Beauty and Sadness
by Yasunari Kawabata
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Book Summary Information
Author: Yasunari KawabataEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1996-01-30
ISBN: 0679761055
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Beauty and Sadness
Book Review: Poetry of brushstrokes.
Summary: 5 Stars
Beauty and Sadness is a love story between a fifteen year old girl and her married lover. We learn about the affair through the thoughts and conversations of the two lovers, Oki, now in his fifties, and Otoko now in her late thirties. These memories are painful for those involved and those outside the relationship and the novel explores the ripple effects of such an affair. Oki is a novelist and his most famous novel is that of his affair with Otoko. Otoko is now a well-known artist, and it is her protege and lover, Keiko, who seeks revenge for Otoko. She embarks on a subtle, but painful deceit of Oki's adult son, Taichiro and Oki himself. It is Oki's wife, Fumiko, who suffered during Oki's affair, during the publication of his novel, which she typed up for him as she typed all his work, and then she suffers because of Keiko's act of revenge. Although the story begins with a man remembering his past lover, the intensity between all the characters draws you into their subterfuge. Kawabata shows how the younger generation inflict their ideas and emotions onto the past, making this a very different love story. Kawabata weaves strands of pain and loss into the novel, past and present ebb and flow. Another important character within the novel, is Japan itself. Kawabata paints brushstrokes of images and settings which support the characters and become a part of the story. The novel is a peice of artwork in it's description of environment and events. A great master at work, both in the vivid images and emotions of the characters and in the twists and turns of the plot. The unexpected and sometimes shocking revelations are only believable because Kawabata has made the extraordinary, ordinary.
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