Benedek Toth > Recent Status Updates

"As Kawabata the writer became increasingly visible, Kawabata the man who wrote did indeed vanish into a certain kind of silence."

"The 'I' in my me seems to have disappeared. Or perhaps I ought to say that a different 'I' has been living inside me" - Kawabata, 1957

Decided to reread Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata in Hungarian—arguably a considerably more expressive and poetic language.

The first line alone has me floored:

"Amikor a Határ-hegységet átszelo, hosszú alagútból a vonat elöbújt, szélesen terült szét elotte a Hóorszag."

Started unusually slow. In a story about complex love triangles, it was cruel of Kawabata to name the three most important female characters Kikuko, Kinuko, and Kuniko. But now, Kawabata has kicked into 6th gear.

"An unpleasant tightness in his ears moved through his temples to gather at his forehead. The sound like a raging sea was a mountain downpour and above it the sharp rasp of the wind came nearer." (107)