The Sound of the Mountain – Yasunari Kawabata

review by Gabriel

The Sound of the Mountain is depressing for all the right reasons.  It captures the longing, loneliness and disappointment of aging using characters that are so real you might expect to run into them in the street (at which point you’d probably want to give them a hug).  It’s depressing because it’s confronting – it makes you reflect on your life, where it’s going, and how far that might be from your dreams.

The Lake – Yasunari Kawabata

review by Gabriel

“I don’t want to drag you down into my world… But be sure to bury deep the things that I’ve drawn out in you.  They might be dangerous.”

This quote is spoken by Gimpei Momoi, the protagonist of Yasunari Kawabata’s darkly moving novel.  It is a quote that could be read to warn of the unconventional perspective of The Lake, which focuses on the taboo and degenerate.