A beautifully written book

I'm listening to books I read decades ago to see of they're still among my favorites. Kawabata is one of my favorite authors and this is considered his masterpiece. I was about to give it 4 stars. As I started writing my review I realized what the ending was all about. So if I could give it 4.75 stars I would, but 4 is too few.

Japanese literature is one of my favorite genres, but it can take some getting used to. This is about a man from Tokyo and a geisha. It's set in a snowy area of Japan that's popular with travelers. I love the female lead character who is much younger than the male. As time in the story passes by we see different facets of her.

I think it's better to savor this book over at least a couple of days and not to read or listen in one sitting, despite its short length. The ending was a complete surprise even though I read this in the mid 1980s. The Japanese really have mastered the novella, but there is so much to many of these books. I hope Audible continues to expand their offerings of Japanese literature. There were hardly any when I first signed up, but there are more choices all the time.

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The Tragedy...

of a woman socially beneath the love she desires, a fragile girl, and a man not quite capable of truly loving either of them.

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BEAUTIFUL

This is my first book by mr. Yasunari Kawabata. It certainly will not be my last one. So beautifully written an narrated by one of my favorite narrators, mr. Brian Nishii. Thanks to everyone involved in making it available to us, JK

A n exploration of being human

As Russian literature is so informative about the darker side of hunaness this amazing Japanese novel explores the paradoxes of love.