BOOK 121: THOUSAND CRANES: YASUNARI KAWABATA
Set in a post World War II Japan, the
protagonist, Kikuji, has been orphaned by the death of his mother and father.
He becomes involved with one of the former mistresses of his father, Mrs. Ota,
who commits suicide seemingly for the shame she associates with the affair.
After Mrs. Ota's death, Kikuji then transfers much of his love and grief over
Mrs Ota's death to her daughter, Fumiko. The ending is ambiguous, as the reader
is unsure whether Fumiko has committed suicide like her mother.
This novel is one of three novels
cited by the Nobel Committee in awarding Yasunari Kawabata the Nobel Prize for
Literature. The other two books are Snow Country and The Old Capital. The novel
was selected for translation and inclusion in the UNESCO
Collection of Representative Works.
No comments:
Post a Comment