Beauty & Sadness - Yasunari Kawabata

This delicately written novel is mainly about suffering and revenge. It is easy and very enjoyable to read. Yasunari Kawabata's skills as a writer are on full display. The story is a simple one but it is told so well that it becomes entirely convincing. The subtle descriptions of love in its various forms is something that stands out in this novel.

Oki, a successful novelist is re-living the past in his mind's eye as he travels to Kyoto for a meeting with an ex-mistress. At that time, Oroko was 15 years old, almost half that of Oki. She became pregnant, but then the extra-marital affair ended. The baby did not survive the birth and Oroko became bitterly depressed. Suffering rejection and loss, she had moved to Kyoto as a form of escape and eventually became a successful painter. The rare chance meeting with the tormentor of the past inspires feelings of acceptance from Oroko. However, it also inspires feelings of revenge in Keiko, her apprentice.

The story follows the actions of Keiko, as she threatens to punish Oki for his treatment of Oroko. To Keiko, Oroko is more than her teacher or master, and the bond between them could well be described as love. Keiko begins to cause fright in Oroko with talk of her plans for revenge, and is often dissauded from doing anything. Unfortunately, Keiko is determined, perhaps due to her own feelings of isolation in the world, to see the drama of revenge through to the end.

Kawabata illustrates the feelings of his characters with intense conciseness. It follows that the reader easily becomes afiliated somehow to particular characters. It is possible that people's thoughts are very different because of the way that we as individuals relate the drama to the circumstances of our own individual lives. For my part, I read with a sense of dread as the reckless Keiko went about her plan.