SNOW COUNTRY by Yasunari Kawabata - translated by Edward G. Seidensticker 

My Mishima video will be out soon. What a writer! What a person!

And thank _you_ so much for all these great recommendations!

Thanks so much!

It’s such a pleasure. 😁

My pleasure! :)

Hear! Hear!

The thought of reading Kawabata in Germany in winter really kindles the Romantic within me.

This comment is satire I hope someone gets a chuckle, quite entertaining content and very enjoyable

Your comment reminds me of the title of this work: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Exagmination_Round_His_Factification_for_Incamination_of_Work_in_Progress

I totally agree. Looking forward to reading more of him.

Love your username!

Thanks so much! I get them at outofprint.com.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Very, very kind of you to say. It's such an honor and a thrill to have a space where I can channel (pun) and share my literary passion. I definitely have Naomi on the list, so thanks for affirming it! Mishima was nothing short of a revelation for me. (Sneak peek: I watched Paul Schrader's stunning biopic about Mishima's life and work and talk about it in the video.) Happy reading!

yes you may suggest! and thanks.

I hoped you'd watch this one! I, too, and excited about our impending Genji journey! I can tell you that my experience of Mishima was nothing short of sublime. I also watched the Paul Schrader biopic, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. Stunning. Big congrats to you on finishing the mighty GR!

@@LeafbyLeaf So happy you watched and brought up the Schrader film. It is in my top five films of all time. The set designs by Eiko Ishioka in the stylized "novel sections" are just incredible. I first saw that film in my early twenties when I was deep into both Mishima and Philip Glass and... it was one of those "This must exist only for me" type of moments. I'm glad you loved it too (: BTW, I think the Mishima you were holding up at the end there was "The Sailor Who Fell..." Did you watch the film adaptation starring Kris Kristofferson? It's not good LOL but it's kind of still a thrill to see Mishima transformed in that way. I remember reading somewhere (probably his biography of Mishima) that the translator John Nathan worked with Mishima to figure out the English title for that book. The Japanese title 午後の曳航 is much more gentle/metaphorical, "Boat Towing in the Afternoon" - I appreciate the delicacy, but see why they wanted something more impactful in English. Anyway, just a random tidbit for you. Lastly, thanks for the big ups on GR! I had a ball (sometimes a bawl) reading it. Waiting for Miss Macintosh to get here in about a month, so Gerald's Party by Coover is keeping me company until then (;

Hey, Jeffrey! Always great to hear from you. About Genji, I was going to read the Washburn translation, but then a Japanese scholar and translator convinced me to go with the Royall Tyler. Hope all is well with you. Happy reading!

You'll definitely wanna check out Mishima--my goodness what a writer! I've a video of one of his books coming soon.

No, I haven't. I've got The Woman in the Dunes on my list for Abe. I've heard The Face of Another is strange and intriguing, too.

@@LeafbyLeaf The woman in the dunes is well worth a read. A few other titles I would recommend in no particular order are:- Fathers and children - Turgenev The Tenant - Roland Topor Independent people - Laxness The Snow Leopard - Peter Matthieseen Keep up the good work and great reviews 👍

Of those, I’ve read the Laxness and the Turgenev. Thanks for these recommendations!

Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks so much!

Ahhh, thanks so much for the recommendation. I will definitely read this one. Happy reading!

I was totally unaware...until now.

Thank you!

Very well put! -Glad I saved your TBR from tottering. This time.

Oh, yes--_Silence_. I'm greatly looking forward to it.

@@LeafbyLeaf It's amazing. Much better than the movie. By miles. There is an anxiety as the protagonist is tormented by his inner demons throughout that simply isn't conveyed in the movie as internal dialog doesn't translate to screens.

(I didn’t even know there was a movie.)

@@LeafbyLeaf Scorsese directed it from like 2016. Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver running around Japan on a covert Jesuit mission.

🙌

Thanks! I’m really fond of Norwegian Wood. I think it’s HM’s best book, of what I’ve read so far. He took inspiration from his reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both Faulkner (whose work I adore) and Steinbeck are unacceptably missing from the channel. I read East of Eden during a week in Sweden, in winter, on a work trip. One of the most perfect reading experiences of my life. Outstanding book, that.

@@LeafbyLeaf I saw all your Murakami reviews and thought that NW is probably the safest bet for me, that or Kafka. I binged Through east of eden in a month and it quickly made it in my top 5 or so. As for Faulkner I´m soon too be done with As i lay dying, and i am confused haha, very good though😅

Fun story: I have a friend who has never really cared for or ventured into fiction literature and decided to try As I Lay Dying as his first introduction. It’s been four years and I don’t think he’s ever tried another book. Lol!

@@LeafbyLeaf ah that´s unfortunate 😅 although I don´t why you would start with that book of all things, my main reason for reading Faulkner is that I´m a big McCarthy fan and he was one of his main influences

It was just that he recalled the title from a long ago high school class or something.

As they say: Christmas in July! :) This is one of those books where the deceptive simplicity provides a layer of ice that the reader can easily glide across without realizing all the crystal formations below. Man. That metaphor just came to me. Wish I had used it for the video. Wait! I just read and reread Jose Emilio Pacheco's Battles in the Desert and the metaphor works for that, too. Gotta remember it. Thanks for letting me talk to myself in this comment.

Sorry (kinda). :) Thanks for the recs. Yep--Mishima coming soon.

I feel the same way, but--better late than never, of course! Thanks for the Soseki recommendation. I was wondering where to go with him after Kokoro. Happy reading!

Life is short: if you're bored, move on. Cheers!

You stopped too soon, my friend. I merely mention the contrast between the protagonist and the geisha, and I absolutely do not pronounce or launch any sort of moral judgment. I go on to praise the novel on an aesthetic level, as our clever mutual friend would appreciate. Happy reading!

@@LeafbyLeaf I almost stopped too, when it seemed you were going to inflict presentism and political correctness on the novel. I lived in Japan and Korea for many years. I think if one is going to appreciate their cultures, it's not fair to judge their past according to the standards of the present. However, I stuck with your narrative and I'm glad I did because you did very well at focusing on the aspects of the novel that made me love it. Its dark, cold melancholy moved me deeply, especially after visiting Yuzawa, where it's set, in the winter. Thank you for your analysis.

Drats! I wish I had had the foresight to see this pitfall. Thanks for sticking with it!

@@LeafbyLeaf No problem. It was more than offset by the rest of your presentation.

🙏

Ah, sorry to hear that. Wait--the book or the video? :)

@@LeafbyLeaf the book. Your videos never disappoint good sir!