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Snow Country
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
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TheSpineView
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Eggs Serene ❄️ 2y
61 likes1 stack add2 comments
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johncadams
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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A really moving story that explores themes of sadness and isolation, love and family.

#Japan #literature

29 likes1 stack add
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ClairesReads
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Mehso-so

A meditative wee novel about a man fleeing the chaos of city life for a mountain town, where he meets a geisha he believes he is in love with. This story is about a quest for freedom. Ultimately, neither Shimamura nor his love are able to realise a free existence as they remain bound by rules and expectations. Yasunari's prose is distant and reflective. This novel left me lingering on the surface where I'd like to have had a deeper experience.

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KristiAhlers
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Pickpick

This was a quick read (175 pages) and I was utterly enthralled! The writing was eloquent, the setting is western Japan and the story revolves around a geisha and the man she lets herself care for despite knowing what the outcome will be. Highly recommend this book.

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GerardtheBookworm
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Pickpick

A classic Japanese story set in 50's Japanese. A rich, dilettante and patron of the arts begins and affair with a lowly geisha leading to tragedy and a hard truth about caste systems. Author Kawabata writes with such precision that each word could be haiku in of itself.

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coffees
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Remember that essay I said I was going to write about one of my #japaneseliterature reads? Well, I wrote it about Snow Country since I didn't get far into 1Q84! Spoilers since it's an analysis post #love

Read: https://readatnight00.wordpress.com/2019/11/26/owls-why-bother-walking-towards-f...

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coffees
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Pickpick

Not sure why I didn't finish this one the first time I tried reading it or why I thought it was boring. Maybe it's because I wasn't actively reading it. This time, as much as my #romance frozen heart dislikes giving praise, Snow Country tells a beautifully poignant story of unrequited love between a hot spring geisha and one of the Tokyo patrons. Recommended #japaneseliterature #literary

#24B4Monday #readathon @jb72 @TheReadingMermaid @Andrew65

BeansPage Doing good 👍 5y
jb72 Great job! I‘m not a romance reader. 🎉 5y
Andrew65 This can happen to me too. One time struggle to get into it, another time just love it. 5y
Andrew65 A great time so far. 👏👏👏 5y
19 likes4 comments
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coffees
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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There's so much death in this book and it's very sad. I feel for Komako, but I also would like to know how Shimamura feels. He's very closed off with his feelings even though we see everything through his eyes #symbolism #japaneseliterature #romance

@jb72 @TheReadingMermaid @andrew65 #24B4Monday #readathon

Andrew65 Sounds heavy. 5y
16 likes1 comment
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coffees
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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This flowery language and #symbolism were never really my forte but I think I've gotten better, still...I can't tell if that "mountain" that "seduced" him, which he then promptly "roughly climbed" is an actual mountain or a woman... #japaneseliterature #romance

@jb72 @TheReadingMermaid @andrew65 #24B4Monday #readathon

jb72 Yeah symbolism was lost on me at times. 5y
coffees @jb72 teachers love them and I'm just here like how what the heck what magic must i learn to see them too 5y
Andrew65 😂 5y
14 likes3 comments
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coffees
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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He decided to come check out what I was up to #24B4Monday #readathon 😊 This is the second time I'm attempting to read this book. It was recommended to me by my friend months back but it was kind of boring. Now that I'm reading it...Shimamura is a creep and I have an idea of how to twist the failure prompt #japaneseliterature #romance

@jb72 @TheReadingMermaid @andrew65

BeansPage You can do the sweetheart! Show that book who's boss!! 💪 5y
jb72 He is so cute! Thanks for joining us! 5y
coffees @jb72 don't tell the others but he's my favorite xD and np, I always need an incentive to read and these are fun 😍 5y
Andrew65 Good luck 👍😊 5y
16 likes5 comments
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eatyourvegetables
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
Pickpick

Shimamura loves reading about Western ballet. Emphasis on reading. Although he has the means, he would never watch a ballet in Japan because he'd rather live in fantasy than know the truth. No wonder he retreats into 'the floating world' of two geisha, never cares for his wife or family, & longs for beauty but never faces reality.
A novel I discovered by accident, and glad to have done so. Recommend its beautiful prose, among many things.

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shawnmooney
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Panpan

A meek married man cares about no one, just the moon, snow, and maybe moths. And supposedly but dilettanteishly, ballet. Yet he does his best to inflict his grey, dull self on a ditzy drunkard hooker and one other woman at a winter resort. How they stayed awake in his leaden, obnoxious presence, I‘ll never know. I barely could.

BookishMarginalia I‘ve never been able to enjoy Kawabata... 6y
Abailliekaras I liked this because of its subtlety & setting, but didn‘t love it. 😬 6y
saresmoore What a fabulous review! 6y
See All 8 Comments
LeahBergen 😂😂😂 Oh my God. I love your “pan” reviews. 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Oh, dear, your review! 😂 Agree with @LeahBergen ...I ‘enjoy‘ reading your ‘pan‘ and ‘bailed‘ reviews. 6y
Reggie Dang it, I have this one coming in the mail!!!!😩 6y
Anna40 Haha! Great review! I didn't really understand this book but thought it was beautifully written ... 6y
MrBook Great review! 6y
45 likes8 comments
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Faibka
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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“It was a stern night landscape. The sound of the freezing of snow over the land seemed to roar deep into the earth.”

Photo is from earlier today, first snow of winter! Sadly it all melted away already.

#catsoflitsy
#petsoflitsy

Reviewsbylola Your cat doesn‘t look too impressed. 😂 6y
Faibka @Reviewsbylola lol! He sure wasn‘t, he was like “screw this” and immediately went back inside 😂 6y
Dragon 😻 6y
39 likes3 comments
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Anna40
Pickpick

I did not understand the relationship between Shimamura and Komako (and Yoko?). I found the story rather mysterious and the ending left me stunned. But Kawabata appeals to all senses with his writing: I could see, smell, feel and hear 'the story'. Especially the beginning and ending will stick with me.

No_One Hmmmm, I will have to find the description elsewhere to figure out if I want to read it! 😊 6y
Anna40 @No_One the story is 'simple': a rich man visits a mountain village 3 or 4 times in different seasons and meets two women, Komako and Yoko. He has two very different relationships with them. I have to admit that I didn't understand what was going on with the women, but Kawabata's writing style is brilliant and it's a short book :) 6y
No_One @Anna40 thank you so much for the description! I like these kinds of "not cut & dried" kinds of books. I may check it out! ? 6y
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Anna40 You're welcome. I personally think Beauty and Sadness is better - but that's my opinion :). 6y
Faibka Yes, this is a different book from B&S and in a way maybe a more Japanese one, with breathtaking descriptions of Nature and ordinary occurrences, much like a series of Haikus. To me it seems like the characters are isolated from us on purpose and we don‘t get a clear grasp on their thoughts and feelings as we do in B&S and they‘re much more passive. 6y
Anna40 @Faibka thanks for your insights! I don't think I really understood this book 6y
7 likes6 comments
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Anna40
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11 likes1 stack add
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sisilia
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Pickpick

I love the story, but the translation is too wonky for me to love this book whole-heartedly. Kawabata‘s works are meant to be poetic, and this translation didn‘t reflect that 😫 What a shame!

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sisilia
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Still intrigued by Kawabata

ReadZenRites Lovely photo 😊💕 7y
Cathythoughts Beautiful pic ❤️ 7y
96 likes2 comments
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maidez_taider
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Mehso-so

Slow moving, quiet like a snow muffled landscape.

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LukkiAnn
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Mehso-so

I do not think it is a really good translation. I have a feeling that something is missing. It is a story about relationship between a geisha and her client where nothing happened (usual thing in Japanese novel),but there is another girl in this story who appears couple time,but her feelings and influence to characters are big mystery.

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Abailliekaras
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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A spare, graceful story set in the #mountains of Japan. #noteworthynovember

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Abailliekaras
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Pickpick

A beautiful, subtle book. Too oblique for me, I would appreciate it more reading quietly on a train going through Japan's snow country (instead of Shimoda with 2 young children 😬). Little plot w an unsympathetic protagonist, & his lover, a tragic figure. Nuanced writing, thoughtful & humane.

JenP Pretty cover 8y
29 likes1 comment
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HijackMe
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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#seasonsreadings2016 #bookishgifts I got some great books. 😍 The paperback (Anthology of works by Yasunari Kawabata) is from a friend, the best of 2016 cartoons is from my father, and the bundle of books is from my bf including: A French novella, Norwegian fairytales, the correspondence between Rilke and Hugo von Hofmannsthal and my first novel by Halldor Laxness. He first wanted me to choose a book for him to gift me but I slightly pulled out a

HijackMe few titles and told him to choose from that. I prefer being surprised and surprised I was, since I never expected more than one title. Amazing ☺️ 8y
Faibka Nice! Yasunari Kawabata 💕 8y
17 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Faibka
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#chillyreads Way behind on my, how my husband puts it, "litsying" ? This is a marvelous book where the action takes place in a snowy setting. The reading was very slow for me, but the scenery and atmosphere is described with such delicate beauty.
#photoadaynov16

Faibka @Desha have you read this one? 😃 8y
rubyslippersreads Lovely cover and photo. 8y
Desha No not yet lol 😜 adding to TBR right now! 😍❤️ thanks for tagging me!! 📚❤️📚 8y
See All 13 Comments
RealLifeReading Pretty! 8y
[DELETED] 3323341091 oh, Kawabata is so good! 💓 8y
Faibka @Desha no problem, please tag me as well on interesting Japanese reads! 😆💜📚📚📚 8y
Faibka @fern this is the only book of his I've read. Which other one would you recommend? 😊📚📚 8y
[DELETED] 3323341091 @Faibka his entire bibliography is wonderful 😊. my favorite three are Sound of the Mountain, Beauty and Sadness, and First Snow on Fuji. ooo wait, Thousand Cranes is amazing too. four favorites 🙃 8y
Desha Yes definitely! 😜😍❤️ 8y
Jae @Faibka The House of Sleeping Beauties is wonderful too. 8y
Faibka @fern and @Jae thank you so much for the recommendations! 😄 will add to TBR 📚📚💜 I think I have The Sound of Mountain and The Master of Go. 8y
Faibka @Jae I saw on Goodreads and edition for The House of Sleeping Beauties with an introduction by Yukio Mishima!💜 need to get it 😁 8y
27 likes5 stack adds13 comments
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LeahsBookNest
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Unpopular opinion but I did not like this book at all! Did something get lost in translation? I couldn't continue reading about the landscape lol. #threwitacrosstheroom #photoadaynov16

ReadThisBookYall I too have a #threwitacrosstheroom book that everyone else loved that had excruciating landscape descriptions: If I had to read about one more droplet on one more leaf... 8y
17 likes1 comment
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sofiaga
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Macaroons and Kawabata before yoga class.

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sofiaga
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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A storm is coming, giving me the perfect excuse to start my First Kawabata ever.

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KateTheBookworm
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Thanks to the #GetBooked podcast for answering my recommendation request this week! I can't wait to get started on my "Beyond Murakami" quest for Japanese lit. You guys rock @bookriot ?

Notafraidofwords I submitted a questions like a month and a half ago and never got anything 😕 8y
KateTheBookworm @Notafraidofwords I'm sure it takes them a while to get through all the questions. And in the mean time, you have Litsy! 😊 8y
44 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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shawnmooney
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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I know little about the author, just enough to know I'd better check out his stuff someday. But how about this photo of Kawabata san, which Twitter just tweeted my way?

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readtheworld
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
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Pickpick

A short, charming classic about the doomed love affair between a Tokyo businessman and a geisha from a mountain resort town.

shawnmooney I just posted a fabulous photo of Kawabata san, in case you were interested. :) 8y
14 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Slamo
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata
Pickpick

Beautifully understated.

shawnmooney I just posted a fabulous photo of Kawabata san, in case you were interested. :) 8y
2 likes1 comment
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Slamo
Snow Country | Yasunari Kawabata

It was all completely natural, as if the two of them, quite insensitive to space, meant to go on forever, farther and farther into the distance.