Reviews

The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata

antoibar's review against another edition

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4.0

I loved the way Kawabata was telling a lovely story about two sisters while describing Kioto and its carnivals. I've read two books from the same author already and, although this story was not so deep as the other ones, I think it shows the true master Kawabata is.

jessicaann1123's review

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4.0

What a gorgeous novel about a beautiful country. Reading is a wonderful way to travel through time and place, if there is anyone interested in Japan, Japanese history, etc. I highly recommend reading this to transport you there even for a moment.

sjchampa's review

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4.0

Read this for a bookclub. This is a novella at less than 200 pages.

This is set in the traditional city of the old capital in Japan, Kyoto. It is a story of Chieko, the adopted daughter of a kimono designer and his wife. Chieko was told that the childless couple kidnapped her in a moment of profound desire. When Chieko learns unsetling truths about her past, her life of love and affections is thrown in disarray. Lot's of Japanese history.

This is a great deal about the old versus the new, traditions versus's new ways of doing things. This is written a lot in poetry form which is difficult for me. The bookclub members absolutely loved this book.

catalinaxc's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

mandiluna's review

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4.0

The writing is smooth and easy to read. Weirdly, I like how quite slow it is and how it does not really have a plot. It kind of reminds me of the feeling of Sally Rooney's writing style (especially in normal people.). While these two books have nothing in common in terms of plot, I like how they both realistically tackle difficult subjects. It's just another part of life and not an exciting story plot to be lived.

iliamall's review

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emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

spaghettification's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Um livro bem escrito, sem dúvida, mas tive imensas dificuldades em manter-me interessada na história. Para mim, a linguagem usada acabou por ser mais bonita e intrigante do que o próprio enredo e personagens. Achei bastante único que o livro tenha acabado por ser mais sobre a cidade de Kyoto e as suas mudanças pós-guerra do que as personagens; a cidade e as suas tradições e mentalidades que evoluem e mudam ao longo de um ano são a personagem principal e nesse sentido, achei que fosse uma história especial e importante culturalmente. Apesar disso, gostava que a história tivesse sido menos delicada e que as vidas das personagens humanas fossem um bocadinho mais importantes e menos ambíguas. Ajudou que eu já tenha passado bastante tempo no Japão mas mesmo assim, este é um livro intensamente japonês que não é necessariamente super acessível para uma pessoa ocidental (nem tem de o ser!) e cujas subtilezas são características típicas de autores japoneses, menos usadas na literatura portuguesa ou inglesa, e que por isso requerem um leitor que tenha algum conhecimento histórico e cultural do país - muito mais do que o que eu tenho! Bonito, mas leve, leve, leve como um floco de neve...

diggitalot's review

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3.0

En vacker historia om ett stulet barn och hennes kärlek. Man får också veta mycket om Kyotos många tempel och högtider. Inget för nybörjare av Japansk litteratur.

_dunno_'s review

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Either the book is poorly written (though Mr. K. is a Nobel winner, for goodness' sake!), the elegant Kyoto dialect difficult to translate or I'm too shallow and unable to get why the Japanese are so keen on processions and festivals: cherry blossom, camphor blossom, maple blossom, tea harvest - all on the same page.

sbkeats's review

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medium-paced

4.0