Loved Ones
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who wish to explore the *mono no aware* and *yūgen* aesthetics in Kawabata's literature
- Readers who prefer delicate psychological and emotional portraiture in modern Japanese literature
- Readers looking for short fiction that calms the mind and prompts deep reflection
- Readers interested in the subtle, complex, and even contradictory emotional states within human relationships
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting strong dramatic conflict and fast-paced plots
- Readers seeking light entertainment or purely romantic love stories
Reading tips
- Read in a quiet setting and allow yourself space to linger and reflect
- Reading alongside Kawabata's biography—especially his orphaned upbringing and the formation of his aesthetic—can help illuminate the loneliness that runs through the work
- There is no need to finish it all at once; each story can be treated as an independent world, best savored intermittently
About the publisher
Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 母亲的初恋（上）
- 母亲的初恋（下）
- 女人的梦
- 有关黑痣的信
- 夜间的骰子
- 燕子童女
- 夫唱妇随
- 一个孩子
- 待嫁的人
- 岁暮
FAQ
How does this book differ from Kawabata's other major works, such as *Snow Country*?
Do the stories carry a strong sense of their historical period? Will modern readers feel alienated?
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About the author
Kawabata Yasunari (1899–1972) was a Japanese novelist and a leading figure of the New Sensationist school, born in Osaka. A prolific writer, he is represented on this site by 147 works, spanning essays and miscellaneous prose as well as foreign literature. His representative works include The Izu Dancer, Snow Country, Thousand Cranes, and The Old Capital; Snow Country in particular exists in multiple editions and translations, a sign of its wide circulation. Kawabata is known for his delicate prose, which interweaves human emotion with natural scenery to express the spiritual character of the Japanese people, and often conveys a sense of the beauty of impermanence in life and death. In 1968 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature, an important landmark in the global recognition of Japanese literature; he died in 1972. Beyond his novels, his essays and miscellaneous writings also deserve attention.
Tan Jinghua was born in Shanghai in June 1951. He holds a doctorate in literature and is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Shanghai International Studies University, where he formerly served as executive vice president. He has long been engaged in the study and translation of modern Japanese literature. His publications include a biography of Kawabata Yasunari and A History of Modern Japanese Literature, and he has translated more than 140 major works of Japanese literature. His representative translations include Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country, The Izu Dancer, The Old Capital, Thousand Cranes, and The Sound of the Mountain, as well as the Selected Works of Kawabata Yasunari and the four-volume Abe Kobo series, and Natsume Soseki's Light and Darkness. He is a former president of the Chinese Association for Japanese Literature and of the Shanghai Translators Association. His works are generally classified under essays and miscellaneous writings and foreign literature, and he has had a broad influence in the translation and introduction of modern and contemporary Japanese literature.
