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.
I read Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath at this time last year. I also read the first half of the second book at that time but have just now finished it. I only put it down because I had some challenges and arcs to finish, not because I wasn’t enjoying it. Now that I needed a ‘U’ author, a classic, and a Nobel laureate for challenges, it was time to get back to it!
In this second volume, Kristin goes to Husaby with her husband to begin their new life together. She soon finds out marriage and motherhood can be exhausting, especially with her own family so far away. She has quite a few children and all the while struggles with past mistakes and new ones. Her faith is a comfort to her but she desperately misses her own family, especially her father. Finally she gets to go home when her younger sister gets married. Although elated to see Lavrans, there is also a bit of a strain put on their relationship which pains Kristin greatly.
There is a lot more to Kristin’s story that I’m not willing to spoil for you. Let’s just say I’m excited to read Volume III and complete the saga.
Sigrid Undset won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928, primarily for this trilogy. Kristin Lavransdatter is a book I highly recommend to you if you love classics or want to know more about Norway and/or this time period (the 1300s). It is a fascinating look at a woman with a strong Christian faith but one who is far, far away from being perfect.
1921, 401 pp.
Rating: 4.5/5
I’m sort of at a loss when it comes to writing about Toni Morrison’s books. There’s always that element of genius in her work — I would say she’s a very worthy Nobel laureate. Somehow, though, her books always make me very uncomfortable. I guess they’re meant to do that. I always seem to absorb the emotions of the characters — which normally is a good thing — but oh, the depths of the emotions the characters experience! I probably did like A Mercybetter than others I’ve read so far, though perhaps Beloved will still be considered her masterpiece.
This story takes place in the 1680’s, in the wilds of a new America. Jacob is a man who disapproves of the slave trade yet makes concessions toward it. His wife Rebekka is a mail order bride from England, yet the two have a happy marriage. On their land they do have ‘help’ in the form of Lina, a Native-American, Sorrow, an orphan from the sea, and Florens, a slave girl given up by her mother whom Jacob takes as payment for a debt. Together they try to build a home for themselves, fighting against a harsh climate, disease, and inside and outside forces that seem bent on destruction.
With themes of racism, slavery, adventure, religion, and witchcraft, A Mercy is another brilliant work by a very brilliant author.
The Life & Times of Michael K won the Booker Prize in 1983. Written by Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee, it is set in South Africa during a civil war. Michael is a gardener in his earlier thirties who has a harelip. He was institutionalized by his mother when he was a child, but at the beginning of the book when she is old and very ill, she calls for him. She would like him to take her to the village where she grew up. Getting the proper paperwork for the train is practically impossible because of the war, so finally they give up on it and try to go there on their own.
Many things happen to Michael on the trip. He is captured and made to work for awhile, and then released. He finds what he thinks is the farm where his mother was raised and makes himself a home (if you can call it that) there. Struggling to survive and evade the government, in the midst of it all he still wants to be a gardener and plants a small pumpkin patch, which he guards and tends with fervor.
The book is told in three parts. Parts I and III describe the storyline from Michael’s perspective. Part II is told in first person by a doctor who tries to understand Michael when he is brought under his care. This was a thought-provoking book and I enjoyed it, though I could have done without some scenes at the end. I’ll definitely read more by Coetzee.
A quote:
I could live here forever, he thought, or till I die. Nothing would happen, every day would be the same as the day before, there would be nothing to say.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1, ESV)
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 read 
I’m sort of at a loss when it comes to writing about Toni Morrison’s books. There’s always that element of genius in her work — I would say she’s a very worthy Nobel laureate. Somehow, though, her books always make me very uncomfortable. I guess they’re meant to do that. I always seem to absorb the emotions of the characters — which normally is a good thing — but oh, the depths of the emotions the characters experience! I probably did like A Mercy better than others I’ve read so far, though perhaps Beloved will still be considered her masterpiece.
The Life & Times of Michael K won the Booker Prize in 1983. Written by Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee, it is set in South Africa during a civil war. Michael is a gardener in his earlier thirties who has a harelip. He was institutionalized by his mother when he was a child, but at the beginning of the book when she is old and very ill, she calls for him. She would like him to take her to the village where she grew up. Getting the proper paperwork for the train is practically impossible because of the war, so finally they give up on it and try to go there on their own.
