A review by melchior
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

It was through a thin, smooth skin that man loved.

An understated, meditative book. A book that spends lengths setting scenes for seemingly trivial details, and then omits the passage of time or change of scenery. I've had to work to make sense of the book, and I didn't always manage. Even though I am left with a feeling of not having fully grasped the story, I can't stop thinking about it now that I've finished it. The book is lush with poetic descriptions of the titular snow country, and the mood between the main characters is always morose, even when you don't understand what is being implied. The translations of the dialogues are very close to the original Japanese, making the reading a little awkward at first, but I gradually fell into the trance of its cadence and I appreciate the choice to have it like this. It adds to the dreamlike quality that the entire book has.