The Works of Yasunari Kawabata

[@whinda4702]

Finally a dude that talks books. Awesome

[@DrStoCazzo]

lol

[@davidsigler9690]

Kawabata wrote the best Japanese short story about growing old, memories, and the human mind...."The House Of The Sleeping Beauties."

[@JorgesCorner]

YES, my friend! 😃 Such a brilliant text. I want to reread it soon. Have a great day, David, and thank you for watching and commenting!

[@davidsigler9690]

@@JorgesCorner You're welcome.

[@LianaBuzea]

I very much appreciated this presentation! Thank you!

[@JorgesCorner]

So glad you enjoyed it, my friend! 😃 Thank you so much for watching and commenting, and have an excellent day!

[@SilentGig1]

Great video, of course I'm starting with snow country.

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, my friend! 😃 Have an amazing day, and enjoy Kawabata's brilliant novel!

[@brianmimura5430]

I appreciate your efforts putting this together, Jorge. I am not an avid reader to say the least but i read a couple works by Kawabata which i enjoyed. Your video makes me interested in reading more and learning more about Kawabata. Do you have a sense of how he is viewed from the perspective of how his works portray female characters?

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much for watching and commenting, Brian! 😃 Such a wonderful question. From my perspective, Kawabata comes across as an author who portrays female characters with respect, empathy, and deep understanding. As a matter of fact, I think the portrayal of women is one of his strengths as an author. Hope this helps! Have a fantastic day, my friend!

[@daveneedham4443]

I'm a Kawabata fan too, and have 8 of his books. One book you didn't show is Japan the Beautiful and Myself which is Kawabata's 1968 Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech. It was published in a small paperback and is such a beautiful speech the work is a piece of literature in itself. It's great.

[@JorgesCorner]

I need to get a copy, my friend! 😃 You know, I'm ashamed to admit I haven't even read the speech. I'll do something about that soon. Thank you so much for the reminder!

[@u-turnpictures6461]

Its so great to know someone is in love with Kawabata! I am now reading a novel by him that i haven’t heard of before. Penguin has published it. It’s called ‘The Rainbow’. Yet to get a copy of The Lake

[@JorgesCorner]

The Rainbow, yes! 😃 I did a video on it a few weeks ago. It's amazing, as everything that Kawabata wrote. Thank you for watching and commenting, my friend! Happy reading!

[@idgitreadsandrambles7090]

By god, Jorge, that's a treasure trove. I'm so excited to finish his palm of the hand stories that i always want to delay the gratification of reading them anew. You're right about snow country being great but not his best, and what you say about the spiritual connection you have to kawabata applies to me too. The reason i love his writing mostly comes from his understatement, his focus on implication (that no doubt comes from the haiku tradition), and the way he imbues such tiny, ordinary situations with massive symbolic weight and makes them emotive, sometimes even thrilling. Particularly the teacups of thousand cranes and some passages in beauty and sadness (how well-chosen is the opening image of that book?). The sound of the mountain was a headscratcher for me, though. I enjoyed so much of it but really must reread and try to make more of it. I'm looking forward to getting around to all of his novels - few authors have convinced me to do so, but i made up my mind to do so after beauty and sadness. Thanks for another great video - sorry to go on!

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, Quentin, for this wonderful comment, which is a brilliant assessment of Kawabata's work! Now that you mention the teacups of Thousand Cranes, I feel the urge to reread it. The tea ceremony is to that novel what Go is to The Master of Go. I love this idea, or implication, that in a sense every little thing we do is part of a larger ritual that often we ourselves do not understand. I hope you will share your thoughts on Kawabata in your channel! When I finished reading his work, I was sad. We'll always have re-reading, but that's another story. The same thing happened to me with Cortázar. Thanks again, my friend!

[@bucherrabemittendrin9344]

Your video is - again - so interesting. I haven't read anything of Kawabata - something that should be changed. I really like your channel. 👏🏻

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, my friend, once again! :) I hope this will serve as a kind of guide when you explore this amazing author. Please let me know what you think about his works. Have a great evening!

[@mensshirt6678]

i noticed your kim ki duk. amazing director!

[@JorgesCorner]

Yes, my friend! 😃 I featured him in my "100 Essential Films" video too: 3-Iron, which is my favorite. I also loved Breath, Bad Guy, Samaritan Girl, and of course, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring. Best wishes!

[@Avg_lightskin0]

Hi Jorge hope you are having a great day 😊

[@JorgesCorner]

Hello, my friend! I am, and hope you're doing great too. Thanks for watching! :)

[@whatchachattin]

I didn't enjoy my first exposure to Kawabata (Beauty and Sadness) as much as I expected or hoped, but I'm determined to give him another chance, so here I am! I'll probably look for a copy of Snow Country for winter reading.

[@JorgesCorner]

Sounds great! While Snow Country is not my personal favorite, I've come to believe that it is a very good place to start with Kawabata. If you don't enjoy it, I recommend anything by Tanizaki, if you have not read him already. Please let me know what you think. Happy reading, my friend! 😃

[@johnvienna3422]

Wonderful summary. I'm off to the bookshop now. If I spend over €100 it'll be your fault, Jorge. I'll forward the bill 😊

[@JorgesCorner]

Haha, happy reading, my friend! 😃 You can't go wrong with Kawabata, if you ask me. Please let me know how your reading experience goes. Thank you for stopping by!

[@richardwilliams1921]

Read this and 'beauty and sadness'. I've been reading Japanese literary fiction lately, and this was interesting.

[@JorgesCorner]

Beauty and Sadness is one of my favorites! 😃 Thank you so much for watching and commenting, Richard. Have a fantastic day!

[@donaldkelly3983]

I enjoyed this video, especially seeing each book individually. It seems I have read ten of Kawabata's novels, along with the Palm of the Hand collection. What I like about Kawabata is the way he writes. I doubt any of his stories have "plots", as in one event follows another toward a conclusion. But his language is poetic and his view of humans is subdued and not very positive. Six months ago I read Dandelions and found it an enjoyable read. Apparently Kawabata never revised it. I began The Rainbow a few days ago. It reminds me more of The Sound of the Mountain than Beauty and Sadness. But I'm told Kawabata wrote two types of novels.

[@JorgesCorner]

So glad you enjoyed it, Donald! You've read a lot by Kawabata! 😃 I couldn't have said it better: he is a master of the poetic novel, and cautious of human beings. I loved Dandelions, and I even promised to do a video on it. I'll do that one of these days, hopefully soon. It's unfinished, but I don't think there are many pages missing, based on the average length of Kawabata's novels. The Rainbow was quite enjoyable too. I can definitely see the two types of novels in his work. The Sound of the Mountain remains my favorite. Thank you for watching and commenting, my friend, and happy reading!

[@sheherzadjamal8309]

Hello! This was a great video - it was awesome to find another huge Kawabata fan :) 'The Sound of the Mountain' is also my favourite! It's my first time ever leaving a comment on KZbin but your collection is fantastic - I believe Kawabata's Nobel lecture ('Japan the Beautiful and Myself') is also available in a Japanese-English bilingual edition on Amazon in case you're interested! I also saw a few videos on your channel on Spanish literature - I started reading Marquez's 'Memories of my Melancholy Whores' which I think was inspired by 'House of the Sleeping Beauties'! It's so cool to see how these different literary figures are interconnected :D I'd love to know which other Japanese authors you enjoy? Again, great video and collection!

[@JorgesCorner]

Hello Sheherzad! 😃 It's such an honor to read your first KZbin comment, and I'm so happy to hear we both hold The Sound of the Mountain as our favorite Kawabata book! I need to add his Nobel lecture to my collection, so thank you for the info. Since I made this video, I've added two Kawabata books to my collection: The Rainbow, which was published a few weeks ago (I did a video on it, in case you're interested), and one that is only available in Spanish translation: Segundo matrimonio (haven't read it yet). García Márquez, yes! There is a short story by him, "Sleeping Beauty and the Airplane," that is also related to Kawabata's novella, so García Márquez was definitely struck by that text. Other Japanese authors I enjoy; let's see... Tanizaki, Soseki, Mishima, Dazai, Hayashi, Abe, Ogawa, Kawakami, and many more. Thank you so much for watching and commenting, my friend! Have a fantastic day!

[@sheherzadjamal8309]

​@JorgesCorner Thank you so much for your response - it made my day!🤩 I will definitely check out the Garcia Marquez short story! 'The Rainbow' is not available where I am but am dying to read it! I wish the Kawabata-Mishima Correspondence had been translated into English. I also love many of the authors you mentioned! Soseki's 'Kokoro' was my first Japanese novel so it has a special place in my heart - I also love 'Sanshiro'! Dazai and Tanizaki are also fantastic but not at the Kawabata-Mishima-Soseki tier in my soul! Though the 'Makioka Sisters' might change that if I get around to it. For Mishima, I love his work but I think I experience it more intellectually while Kawabata I feel like is able to depict the texture of emotions better. I'd love to hear how you think of the two? An author I think you might like is Shusaku Endo, his 'Deep River' about Japanese travellers in India is quite different and looks at religion in an interesting way. By chance, do you like Russian classics? I enjoy reading them alongside Japanese stories because the stylistic differences can be illuminating on both sides. I think I'll stop here before this response turns into a thesis😁 Wishing you a lovely week and a happy (almost) new year!!!

[@JorgesCorner]

Yes! Someone definitely needs to make the Kawabata-Mishima correspondence available in English soon. 😃 I plan to make a video on it eventually. Ah, Kokoro and Sanshiro! I enjoyed Sanshiro more, for some reason, but I would love to reread both. I want to make more videos on Soseki, as it's been a while since the last time I read him. The Makioka Sisters is exquisite. (I did a video on it too.) I agree with you that Mishima can be enjoyed at a more intellectual level than Kawabata. I enjoy both immensely, but Kawabata is unquestionably my favorite. Shusaku Endo, of course! I haven't read Deep River yet, but I really liked The Sea and Poison, and of course, Silence. I love Russian classics, yes, and just the other day I was telling myself that my channel doesn't really reflect that and I should do something about that soon, haha. I'll do a video on a Russian author soon. Thank you for the inspiration, my friend! Have an excellent week, and best wishes for 2024! 😊

[@the3rdpillblog934]

Here we go again. ;-) The last 15 years or so I was specialized on Japanese films, music and (more or less) literature. I guess a few years ago I would have said, that I prefer Tanizaki over Kawabata - nowadays I am not sure anymore. I still have to read a few books from both authors (and more Akutagawa, and maybe Dazai). - The Animated Classics of Japanese Literature series is from 1986, by the way. Man, I have to watch the Shinoda adaptation of With Beauty and Sorrow! I love Shinoda.

[@JorgesCorner]

It's really a tough choice between Kawabata and Tanizaki! I haven't read everything by the latter, but I loved The Makioka Sisters (and the Ichikawa movie, of course), Naomi, and Some Prefer Nettles. Akutagawa and Dazai are wonderful too. And Kobo Abe (such a great collaboration with Hiroshi Teshigahara)... I love the Animated Classics! Many of the more "obscure" (to me) authors I found through that beautiful series. And definitely, check out With Beauty and Sorrow! Shinoda is simply THE guy to adapt Kawabata. Thank you once again for your wonderful comments, my friend! Have a great evening! :)

[@Echoesoflostlibraries]

Very interesting video. My favorite Japanese author is Kenzaburo Oe, but Kawabata probably comes in second place :) I first read The Master of Go as I used to play a lot as a young man. I enjoyed it a lot, I will give The Sound of the Mountain a go one of these days.. so many books so little time :)

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, Echo! So little time indeed... :) I'm a big fan of Oe, though I haven't read him as much. My favorite works by him, so far, have been A Personal Matter and the novella Prize Stock. I really want to read The Silent Cry. The Master of Go was an engrossing read, even though I do not know how to play the game (I don't have much patience, haha). Hope you enjoy The Sound of the Mountain! :)

[@Echoesoflostlibraries]

@@JorgesCorner Seeing as you are a deep reader and prolific content creator I doubt that very much :D If you ever find yourself in the unlikely situation that you would like to learn send me a message and I'd gladly teach you. As for Kawabata, I hope so. But I imagine it will be a year or two before I return to Japanese literature. The Latin American and Spanish literary world currently has me too enraptured to think about too much else (tho I am reading Joyce, Mosley, Gass, and who knows what else on the side as well).

[@JorgesCorner]

I will definitely let you know, my friend; thanks for the offer! It seems to me that as an enthusiast of Japanese culture, I should learn how to play go at some point. :) I'm so happy to hear you've been enjoying literature in Spanish! I got started rather late, believe it or not. When I had my "awakening" as a reader, I was already living in the US. So I read Faulkner and Joyce (and lots of Stephen King, of course) before I read Borges. :D I'm planning a video on Argentine literature. I don't think you'll find anything new in it, but you'll see some different editions of many books you own. Have a great evening!

[@morbidswither3051]

I’ve never learned to play, but it’s officially a goal for 2023!

[@morbidswither3051]

Kawabata is my favorite Japanese writer as well. But Yoko Ogawa is up there!

[@JorgesCorner]

I love Yoko Ogawa! The Housekeeper and the Professor is one of my favorite novels. I need to read more by contemporary Japanese authors. Mieko Kawakami and Hiroko Oyamada are next on my list.

[@morbidswither3051]

@@JorgesCorner I read the three novels in English from Kawakami just last month, and, mostly, really enjoyed them. Initially, I felt that Heaven wasn’t quite as strong a novel as I had hoped, but continue to think of it so often, I intend to read it again before the end of the year. Like you, I resolve to read more Japanese contemporary fiction, and I’m finding that I really enjoy several Korean authors as well.

[@JorgesCorner]

That's wonderful! I'm going to read Breasts and Eggs first. I found a copy in Spanish at the library, so I'll go with that version. Hiromi Kawakami is great too. My favorite so far by her has been The Briefcase (aka Strange Weather in Tokyo). I recommend Spring Garden, by Tomoka Shibasaki. She's the author of Asako I & II, the source for Ryusuke Hamaguchi's great film, but that one has not been translated into English yet. Korean literature I definitely need to explore more in depth!

[@morbidswither3051]

@@JorgesCorner I want to start a channel with a corner too! I’ve been wanting to for a year but with set backs, and a recent move, I haven’t found the time, but hopefully soon. Love your channel. Can’t wait to share music and literature reviews and show my amazing cats (as well as a two dogs, tortoise, rabbit, pig, and chickens) with the world! Lol

[@JorgesCorner]

Wow, sounds great! I made my first video in the summer of 2020, and it took me exactly one year to make up my mind to start my channel. Thank you so much for your support. Can't wait to watch your videos, my friend! 😃

[@swrbassamp]

Hi! I've read an amazing book of short stories at my brother's place when I visited him some years ago, but I could not find it again when I went back and I did not remember the title nor the author's name. Somehow I have a feeling it could be Kawabata, please correct me if I'm wrong. I do not remember much of the plots, but one was about the man who is being held at the mental institution, where he spends all of his time drawing arabesque. The story reveals that he is not talking and he ended up there after a mysterious expedition to the mountines of Afghanistan, from which he was the only member of the team that returned... If this does seem to be familiar story to you and you could identify it 'd be very grateful. The only other thing I remember about this book is that it wasn't the plots or subjects that were so astonishing to me, but the construction of texts, the style, the virtuosity of writing...

[@JorgesCorner]

Hello, my friend! 😃 I don't recall reading a story by Kawabata like the one you describe. My memory is not the best when it comes to short stories, but it does not ring a bell. I will do some research and see if I can identify the story for you. If I find the author, I'll let you know. Thank you for stopping by, and have a fantastic day!

[@EpiDot52]

I've just finished my copy of dandelions. Would you like it? I loved the book, but I will either deposit it into some little library or I can send it to you.

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, Cliff! I got a copy after I made this video. What a great story, right? Unfinished works are always bittersweet. Have a wonderful day, my friend! 😃

[@blane1814]

Won me as a subscriber

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, my friend! 😃 So glad you enjoyed it!

[@BooksnLiterature-u5l]

Anyone have a recommended reading order after Snow Country. I'm lost, not sure what to read next

[@JorgesCorner]

These would be my choices for the next 5: Thousand Cranes, The Sound of the Mountain, Beauty and Sadness, The Old Capital, and The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories. Hope this helps, my friend! Thank you so much for watching and commenting, and have a fantastic day! 😃

[@BooksnLiterature-u5l]

​@@JorgesCorner Thank you so much for the recommendations, I trust your judgment. This was helpful.

[@tobinmoffatt3075]

From my limited exploration of Japanese classics so far I would have to say it’s sort of a tie for me between Tanizaki and Sōseki. The Makioka Sisters is beautifully, beautifully sad. I Am A Cat is funny and ‘light’ (in a sense, relatively). I’ve yet to read any Kawabata but have been meaning to get ahold of Snow Country for a bit now.

[@JorgesCorner]

That is a difficult choice too! And it really is The Makioka Sisters that almost tips the scales... What a brilliant novel. My favorite Sōseki so far is probably Shanshiro, though I also loved Kokoro and Kusamakura. Please let me know your thoughts on Kawabata once you experience his work. Snow Country is a masterpiece. I forgot to mention this in the video, but according to my Encyclopædia Britannica, Kawabata began the novel in 1935 and completed it 12 years later, after rewriting the ending several times. Thank you once again for watching and commenting, my friend!

[@badieabdou4750]

I want to read "sleeping beauties"in japaneae.

[@JorgesCorner]

That would be fantastic! I wish I could read it in the original myself. It's a beautiful text. Happy reading, my friend! :)

[@natalyalande]

I was wondering if English is your first language and if not , have you read Kawabata ( or any other Japanese author) in your native language? Do you see …. sense …. realize …. and acknowledge the differences in different language copies ?

[@JorgesCorner]

Great question, Natalya! 😃 I love to compare different editions and translations. My first language is Spanish, though these days I read more in English. I've read Kawabata primarily in English, plus some short stories and letters in Spanish. I have to say that, while there are differences in the wording, apparently both the English and Spanish versions of Kawabata are very good, as there is consistency between them. There are no missing passages, for example, and no cases that I could find in which the meaning conveyed by the two versions in completely different. Unfortunately, I cannot read Japanese, so my opinion is quite limited. I've just bought a Kawabata novella in Spanish, as a matter of fact, and may be sharing my thoughts on it one of these days. What has been your experience of Japanese authors in translation? Thank you so much for watching and commenting! Have a wonderful day!

[@natalyalande]

@@JorgesCorner Hi Jorge ! Thank you for the reply. I do not speak or read Japanese either. Decades ago I made a promise to myself to start studying the Japanese language as I retire with the sole purpose to read Japanese literature in the original. I think … I am positive that we , readers, are very much at the mercy of translators. And at times … translators are merciless! I was born and raised in the Soviet Union and I read my first Japanese novellas in Russian. The impact of the Japanese narratives on my then very young sole was overwhelming. Years later working and residing in NYC I picked up a copy of Mishima in English to peruse “The Sailor Who Fell from the Grace with the Sea” and I was simply shocked: I could not believe I read the same writer and the same book ; It read as poor cliff notes … . Mishima and his language was murdered not in cold blood but in callous ink. That was the moment I made the resolution to learn to read Japanese myself. Evidently , the Soviet school of the Japanese language maintained high standards ; present day Russia publishes Japanese writers and a lot of the translations originate from the 1950-1970 and these are marvelous. I seek quality English translations theses days , however reading Japanese authors in English is a completely different experience: I am often left hanging in the air …pondering …. Am I missing something ? Am I misunderstanding something ? It feels as if I were not fully connected to the author … as if his meanings were still behind a transparent veil.

[@JorgesCorner]

Thank you so much, Natalya, for this brilliant reflection on the difficulties of translation! You're absolutely right: we are at the mercy of translators when it comes to literature in languages we're not familiar with. It's fascinating to read about your experience with the English translations of Japanese authors. It makes me wonder how much I'm missing and how accurate these versions really are. I become aware of these difficulties when I read a Spanish text in English translation. Some versions are brilliant (Rabassa's translations of Cortázar's Hopscotch and García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude come to mind), but in a way, translation is impossible. ("Traduttore, traditore," as the saying goes.) I'm about to start exploring famous novels in Spanish translation for a new series of videos, so I'm sure I'll encounter many interesting issues with this same topic soon. Also, I have a volume of Mishima's short stories in Spanish, so I'm curious to see how he compares with the English versions. By the way, it is said that Russian is a particularly difficult language to translate, so when I read Dostoevsky it's always with a bittersweet feeling: he reads very well in English, but I can only imagine all that I am missing.