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Snow Country

by Yasunari Kawabata

A romance amid the snowbound hot springs of Japan

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Awards & Recognition

  • Author recognition

    Nobel Prize-winning author

    The metadata describes Yasunari Kawabata as a Nobel Prize-winning author.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A romance amid the snowbound hot springs of Japan

Set at an isolated mountain resort in western Japan, Snow Country brings together Shimamura, a wealthy dilettante, and Komako, a geisha. Their relationship is shaped by an acknowledged limit: Komako gives herself to the affair while knowing it cannot last. The snowbound setting and the contrast between their social positions frame a story about desire, attachment, and loss. Kawabata’s account follows the course of this doomed romance, with its sadness conveyed through the circumstances of the relationship rather than a promise of lasting fulfillment.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in literary fiction set in Japan.
  • Those drawn to romances shaped by unequal social positions and impermanence.
  • Readers seeking a novel centered on desire and loss.

Themes

Desire and attachmentImpermanenceSocial differenceLoss

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

This masterpiece from the Nobel Prize-winning author and acclaimed writer of Thousand Cranes is a powerful tale of wasted love set amid the desolate beauty of western Japan. - "Kawabata's novels are among the most affecting and original works of our time." --The New York Times Book Review

At an isolated mountain hot spring, with snow blanketing every surface, Shimamura, a wealthy dilettante meets Komako, a lowly geisha. She gives herself to him fully and without remorse, despite knowing that their passion cannot last and that the affair can have only one outcome. In chronicling the course of this doomed romance, Kawabata has created a story for the ages--a stunning novel dense in implication and exalting in its sadness.
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