House of the Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories: Amazon.ca: Kawabata: Books

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Review

"A poetic meditation on the twin themes of sexuality and death."--Financial Times -- Financial Times

"An esoteric masterpiece."--Yukio Mishima -- Yukio Mishima

"Extraordinarily gripping."--Irish Press -- Irish Press

"One of the finest works of Kawabata's late career."--William E. Sibley -- William E. Sibley

"Revealing an astonishing honesty of vision."--Saturday Review -- Saturday Review

Book Description

The fusion of reality and fantasy in the minds of the old and the lonely is the central theme of these Japanese stories.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
He was not to do anything in bad taste, the woman of the inn warned old Eguchi. Read the first page

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Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, but potentially dated, April 21 2003

By

Kaiden Fox (www.lylyth.org) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: House of the Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories (Paperback)

"House of Sleeping Beauties," and the other short stories in this collection, all deal with the themes of idolization of virginity, degredation, fetishization of the body, and so forth. While this may be food for thought for early and even late 20th century readers, the 21st century reader might not get as much out of it. As with many modern Japanese works, Yasunari Kawabata transcends any cultural barriers by focusing on things that are alien in any settings, and themes that are universal to anyone who has ever struggled with any sort of "hang up" about [anatomy].

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4.0 out of 5 stars Sleeping beauties, an arm, and birds and dogs, May 2 2002

By

Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House of the Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories (Paperback)

I originally read this book aroung half a year ago and I really didn't like it, but after reading a few more Kawabata novels i decided to give this one a try again and I ended up liking it quite a bit more. Although I still prefer Junichiro Tanizaki anyday. Also, if you could make heads or tails of Yukio Mishima's introduction you are a better person than I!

The first story i the title story about an old married man named Eguchi who goes to the house of the sleeping beauties. Although 67 years old, Eguchi considers himself to be in pretty good shape, so he thinks that he really does no need to frequent the house, but he goes along with it anyway, and ends up sleeping beside, not with, several young, naked girls who have been put to sleep. Sleeping with each girl brings up memories of the women of Eguchi's past. Kawabata writes a pretty story here with wonderful descriptions of the beauties and landscapes. I could easily see the beauties asleep in the room surrounded by red curtains and the flagstones covered with maple leaves.

The next story "One Arm" is quite strange it is about a man who borrows a young woman's arm for the night. He even removes his own arm and attaches the woman's arm to his shoulder. I need to read the story a few more times to grasp its full story, but as always this story is filled with wonderful descriptions. I never thought anyone could make fingernails so alluring.

The third story "Of Birds and Beasts" is a very odd tale about a nameless man who cares more for animals than people. As with "One Arm" I am hard pressed to understand this story. It goes on for over 20 pages about the man cares for birds and dogs.

Good book, but if you want to read Kawabata I would suggest Thousand Cranes instead

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4.0 out of 5 stars Somehow erotic....but not enough to lack a plot and...., Oct 31 2001

By

Diego Echecopar - See all my reviews

This review is from: House of the Sleeping Beauties: And Other Stories (Paperback)

...get away with it. Hmm...when I heard the argument of the story, about the house of the sleeping beauties (if you still don't know it read the reviews below), I was seduced by it, I thought it had a lot of potential, and that it could be something really good, refreshing and erotic. The result was not that far from my expectations, but didn't reach them either. The story is very predictable, offers no surprises, a little dull. The best part are Kawabata's descriptions on the female anatomy of the sleeping beauties, from the point of view of the main character, and old man who feels old, but still young enough to be embarrassed to attend such place. As I said, don't expect surprises, the best attitude to approach the book is to try to enjoy the author's descriptions. Don't expect much from the plot, nothing really happens. The other stories are alright, but not much more honestly.

Enjoyable, but you won't miss much. Maybe I set my expectations to high because Yasunari Kawabata is a Nobel prize.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars like an extended poem of loneliness
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