First published in 1958, this collection of stories by the Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author explores characters broken by war, loss, and longing.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Although he was the first Japanese writer to win the Nobel Prize, Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972) remains much more obscure in the West than his high-profile protégé Yukio Mishima. Yet he's a writer of formidable talents. For one thing, Kawabata recognized early on the affinity between Japanese poetry--with its abrupt transition from image to image--and the jump-cut flavor of modernist prose. He also explored erotic life at a truly microcosmic level. Some may find a novel like The Mole--which revolves around a woman's habit of fiddling with her eponymous birthmark--a little too molecular in its approach. But sex, like God, is in the details, and throughout his career Kawabata has unearthed some surprising truths about our most urgent appetites.
First Snow on Fuji, a collection of stories originally published in 1958, is a fairly representative slice of the author's oeuvre. In "Her Husband Didn't" (a classic Kawabata title, by the way), a woman's earlobe becomes the discreet object of desire:
The earlobe was just as round and plump as an earlobe ought to be--it was small enough that Junji could squeeze it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger, no bigger than that--yet it filled him with a sense of the beauty of life. The smooth skin, the gentle swelling--the woman's earlobe was like a mysterious jewel.... He had never known anything with a texture like this. It was like touching the lovely girl's soul.For Kawabata's characters, the physical usually leads straight to the metaphysical, which is what prevents him from deteriorating into a soft-core thrill merchant. And in several of the other stories here, he proceeds directly to the weightier issues. "Silence," for example, is at once a study in failing inspiration and a gloss on Kawabata's own career (the latter argument is made very effectively by translator Michael Emmerich in his introduction). And the title story offers an intriguing take on memory, which Kawabata seems to regard as a distinctly feminine operation: it's "the docility of women that makes it possible for them to return to the past."
What we love most in a writer--the idiosyncratic music of his or her prose--is the hardest thing for a translator to capture. There are times, alas, when Emmerich's ear seems inadequate to the task. His rendering never falls beneath a certain literate level--but for a writer of Kawabata's minimalistic delicacy, a clunky transition or flatfooted phrase can sink the whole enterprise. Readers might prefer to start, then, with Thousand Cranes or Snow Country. But for all its linguistic flaws, First Snow on Fuji reminds us that in literature most of all, less can be more--much more. --James Marcus
Kawabata is best known for his novels Thousand Cranes and Snow Country. He was the first Japanese writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1968).
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 5.30
Within U.S.A.
Shipping:
US$ 3.00
Within U.S.A.
Seller: Schindler-Graf Booksellers, Westlake, OH, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. 1999 First Printing. Hardcover in dust jacket. xiii, 227 pages. Prior owner's name to free front end-paper. Otherwise like new. Seller Inventory # YASU_020823
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.85. Seller Inventory # G1582430225I3N00
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. Former library book; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.85. Seller Inventory # G1582430225I5N10
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: GF Books, Inc., Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Book is in Used-Good condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. 0.3. Seller Inventory # 1582430225-2-4
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Irish Booksellers, Portland, ME, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. SHIPS FROM USA. Used books have different signs of use and do not include supplemental materials such as CDs, Dvds, Access Codes, charts or any other extra material. All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage. All images are Stock Photos, not of the actual item. book. Seller Inventory # 1582430225-R
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: West Coast Bookseller, Moorpark, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: As New. Invisible embossed stamp with name of previous owner. Seller Inventory # N2-2-91BH
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Campbell Bookstore, Austin, TX, U.S.A.
Condition: new. Seller Inventory # NewCamp1582430225
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: GoldenWavesOfBooks, Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_1582430225
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Wizard Books, Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard1582430225
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: GoldenDragon, Houston, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon1582430225
Quantity: 1 available