Yasunari Kawabata
author profile
born
December 14, 1899
died
April 16, 1972
gender
male
place of birth
Osaka, Japan
genre
Literature & Fiction, Short Stories
about this author
Yasunari Kawabata (Kawabata Yasunari, 14 June 1899 - 16 April 1972) was a Japanese short story writer and novelist whose spare, lyrical, subtly-shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal and are still widely read.
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avg rating: 3.89
| 3,537 ratings
| 442 reviews
| 40 distinct works
|
37 fans
More books by Yasunari Kawabata…
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Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 3.83 — 992 ratings — published 1947 20 editions |
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Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 3.81 — 478 ratings — published 1959 14 editions |
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Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 3.96 — 349 ratings — published 1961 26 editions |
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Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 4.26 — 248 ratings — published 1988 7 editions |
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The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 3.80 — 253 ratings — published 1972 13 editions |
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The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 4.06 — 219 ratings — published 1969 14 editions |
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House of the Sleeping Beauties And Other Stories by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 4.08 — 211 ratings — published 1982 25 editions |
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The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 3.82 — 115 ratings — published 1973 6 editions |
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The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 3.85 — 107 ratings — published 1962 6 editions |
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The Lake by Yasunari Kawabata avg rating 3.81 — 78 ratings — published 1974 9 editions |
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"But even more than her diary, Shimamura was surprised at her statement that she had carefully cataloged every novel and short story she had read since she was fifteen or sixteen. The record already filled ten notebooks.
"You write down your criticisms, do you?"
"I could never do anything like that. I just write down the author and the characters and how they are related to each other. That is about all."
"But what good does it do?"
"None at all."
"A waste of effort."
"A complete waste of effort," she answered brightly, as though the admission meant little to her. She gazed solemnly at Shimamura, however.
A complete waste of effort. For some reason Shimamura wanted to stress the point. But, drawn to her at that moment, he felt a quiet like the voice of the rain flow over him. He knew well enough that for her it was in fact no waste of effort, but somehow the final determination that it was had the effect of distilling and purifying the woman's existence."
— Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)
"You write down your criticisms, do you?"
"I could never do anything like that. I just write down the author and the characters and how they are related to each other. That is about all."
"But what good does it do?"
"None at all."
"A waste of effort."
"A complete waste of effort," she answered brightly, as though the admission meant little to her. She gazed solemnly at Shimamura, however.
A complete waste of effort. For some reason Shimamura wanted to stress the point. But, drawn to her at that moment, he felt a quiet like the voice of the rain flow over him. He knew well enough that for her it was in fact no waste of effort, but somehow the final determination that it was had the effect of distilling and purifying the woman's existence."
— Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)
tags:
japanese
8 people liked it
"The road was frozen. The village lay quiet under the cold sky. Komako hitched up the skirt of her kimono and tucked it into her obi. The moon shone like a blade frozen in blue ice."
— Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)
— Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)
tags:
imagery
4 people liked it
"The woman was silent, her eyes on the floor. Shimamura had come to a point where he knew he was only parading his masculine shamelessness, and yet it seemed likely enough that the woman was familiar with the failing and need not be shocked by it. He looked at her. Perhaps it was the rich lashes of the downcast eyes that made her face seem warm and sensuous. She shook her head very slightly, and again a faint blush spread over her face."
— Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)
— Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)
tags:
japanese
3 people liked it
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