I got tricked again, by the mention that this Japanese masterpiece was now finally available in English. It's the story of three half-sisters, born from three different mothers, who struggle with their own personal demons after World War II. Kawabata tells the story through long dialogues between the characters, primarily the two elder sisters and their father, and through descriptions of nature, especially flowers, as a kind of symbolic backdrop for the beauty and vulnerability of the lives of his protagonists. All three suffer, despite their young age because of the consequences and violence of life, and they struggle to find their place in the world and among each other.
It is a nice book, with fine descriptions of very concrete situations, it is sensitive and precise, but somehow it did not resonate with me.
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