Snow Country

Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country is one of my newfound favorites. I found it initially to be a smooth, fluid read with a strange softness that compelled me to read a little further. Kawabata's metaphoric parallels and soft-spoken , straightforward descriptions remind me of the pastels of a watercolor painting.

Though there is confusion in the character relationships, unlike Pedro Paramo where I struggled in frustration with the character connections, in Snow Country it is amusing and intriguingly compelling to mix and match and squish together relationships as concocted in my own mind. Whether two-by-two, "menage a trois", or individually considered, Kawabata allows the reader to intimately "peek" into their lives. His characters are complex, but brilliantly crafted so as not to be frustrating.

While looking at the text through the lens of gender comparison, it strikes me as very ruggedly manly; strange, considering the gentility with which Kawabata uses his words. Shimamura is incredibly the epitome of the classic, evolutionary male figure in regards to sexuality. Interesting also because he seems to lack the drive and ambition that most men, stereotypically, find so crucial to their very being. A psychological consideration of Shimamura propels me to wonder in curiosity what his backstory is, and why he is so repelled at intimate interconnectedness.

The relationship he does allow himself to experience with Komako is so purely true, even wrapped up in all it's hidden sensuality, secret sexuality, and flirty interaction. I love, love, love that it's not the same ole, sometimes all too commonplace, icky, sappy love story. Instead,  Kawabata captures the complexities, uncertainties, and awkwardness of the play between two lovers who bound aimlessly toward desire, but tiptoe gracefully on the precipice between avoiding and accepting the steep, point-of-no-return that is love. As I read the interactions between the two it is easy to see it unfolding right before my eyes because it seems just so real.