Book - 27, Beauty and Sadness

Beauty and Sadness (1964)

by

Yasunari Kawabata

Book Read: 02-09 September 2015

Note Written: 11 September 2015

'Beauty and Sadness' tells the story of Oki, a writer; Otoko, his past lover; keiko, Otoko's student and lover, and the many conflicts of the past and present that they face and endure. Kawabata's writing style is gentle, but slow-paced; I had much difficulty in concentration when I started reading the novel. The lives and experiences of the characters raise many questions on love, truth, fairness, belief, etc. 

Keiko is a very interesting character- I couldn't figure out at any point what her actual intentions and thoughts are or were. There are some characters in novels and stories, when you read them you become part of their thought process, but Keiko was totally inaccessible for me and disturbed me so. Another character in the book whom I liked and admired is the mother of Otoko (there is no name given to her) for her resilience, patience, and unwavering love for her daughter. 

Love is the main theme in Beauty and Sadness. Love is absurd - it can take people to many places, give many strange experiences, is challenging, can raise many questions, along with all these, changes your world forever. There is no turning back, it has become a part of life, you can't escape from the haunts that lost love becomes to you- there is beauty in love, there is also sadness, they are intertwined. 'Beauty and Sadness' took me to a brief spell of sadness, but there was some beauty to it as well.