Beauty and Sadness

Author: Yasunari Kawabata , Howard S. Hibbett (Translator)

Category: Fiction, literature, classics

Language: English

Publication Year: 1964

Pages: 206

Description:

The accomplished writer Oki, now in his middle age and burdened with regrets, returns to Kyoto to seek out Otoko, a young woman with whom he had a tumultuous affair many years ago. Otoko, now an artist, lives with a younger woman who is her lover. Despite the passage of time, Otoko has never stopped loving Oki and has always remembered him. His return, however, disrupts the lives of both Otoko and her young lover. This story is imbued with a unique beauty, evoking a tender sense of nostalgia and a poignant awareness of the irretrievable past.

Personal Notes:

A good friend of mine gave me this book in the early 2000s. It was the first time I knew Yasunari Kawabata, and adored him since.