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

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 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. ( )

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. ( )

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 ( )