Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata, was first translated into English in 1958. Kawabata won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, and he died in 1972.
I found Thousand Cranes interesting, but a little hard to follow. Two of Kikuji Mitani’s father’s mistresses insert themselves into Kikuji’s life. He falls for one of them, and later her daughter. A tea ceremony is central to the story, but it’s meaning is a little lost on this Westerner. It’s a short novel, but one I’m afraid I just didn’t ‘get.’
I also own Kawabata’s Snow Country, which I still plan on reading at some point, but unfortunately I didn’t find Thousand Cranes to be all that exciting.
1949-1952, 1958 for the English translation, 147 pp.
There’s no denying that Nabokov is a great writer. In fact, I’d love to read more by him — just on a different subject. I had a hard time rating this book as the subject matter is so despicable, but settled on 3 stars because of Nabokov’s writing ability. A large part of the rating also goes to the excellence in Jeremy Irons’ narration. I absolutely love his voice, but then again, he was almost too good as the narrator for Humbert Humbert. I have not seen the movie with Irons in the starring role.
I won’t repeat the storyline here, as everyone should know the basic outline of it. My question is, why did Nabokov even feel the need to write this story? I’ve heard one reviewer say that Nabokov makes us root for Humbert Humbert over Lolita. Not so. Not with me, anyway. A great writer Nabokov is. A great character Humbert Humbert is not.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
Okonkwo commands respect from his community, his three wives, and his children through both hard work and intimidation. He rises to prominence despite and perhaps due to his father’s laziness in community and family matters. He stands firm to his culture and traditions. So he is outraged when some of his people start converting to Christianity. A power struggle ensues and ‘things fall apart.’
I’m intrigued by Achebe’s history and background. I’d like to read the sequel to this book, No Longer at Ease, at some point.
This was Canadian author Marie-Claire Blais’s first book. It was published in 1959 and translated from the French by Daphne Marlatt in 1960. Blais was a winner of the French language Governor General’s award in 1996 for Soifs.
Apparently this was made into a film last year with its French title, La Belle Bête. I wish they would have kept this title, The Beautiful Beast, for the English version of the book rather than using Mad Shadows. The Beautiful Beast is much more fitting.
She thought of the approaching marriage of this pair of dolls, a male doll and a female doll. She would have to live in the midst of this depravity-the artificial depravity of faces in the movies. How sad, she thought, they have no souls.
This is a story of a very dysfunctional family. Louise is a beautiful, but aging mother who is trying her best to hold on to her beauty. Aside from the usual ways, she also does this by nearly worshipping her son Patrice, who is beautiful but retarded. She sees her own beauty in him and thus is blind to his mental condition. In contrast to her extreme over-affection for her son is her disdain for her daughter Isabelle-Marie. She is not loved by her mother simply because she is not beautiful. This sets up a series of events that is catastrophic for the family.
To be frank, I read this book because it was short (130 pages), and I could use it for the Canadian Challenge. While not ‘enjoyable’ because of the subject matter, it was thought-provoking, and I’m very glad I did read it. I would recommend it to anyone, not just those participating in the Canadian Challenge.
Jay Follett, a dutiful husband and father, travels to his parents’ home because his father is dying. On his way back to his wife and children, he is killed in a car accident. The reaction to this tragedy by his family is told with heartbreaking prose. I was especially moved by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of his son, Rufus. This novel was largely autobiographical for Agee as his father died in a car accident when he was six years old. Sadly, Agee himself died of a heart attack at the age of 45, leaving behind young children of his own.
This novel profoundly touched me as my own father died of heart complications at the age of 44. The death of someone so young affects a family very deeply for many years. It is a tragedy I hope few people have to experience.
This book tells Amos’ story from his capture in Africa to his years of being a slave and finally to his final years as a free black man. Amos was the prince of his tribe in Africa, and it is a shock to him when he is captured for slavery. He is very lucky, though, as his owners treat him very kindly. He serves them well, saves his money, and is able to “buy” his freedom. He also buys his wives’ (he was twice a widower) freedom. Amos is a gentle and kind man who respects both God and others. I highly recommend this story to both children and adults.
I cannot believe I haven’t read this book before. It deserves its “classic” status and should be read by all. This book is scary. Really. Scary. It is similar to 1984–a picture of what society could become if we let it.
Montag is a fireman who doesn’t put out fires, he starts them. He burns books and the houses that contain them. His wife Mildred watches and listens to “the wall” all day, basically a huge screen TV. Almost all of the city dwellers are TV zombies, and then when they’re not watching “the wall”, to make themselves feel better they go out and ride their cars at dangerously high speeds. Most are on any number of pills.
Montag doesn’t notice anything is wrong with his life until he meets 17 year-old Clarisse, his next door neighbor. She is different. She notices things he doesn’t notice. Her family actually talks to each other. She is happy and asks him if he is. He says he is, but later at home admits to himself he isn’t. He starts to question himself why, and from there he changes his life completely.
A quote that stood out because of its resemblance to today:
“I’m afraid of children my own age. they kill each other. Did it always use to be that way? My uncle says no. Six of my firends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks. I’m afraid of them and they don’t like me because I’m afraid. My uncle says his grandfather remembered when children didn’t kill each other. But that was a long time ago when they had things different. They believed in responsibility, my uncle says. Do you know, I’m responsible. I was spanked when I needed it, years ago. And I do all the shopping and housecleaning by hand.”
A world where all people do is watch TV and become progressively more violent. A world where books and ideas are “dangerous”. A world where “happiness” is supreme, but no one is happy. A very scary world indeed.
I haven’t read this book since high school…along with Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies…and the Steinbeck classics…all books I hope to find time for this summer
Lisa – March 23, 2007
This is on my TBR challenge list!
Daphne – March 27, 2007
I love your last paragraph – sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it?? I’m planning on reading this next month for my Banned Books Challenge.
Grominou2 – April 9, 2007
A very good movie was made from this book by famous French director François Truffaut.
“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata, was first translated into English in 1958. Kawabata won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, and he died in 1972.
There’s no denying that Nabokov is a great writer. In fact, I’d love to read more by him — just on a different subject. I had a hard time rating this book as the subject matter is so despicable, but settled on 3 stars because of Nabokov’s writing ability. A large part of the rating also goes to the excellence in Jeremy Irons’ narration. I absolutely love his voice, but then again, he was almost too good as the narrator for Humbert Humbert. I have not seen the movie with Irons in the starring role.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
This was Canadian author Marie-Claire Blais’s first book. It was published in 1959 and translated from the French by Daphne Marlatt in 1960. Blais was a winner of the French language Governor General’s award in 1996 for Soifs.
