RexLegendi reviewed Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
Modern perspective on traditional values
3 stars
Thousand Cranes was my first encounter with Nobel Prize laureate Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972). It is an intimate portrait of a young man, Kikuji Mitani, an orphan and bachelor, navigating the contrasting influences of his late father’s mistresses, Chikako and Mrs. Ota. Too inexperienced to suspect their true intentions, Kikuji initially goes with the flow, attending Chikako’s tea ceremony to meet a young lady and ending up in bed with Mrs. Ota. There is an interesting passage about the birthmark on Chikako’s breast, which raises questions about her value as a woman. At first described as ‘sexless’ and ‘turned masculine,’ Chikako gradually reveals herself to be rather cunning, attempting to manipulate Kikuji into marriage.
The novel felt both traditional and modern at the same time. One the one hand, I recognised some of the themes I encountered in Jun'ichirō Tanizaki’s The Makioka Sisters, such as the unspoken code between people …
Thousand Cranes was my first encounter with Nobel Prize laureate Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972). It is an intimate portrait of a young man, Kikuji Mitani, an orphan and bachelor, navigating the contrasting influences of his late father’s mistresses, Chikako and Mrs. Ota. Too inexperienced to suspect their true intentions, Kikuji initially goes with the flow, attending Chikako’s tea ceremony to meet a young lady and ending up in bed with Mrs. Ota. There is an interesting passage about the birthmark on Chikako’s breast, which raises questions about her value as a woman. At first described as ‘sexless’ and ‘turned masculine,’ Chikako gradually reveals herself to be rather cunning, attempting to manipulate Kikuji into marriage.
The novel felt both traditional and modern at the same time. One the one hand, I recognised some of the themes I encountered in Jun'ichirō Tanizaki’s The Makioka Sisters, such as the unspoken code between people – particularly between men and women – the tea rituals, and the intended ‘miai’. On the other hand, there is a level of intimacy and openness I couldn’t quite place. I’m looking forward to reading The Sound of the Mountain and Beauty and Sadness.
