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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
I won't lie I did not really care for this book or anything in it. It wasn't necessarily bad but it just did not interest me and none of the characters were dimensional in my opinion, which made it really hard to care about what happened to them. I could tell there were a lot of emotions in this story but I never fully grasped where they came from; a lot of the events seem a bit random and rushed. Especially the ending was a lot more engaging than pretty much everything else that happened before, but was cut short before it could even really take form in my mind. I think this may have to do with the fact that a) I am reading this like 80 years after the first publication of this book so of course it's not relatable to me, and b) I have a feeling this isn't the best translation out there (of course I can't really know that because I don't speak Japanese, but some sentences sounded a bit unnatural and displeasing). Anyway in a way I'm glad it was a short book because I already took embarrassingly long to finish these 121 pages, but on the other side I wish some parts could have been better worked out.
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Unlike the other two works by Kawabata I read ([b:House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories|14032|House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories|Yasunari Kawabata|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397139224l/14032._SY75_.jpg|3076515] and [b:Thousand Cranes|14027|Thousand Cranes|Yasunari Kawabata|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388205415l/14027._SY75_.jpg|25753548]), this one didn’t captivate me. Yet, the opening pages are of unparalleled beauty: a man in a train carriage at night observes his fellow travelers through the reflection in the steamed glass, which at the same time shows majestic snow-capped mountains in the background. But what follows is a sequence of rather bizarre scenes in which the man interacts with a fickle girl, a geisha in a mountain resort, who is attracted to him but at the same time repels him, and who also evokes both resistance and attraction in him. I struggled to get a grip on the story, but I have the impression that this book wasn't about that at all. Quite the contrary, perhaps Kawabata wanted to highlight the elusive and enigmatic of reality, as he did so sublimely in 'House of Sleeping Beauties'. Only, here it didn't work. Maybe it was the old Dutch translation I was reading, but also his precise, very descriptive style didn't quite come into its own here. Perhaps I have missed the right reading keys to appreciate this.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Alternate title: "nothing happy happens, ever". Prose is beautiful - especially when describing landscapes, but a story about lives devoid of meaning proved a bit challenge on the reading enjoyment end of things. Changes in location often seemed lacking in transition, and so were disorienting. Cultural barriers (I still only have a half-formed idea of exactly what a geisha does) also proved an obstacle; the story lacked the universality of Kawabata's The Sound of the Mountain, which was one of the great novels I've ever read. Will hopefully write a more full review later when I have time.
3-3.5/5
3-3.5/5