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May 20, 2011

Mariel rated it:

This is gonna get hypothetical because there are film versions of Beauty and Sadness: Tristesse et beauté and Utsukushisa to kanashimi. Somehow I haven't seen either one of these, not even when mass viewing Charlotte Rampling films in the early '00s; nor when bingeing on Japanese cinema, also in the early '00s. I'll rectify this in the future! My movie watching has dropped off significantly in the last three years. Maybe it's how I take on foriegn feelings as if they could be related to me. I've More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Oct 14, 2008

Revel rated it:

I sometimes wonder how I manage to avoid living under a blanket of sadness myself. Is the past not fuller than the future? Does it pose more of a threat to loneliness or is it the cause? It’s not permanent—I’m not willing to subject myself to that quite yet—but I live mostly alone in the desert, a temporary hermit at twenty-three. I read Beauty and Sadness recently, and found myself constantly jumping between Kawabata’s story and my own. Oki, who is roughly thirty years older than I, and Ot More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Feb 25, 2010

Evan rated it:

My fourth Kawabata book, this and two others being novels and another a collection of short stories...
I don't know if ruminations about the sea and stone gardens and cherry blossoms and fireflies or whatever make this story any less the lurid soap opera. Nonetheless, it's all a framework for what Kawabata does best, about which I elaborate below.
The story, in a nutshell, is told partly in retrospect and partly in the present. A novelist in his 50s, Oki, recalls how at age 30 (when he More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 19, 2010

Harun Harahap rated it:

gw dapet ni buku dari Jalasutra..katanya suh terjemahan dari jalsut tuh jelek..tapi entah kenapa ga da yang janggal dalam bahasa yang disajikan dalam buku ni..kata2nya terasa masuk akal dan nyambungd ari kata per kata...

gw suka dengan karakter2nya khususnya keiko..dan gw suka penggambaran latar belakang kebudayaan dan lingkungan jepang yang begitu indah pada masa tahun 1960an gitu..banyak pengetahuan budaya yang bisa diambil dari buku ini..walalupun ada bagian yang bertemakan seks..t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 23, 2008

Alina rated it:

This is a story about Otaka, a beautiful painter, and her passionate protegee Keiko. Otaka had an affair with a married man (Oki) in her youth; the affair resulted in a pregnancy, the death of that newbord, and Otaka's suicide attempt. It also resulted in that man leaving Otaka, yet later writing a 'fictional novel' that detailed their entire relationship. The entire community figured out whom the novel was based on.
Needless to say, Otaka was hurt. Fastforward 15 years and Keiko, Otaka's t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Kelly rated it:

Beauty and Sadness tells of how people damage one another--through greed, seduction, and even through art. All of the characters in this look are manipulative to a certain degree, even our favorites. One of the characters was so blatently irrational that I couldn't tell if Kawabata meant for her to be a farse.

It's the type of book that I appreciate more after I've read it and start thinking about it, rather than during. I know in the future certain scenes or quotes will pop into my More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

William rated it:

Seeking revenge for her love, young painter Keiko seduces novelist Toshio, the man who seduced Keiko's mentor thirty years before. As neither the novelist or the older artist Otoko have forgotten their affair, each is perversely lured by the opportunity to use the girl as a stand-in for the other. Toshio concedes that his fictionalization of the affair will remain all that he is remembered by (the characters have all read it, including Toshio's wife who typed the manuscript), but Keiko's confu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

William rated it:

I always like reading Kawabata for the sense of other that it gives. In any translation I feel that his stories are so soaked in Japanese tradition that they are hard to completely understand, and yet they are so simple and delicate that they convey their story beautifully even though the characters emotions and motivations are not as easy to see.

An aging author reflects on his true life affair with a 16 yr old girl when he was 30. That 16 yr old girl, now a middle aged woman, reflec More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 19, 2011

Anna rated it:

Although a translation, Beauty and Sadness is very well-written, using simple, beautiful language in a style that I have come to think of as modern Japanese. I love this style for its deliberateness and simplicity. Less is more, both in the language used and in the details provided in the story. Kawabata's prose is elegant yet spare, descriptive yet simple. His words are the embodiment of Japanese art – Otoko's lifeblood.

Beauty and Sadness is a story of passion (not love) that bord More...

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Jul 20, 2010

Ririenz rated it:

KEINDAHAN dan KESEDIHAN
( Beauty and Sadness )
Penulis : Yasunari Kawabata
Penerjemah : Sobar Hartini
Editor : Anton Kurnia
Penerbit : Jalasutra
Cetekan : III , 2006
Tebal : 256 halaman

Sering Aku lihat novel ini jika ke Gramedia atau bila kebetulan sedang ada event booksfair. Tapi ada sedikit keengganan untuk mengetahui isinya, kataku “ Ah ….paling percintaan biasa, nantilah…. “. Tapi ketika di booksfair ada diskon lumayan besar yah … akhirnya More...

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May 22, 2009

Rauan rated it:

This is a quick, easy read. Maybe. Well, it was for me. Reading it, into sleep, three afternoons in a row. And, waking up, later, covered in sweat. And ditto those same three nights. The chair I read in, you see, makes me sweat.

This is a beautiful book. And it's haunting. Especially Keiko who is the lotus in the flames. And the book for me is Lotus in Flames. All the characters are ruled (or defined anyways) by passion.

And they are, again and again, wrong about the othe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 19, 2009

Julia rated it:

My first impression of this book – logically – was the title and i fell immediately in love with ist simple evocativeness: Beauty and Sadness – i just had to read a book with a title like this.

I needed to take some time and think the book over before sitting down to write a review because it left me with some really mixed feelings. On the one hand I really loved the language: many haiku-like moments in which Kawabata creates atmosphere with some scarce strokes well set. Maybe it’s a More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 18, 2011

Helvry rated it:

Novel ini pertama kali diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia oleh Asrul Sani pada Tahun 1980. Utsukushisa To Kanashimi To merupakan novel terakhir karya Yasunari Kawabata sebelum ia ditemukan tewas karena bunuh diri pada Tahun 1972. Novel ini juga telah diangkat ke layar lebar dengan judul With Beauty and Sadness (1965).

Novel ini berpusat pada tokoh utama Oki Toshio yang memiliki kenangan cinta masa lalu pada seorang perempuan, Ueno Otoko. Namun, dari cinta masa lalu tersebut, seor More...

16 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2012

Z rated it:

Perhaps it was natural that the picture would have a kind of sweet prettiness — still, could one not also detect the lack of any profound inner spirit?

This line is used in Beauty and Sadness to describe a painting - it also perfectly encapsulates my opinion of the book. A short read, but one that felt interminably long owing to the superficiality and incredible selfishness of each of the characters and the lack of any real insight into their personalities.

Twenty years ago More...

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Jan 01, 2012

Gia rated it:

This book is about the love story of an adult man (Oki) with a young girl (Otoko) and how their lives develop after their last encounter and how their love for one another evolves despite the distance, the years and the absence from each others life. It also focuses on the impact that their love affair had on their "destiny" and life. Later on, Otoko's aprentice and lover, Keiko, decides to get revenge for the pain Oki caused to her painting master and lover.

I would recomm More...

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Apr 06, 2011

an rated it:

jika kau hanya melihat dar bahasa na, maka yang ada adalah: terjemahan na tidak menarik. membuat membaca kisah ini menjadi tersendat-sendat. lagi pula, ngapain menerjemahkan dari bahasa inggris na, bukan bahasa jepang na. pasti banyak pergeseran mak na. dan begitu juga yang terasa di edisi bahasa indonesia ini.

hanya saja... jika dilihat dari cerita na. boleh d kasih jempol. benci adalah cinta yang terluka. maka untuk menyembuhkan na, kau juga harus melukai. itulah yang terjadi pada tok More...

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Jun 10, 2010

Chin added it

This translated novel, original text was beautifully written in Japanese. Similar to “The Inferno of Dante” was written in Italian. Although the main theme of this book was about love to be precise it is a harsh love affair between two characters who are a married writer and a teenage girl for twenty years. Because of this issue, the protagonist who is the married writer, Oki, attempts to suicide. Not only that affects those two characters but also the people around them, who interacts with them More...

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Nov 05, 2011

Daniele rated it:

Finora di Yasunari Kawabata avevo letto solo 2 libri, cioè Immagini di Cristallo e Arcobaleni, e non mi ero ancora fatto un'idea precisa di questo autore. Bellezza e tristezza è stata una lettura piacevole. Il ritmo della narrazione, all'inizio molto lento, cresce gradualmente in intensità. I (pochi) personaggi sono tutti collegati tra loro da una sorta di ragnatela di emozioni: ogni azione, gesto o parola da parte di un personaggio ha inevitabili ripercussioni su tutti gli altri. Ma chi è realm More...

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Dec 15, 2010

Jenny rated it:

This is one fucked up love story, although it's not really "love" but something else entirely masquerading as such for those who are "dissatisfied with a placid love."

The basic plot is this: A successful, Tokyo-based writer, Oki, decides to visit the woman he knocked up years ago. She has since become a successful painter and lives in a temple in Kyoto where she and her widowed mother fled after her newborn died. Otoko is now a lesbian and involved in a troubled More...

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Mar 05, 2011

Ioana rated it:

Mi-a făcut o deosebită plăcere să citesc acest roman. E un stil cu totul şi cu totul deosebit, nu eram obişnuită cu faimoasa sensibilitate japoneză. Se citeşte extrem de uşor, şi l-aş fi terminat mai repede, de nu începeam alte câteva cărţi în acelaşi timp. Povestea e una simplă: o legătură amoroasă petrecută în trecut vine să tulbure prezentul atât de fragil al protagoniştilor. Şi cum ştim deja că orice poveste are cel puţin două variante, a lui s-a metamorfozat într-un roman foarte bine vândut More...

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Apr 18, 2007

cecelia rated it:

Kawabata is one of two Nobel literature prize winners from Japan. His works are often referred as having the essense of Japanese watercolor paintings. One can find roots of Japanese culture and asthetics in his writings.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 16, 2010

Hizrah rated it:

Ditulis dengan keindahan yang sunyi ala Jepang.

Kawabata menulis cerita ini dengan perlahan,menyedihkan, aneh sekaligus membahagiakan.

Anehnya yang terus melekat di benak saya sampai saat ini justru bukan inti cerita-nya, namun kepiawaian Kawabata dalam melukiskan keindahan dalam detail-detail sederhana. Gambar bangau di saputangan, kimono, cangkir porselen untuk minum teh...

Waktu kuliah di arsitektur ITB dulu kami diajarkan juga mengenai keindahan dan kedalam More...

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May 29, 2007

Esti rated it:

this book won nobel so this is something. what gets me the most is the setting; i pictured the japanese landscape and beauty intertwining with the somewhat dark story. the title couldn't be more perfect.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 09, 2011

Tancredi rated it:

Questo libro ha avuto la sfortuna di esser stato preso in mano nel periodo più sbagliato possibile. L'ho letto a rilento, dieci pagine in un giorno, poi nulla per tre giorni, poi cento pagine in una botta sola, e così via.
Ne è emersa una lettura smemorata, confusa, poco coinvolgente.
Problema mio, ovviamente.
Ciò nonostante credo ci sia un fondo di verità. Fresco anche del confronto con Mishima, Kawabata, alla mia prima esperienza di lettura, mi è parso piuttosto insipido. Una lettu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 23, 2011

Maggie rated it:

Lo bello, la impresionante y antigua ciudad de Kyoto. Lo triste, la nostalgia de un amor fallido.
Oki va a Kyoto a escuchar las campanas de año nuevo a lado de su ex amante de hace más de 20 años, una artista llamada Otoko, y este encuentro revive sentimientos viejos pero jamás ignorados en ambos, y también en Keiko la aprendiz de Otoko. Oki, siendo escritor, plasmó su historia con Otoko con la particularidad de que ella tenia 16 años y él más de 30. Eso se me hizo muy Lolita, pero bueno. Am More...

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Aug 29, 2010

Guy rated it:

When I bought this book, second hand but 'new,' I ignored the little alarms that warned me to keep my money in my pocket. I had spent too much time looking for my usual dreck in my local used bookstore, and had made myself late — books before life! As I'm in the process of leaving the store I see atop an 'in-box' near the cash register Beauty and Sadness. I decided that the author being Japanese out-weighed my caution against him being a Nobel prize winner. I allowed my visual More...

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Oct 10, 2007

Megachristina rated it:

Gentle, smooth, beautiful writing, but tragic and sad ending story

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 18, 2007

Aroem rated it:

beautiful kyoto versus sadness story...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Fatma rated it:

love and despair
revenge and lust

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 24, 2007

Alexandra rated it:

To me, this book is perfection.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

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