- 278,218
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.18)
- Languages
- English, Estonian, German, Japanese
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 8
