A review by ihfdayton
First Snow on Fuji by Yasunari Kawabata

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

When short story collections are released (in this case translated) posthumously, they can tend to feel cynical or exploitative. Thankfully, this is not the case here. Michael Emmerich has done wonders with Kawabata's prose (itself exceptional, of course). Many of the pieces in this collection were written after Kawabata's most famous novels and they showcase one of the world's best authors at his most experienced, most refined, and most skillful. Stories such as "Nature", "First Snow On Fuji", and "This Country, That Country" stand as some of his finest work.