Kawabata anyone?

[mwinasu]

Kawabata also references tales of the Heike which was written in the 1850's about the founding of the Tokugawa Shogunate.  Shogun means something like Barbarian expelling general.  In the 1850's The last shogun was trying to figure out wether to fight against the Americans or open the ports to us.  This is the first time I have considered that Heike might have been critical of Yoshinobu.  I guess I will have to reread that.  There are other things I am having trouble with.  I think that dirty hair must be equivalent to dirty thoughts. But I am not sure what to make of Onda.  I wonder if athlete's foot is supposed to hint at the activity that took place prior to the Tokyo Olympics to clean everything up and hide the embarassing reminders of the war.  Kind of like China's efforts last time.

I think the message is that the people who were responsible for the war were the only ones who benefitted from it and that they purchased their lives with those that died at Hiroshima.  I think that Kawabata mourned for the loss of his country and culture and blamed the  Japanese government and the Americans for that loss.  I think he was trying to say that it wouldtake everyone of his generation dying before things could be made right again.  I have really enjoyed this.  Could we do something like this again with something just a little less difficult.  Not all international novels are  this hard to figure out.   If you wanted to we could do A Personal Matter by Oe.  That one is pretty straight forward.  It isn't anything like The Lake and you don't have to spend any time trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

[leighvmewithmy…]

I guess I need to do some reading about the situation of Japan after the war.  I've read Hiroshima but that's been a decade ago (wow...I feel old).  I "attempted" to take a Japanese emperialism class in college but dropped out.  I don't seem to know much about the events leading up to and following the situation. 

Kawabata sure had strong feelings for the way of things.  I can't wait to read some of his other works!

I'd love to keep this going.......it's been great to share thoughts.  I can never find anyone who reads as much or as diversely as I do.  The book you suggested will be good, I'll have to find a copy.  

I'm fixing to move back to Texas in the next couple of weeks so it might be a while before I have time to slow down.  I'm going to be hopping around the northeast to meet families and visit with mine before I pick a place to stop.  I'll work on finding a copy and then I'll send you a message when I get settled in my new town and have time to start reading it.  If I can find a copy before I move that would be perfect....seeing as how it's an eleven hour flight!

[mwinasu]

Thank you so much.  Have a safe trip and I will be waiting to hear from you.

[leighvmewithmy…]

Well lucky me.....I found a used copy at Tidal Wave Books so I'll be reading it soon!  Not sure how often I'll be able to log on in the next several weeks/months but when I do start reading it I'll log on and start a message.......

I'll send you a private message to let you know where and when I posted it!

[mwinasu]

   With an 11hr. plane ride toTexas and a Reference to Title Wave I am thinking you might be from Alaska.  You thhink Jackie is ever going to get off the roof?

[leighvmewithmy…]

Well I finally have a stable place to sit and read and surf the net.  So.....let me know when you want to start reading our next pick! We can just start a new thread (in the event that anyone gets anything from our posts).

[mwinasu]

Just got back from an extended stay in San Francisco.  I was so happy to see your post I borrowed a computer  toget back in contact with you.  I forgot to ask you why you chose Kawabata, was it because he was a Nobel prize winner or because he was Japanese?  I know we talked about doing A Personal Matter.  Are you sure you want to do another Japanese  writer or do you want to try something different?  If you want to start another thread that's  fine with me.  I am hoping to get better with this type of format.  I am ready to go when you are.

[leighvmewithmy…]

Neither!!  I chose Kawabata because the owner of "The Bookstore" a used book store I used to go to all the time told me I just had to read his work.  I went out and bought "Master of Go", "Thousand Cranes", and "Snow Country" but didn't take any of those with me when I moved to Alaska.  I happened upon "The Lake" at a used bookstore in Anchorage and decided to read it since I had so much free time.

I have a "Personal Matter" sitting on my desk and coincidentally I just finished reading "Stolen Lives" a few minutes ago.  I'll start reading it tonight and get a new message started.