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beckeal's review against another edition
3.0
Poetic enough to keep me reading, but almost incomprehensible at the same time. Not sure if it was a cultural chasm I can’t cross, or a translation I can’t make sense of. Got the overall plot, but couldn’t follow the minutiae or themes or point very effectively. But still, very atmospheric and beautiful in many places.
setlledbullet9's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fallenquills's review against another edition
3.0
i didn't find this to be as powerful in english as it was in the original print, but it was interesting to see how things were translated. it was my first time reading any of kawabata's works in english, so definitely recommended to read, but it was difficult to get through in some places because of how true/literal the translations were. some things just make more sense in the original, i think.
peebee's review against another edition
3.0
Like Thousand Cranes, the guy is a master of studies of indecisive, self-absorbed dudes who are terrible boyfriends. Cheers to the people who are either none of that or are, but also magnanimous enough they can read these books and not get extremely annoyed/horrified at these dudes wasting their own lives and those of people around them enough to enjoy the rest of it.
lightsleeper_heavydreamer's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I know he has a nobel prize but I really didn't like the story much.
Why do male Japanese author's books always read like desperate wank fantasies? The protagonist is always either an asshole, completely useless, a pedo or the most uninteresting average man alive but has women obsessing over him left and right. Inbetween there's a sorry excuse for a plot and maybe nice enough prose. At least with good will this particular book could be called a product of it's time and I enjoyed the setting of the story but overall, yeah, it felt like reading an unlikeable man's horny dream diary.
On a positiv note, the setting was very captivating and serene and really made me daydream about the countryside and the change of seasons, which brought some peace despite the irrational unlikeable characters.
Why do male Japanese author's books always read like desperate wank fantasies? The protagonist is always either an asshole, completely useless, a pedo or the most uninteresting average man alive but has women obsessing over him left and right. Inbetween there's a sorry excuse for a plot and maybe nice enough prose. At least with good will this particular book could be called a product of it's time and I enjoyed the setting of the story but overall, yeah, it felt like reading an unlikeable man's horny dream diary.
On a positiv note, the setting was very captivating and serene and really made me daydream about the countryside and the change of seasons, which brought some peace despite the irrational unlikeable characters.
trollbeard's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
james1234's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
amblygon_writes's review against another edition
3.0
I had trouble getting into this one. There's a review of this that sums up quite beautifully my experience with this book so I won't really bother repeating its message (especially when it wouldn't be written as cleverly). Basically, there was a lot of wondering of 'why am I reading this and what on earth is going on?', and at some points there were some beautiful gems, mostly language-related. To be honest, I'm still a little confused about Yoko.