New Releases by Yasunari Kawabata

Daerah Salju yang diterjemahkan dari bahasa Jepang oleh Matsuoka Kunio dan Ajip Rosidi ini merupakan roman psikologi cinta yang tak berkesudahan, memantulkan gerak-gerik kejiwaan yang peka. Daerah Salju merupakan buah karya Yasunari Kawabata, pemenang hadiah Nobel untuk kesusastraan tahun 1968. Kawabata lahir di Osaka tahun 1899. Karya-karya Kawabata secara halus menyuarakan pandangan hidup Jepang dan dominasi nasib. Bagaikan haiku, karyanya merekam peristiwa-peristiwa dan perlambangannya. Kawabata meninggal bunuh diri pada 16 April 1972.

Apa salahnya mencintai Kikuko di dalam mimpi? Apakah kiranya yang perlu ditakutkan dan dianggap memalukan dalam sebuah mimpi? Dan sungguh..., apa salahnya mencintai dia secara diam-diam sepanjang hari? Shingo, lelaki tua enam puluhan, memendam gairah pada menantunya sendiri, Kikuko. Suami Kikuko sendiri, menjalin perselingkuhan dengan Kinu, seorang janda perang. Shingo tercengang menyadari kelumpuhan dan kehancuran spiritual anaknya; namun ia pun merasa dirinya sendiri tenggelam dalam rawa-rawa yang sama. Menyadari kelakuan suaminya, Kikuko mengambil langkah yang sangat berani namun sekaligus mengancam nyawanya sendiri.

Nouă povestiri, dintre cele mai frumoase creații literare ale lui Yasunari Kawabata, traduse pentru prima dată în limba română. Valsul florilor este povestea emoţionantă a pasiunii obsesive pentru dans. Hoshie, Suzuko şi Nanjō au crescut în spiritul sacrificării personale în numele unui scop mai înalt, cel artistic. Personajele povestirii sunt prinse ca într-un dans al vieţii, uneori hieratic şi spectaculos, alteori morbid şi frizând pierderea lucidităţii, pentru ca, la final, disciplina de fier a acestei arte, reflectate asupra personalităţii fiecăruia, să-şi spună cuvântul. Având frumuseţea echivocă şi enigmatică a stampelor lui Hiroshige, maestrul peisajului nipon, Un şir de copaci dezvăluie, dincolo de metafora inexplicabilei desfrunziri a unor arbori de ginkgo, drama din sânul unei familii. Prima zăpadă pe Fuji relatează întâlnirea dureroasă a unui cuplu despărţit de mult, care a trecut, separat, prin tragedia celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial, dar şi printr-o serie de drame personale. Tăcerea, una dintre cele mai acute proze ale volumului, e o poveste-în-poveste, despre pasiunea pentru scris şi consecinţele, uneori dramatice, ale acesteia, iar Norii de dimineaţă surprinde dragostea unei eleve pentru profesoara sa de literatură japoneză. Povestirile din volum au, în ciuda dimensiunilor reduse, calităţile stilistice ale unor capodopere, în care fiecare cuvânt are forţa de a evoca un întreg univers.

Première neige sur le mont Fuji rassemble six nouvelles inédites du Prix Nobel de littérature, Yasunari Kawabata. On y retrouve l''inspiration poétique et sensuelle qui caractérise les chefs-d''oeuvre de l''auteur des Belles endormies. Qu''il évoque un couple séparé par la guerre, réuni des années plus tard au pied du mont Fuji, l''amitié entre deux écrivains dont l''un est condamné au silence, ou la mélancolie d''une fin d''automne à Tokyo, c''est par touches subtiles et avec un art consommé de l''image que Kawabata esquisse, tel un peintre, portraits et sentiments, rêves et rêveries. Écrites entre 1952 et 1960, réunies et traduites par Cécile Sakai, spécialiste de l''oeuvre de Kawabata, ces nouvelles expriment, chacune dans sa singularité, la palette littéraire d''un des plus grands écrivains du XXe siècle.

From the Nobel Prize-winning writer and acclaimed author of Snow Country comes a beautiful rendering of the predicament of old age—about an elderly Tokyo businessman who must face the failures of his memory and the sudden upsurges of passion that illuminate the end of a life. “A rich, complicated novel.... Of all modern Japanese fiction, Kawabata’s is the closest to poetry.” —The New York Times Book Review By day Ogata Shingo, an elderly Tokyo businessman, is troubled by small failures of memory. At night he associates the distant rumble he hears from the nearby mountain with the sounds of death. In between are the complex relationships that were once the foundations of Shingo’s life: his trying wife; his philandering son; and his beautiful daughter-in-law, who inspires in him both pity and the stirrings of desire. Out of this translucent web of attachments, Kawabata has crafted a novel that is a powerful, serenely observed meditation on the relentless march of time. Translated from the Japanese by Edward G. Seidensticker

From the Nobel Prize-winning author and acclaimed writer of Thousand Cranes comes the luminous chronicle of a match of the Japanese game Go played between a master and a younger, more modern challenger that serves as a suspenseful elegy for an entire society. Go is a game of strategy in which two players attempt to surround each other’s black or white stones. Simple in its fundamentals, infinitely complex in its execution, Go is an essential expression of the Japanese spirit. And in his fictional chronicle of a match played between a revered and heretofore invincible Master and a younger, more modern challenger, Yasunari Kawabata captured the moment in which the immutable traditions of imperial Japan met the onslaught of the twentieth century. The competition between the Master of Go and his opponent, Otaké, is waged over several months and layered in ceremony. But beneath the game’s decorum lie tensions that consume not only the players themselves but their families and retainers—tensions that turn this particular contest into a duel that can only end in death. Luminous in its detail, both suspenseful and serene, The Master of Go is written with the poetic economy and psychological acumen that brought Kawabata the Nobel Prize for Literature. Translated from the Japanese by Edward G. Seidensticker

La casa de las bellas durmientes sobresale en la obra de Yasunari Kawabata por su perfección formal. Comienza con la visita del viejo Eguchi a una casa secreta gobernada por una mujer ordinaria y práctica que, al final, como él mismo, revelará su esencia inhumana. En ese burdel, el protagonista, de sesenta y siete años, pasa varias noches junto a los cuerpos de jóvenes vírgenes narcotizadas. A la vez que admira el esplendor de las figuras dormidas, rememora su relación con las mujeres: su esposa, su madre, su amante, sus hijas... Erotismo, lujuria masculina, vejez y violencia se entretejen en esta fulgurante novela breve que amalgama, como es típico en la obra del Premio Nobel de Literatura, motivos tradicionales de la estética japonesa con temas modernos en ambientes casi irreales. Magnífica pero profundamente perturbadora, La casa de las bellas durmientes es una escalofriante meditación sobre la sexualidad y la muerte.

This Japanese literature collection contains four translated stories from two of Japan''s most beloved and acclaimed fiction writers. The Izu Dancer, Yasunari Kawabata''s first work to bring him recognition as a writer, is a novella about six Izu Peninsula travelers. As the six travelers journey together, intimacy develops and friendship overcomes class differences. Capturing the shy eroticism of adolescence, The Izu Dancer is a charming picture of the times. Yasushi Inoue''s The Counterfeiter, although set in modern times, poses universal questions that transcend culture an era. Abasute and The Full Moon both explore themes of separation, loneliness, and isolation. Through the gloomy tales, Inoue''s compassion shines, revealing yet another aspect of an author known for his vivid precision and economy of words. Inoue''s stories are at least partially autobiographical, and Inoue''s attitudes toward human destiny and fatalism are strongly influenced by his separation from his parents at an early age—yet all of his stories reveal his great compassion for his fellow human being.

El anciano Ogata Shingo no consigue ganarse ni el amor ni el respeto de sus hijos, pero sin embargo puede oír el rumor de la montaña. Como cabeza de familia, le preocupa la decadencia moral de sus descendientes: Shuichi, a quien la guerra ha helado el corazón, está casado con la maravillosa Kikuko pero le es infiel y tiene un hijo con otra mujer; por otro lado, Fusako vuelve a la casa paterna con sus dos hijos tras haberse divorciado de un marido drogadicto. Tanto Shuichi como Fusako creen que su padre es demasiado viejo e interpretan sus silencios como senilidad. Pero, en realidad, el pensamiento de Ogata Shingo sigue activo, repleto de hermosas imágenes, de sonidos de la naturaleza, de aromas, de escenas. Bajo la fina capa de la vida familiar, cada uno de sus miembros vive, en solitario, su drama, luchando en unas ocasiones contra el amor y en otras, contra la muerte. El ganador del Premio Nobel de Literatura en 1968 nos deleita con una obra que gira en torno a la soledad, la muerte y la búsqueda obsesiva de la belleza.

En 1920, el barrio de Asakusa representaba para Tokio lo que Montmartre había sido para París en 1890 y lo que Times Square sería para Nueva York en 1940. Un lugar que permitía el anonimato, la libertad, la deriva; un lugar donde la vida fluía por todas partes, lleno de placeres, sexuales y sociales. La pandilla de Asakusa captura el encanto decadente de ese distrito de teatros de revistas, bares de jazz y burdeles, arquitectura modernista y cines destartalados. Comparada con Dublineses de James Joyce y Berlin Alexanderplatz de Alfred Döblin, esta novela de Yasunari Kawabata retrata la energía desbordante de Asakusa mediante la crónica, el relato popular, las escenas callejeras y un ritmo cinematográfico. Diferente de su obra posterior, se pueden reconocer, sin embargo, ciertos motivos propios : el erotismo, la venganza amorosa, el influjo envenenado de Occidente. Testimonio impar del choque de las tradiciones milenarias de Japón con el florecimiento de la ciudad moderna, La pandilla de Asakusa confirma el carácter universal de uno de los artistas más eminentes del siglo XX.

Collection of short stories written over the entire span of Kawabata''s career. These stories, he felt, represented the essence of his art and reflect his abiding interest in the miniature, the wisp of plot reduced to the essential. --Adapted from publisher description.

A young woman in historic Kyoto grapples with secrets from her past in this lyrical work of Japanese literature from a Nobel Prize–winning author. Set in the traditional Japanese city of Kyoto, The Old Capital tells the story of Chieko, the adopted daughter of a kimono designer, Takichiro, and his wife, Shige. As Chieko discovers the true facets of her past, she becomes bewildered and troubled by longing, the start of a poignant journey that captures the beauty of old Japan. With the ethereal tone and aesthetic styling characteristic of Kawabata’s prose, The Old Capital is one of the three novels cited specifically by the Nobel Committee when they awarded Yasunari Kawabata the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968.

A new translation of the only work not currently available in English by a Nobel-Prize winning author and the best known Japanese writer outside of Japan.

"A Thousand Cranes" is by Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972), who was made the first Japanese Nobel laureate for literature in 1968.

Ein Mann an der Schwelle zum Alter wird von einem Freund eingeführt in ein Freudenhaus besonderer Art. Es sit für alteMänner bestimmt und bietet junge Frauen im Tiefschlaf an. Eguchi verbringt - in kürzer werdenden Abständen - mehrere Nächte in diesem Haus neben immer anderen jungen Frauen und Mädchen, die zurückhaltend und genau, sinnlich und diskret beschrieben werden. Eine jede ist anders. Eine jede weckt andere Phantasien, andere Erinnerungen an Frauen, die Eguchi in seinem Leben gekannt hat, an die eigene Ehefrau und die Töchter, an Geliebte, an Bekanntschaften einer Nacht... Am Schluß kommt es zu einer tödlichen Komplikation.

- Ossements / Histoire du visage de la morte- La Mer / La Danseuse d’Izu / Une page folle- Le Pourvoyeur de cadavres / Les Servantes d’auberge- Chronique d’Asakusa / Illusions de cristal- Elégie / Bestiaire / Pays de neige- Le Maître ou le Tournoi de go / Retrouvailles- Nuée d’oiseaux blancs- Le Grondement de la montagne / La Lune dans l’eau- Le Lac / Les Belles Endormies / Kyôto- Tristesse et Beauté

The stories of Yasunari Kawabata evoke an unmistakably Japanese atmosphere in their delicacy, understatement, and lyrical description. Like his later works, First Snow on Fuji is concerned with forms of presence and absence, with being, with memory and loss of memory, with not–knowing. Kawabata lets us slide into the lives of people who have been shattered by war, loss, and longing. These stories are beautiful and melancholy, filled with Kawabata''s unerring vision of human psychology. First Snow on Fuji was originally published in Japan in 1958, ten years before Kawabata received the Nobel Prize. Kawabata selected the stories for this collection himself, and the result is a stunning assembly of disparate moods and genres. This new edition is the first to be published in English.

A collection of twenty-three stories from one of the most influential figures in modern Japanese literature. Yasunari Kawabata is widely known for his innovative short stories, some called "palm-of-the-hand" stories short enough to fit into ones palm. This collection reflects Kawabata''s keen perception, deceptive simplicity, and the deep melancholy that characterizes much of his work. The stories were written between 1923 and 1929, and many feature autobiographical events and themes that reflect the painful losses he experienced early in his life.