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A review by bruinuclafan
The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
3.0
I liked the book, but it's hard for me to evaluate because I think the translation I read was bad. It looks like the First Tuttle Edition, Fifth Printing, translated by J Martin Holman. He did a good job with the descriptions, but the dialogue was stiff--as if it was translated literally. It really felt like a lot of the subtleties of the Japanese was lost. I'm going to have to re-read the book with a different or updated translation.
That said, I got the gist of it, and did enjoy the book. It's the story of Chieko, who was either abandoned or stolen at birth. The story chronicles her relationship with her adopted family, and explores the boundaries of familial love and support in the absence of any biological bond. While it hits themes that may be antiquated today--a daughter's total obedience to her parents, marriage as a business transaction between families, and the role of class in interpersonal relationships--in the post-World War II Japan psyche, I can see how this book would be considered liberal for its time. With a better translation I would have given 4 stars.
That said, I got the gist of it, and did enjoy the book. It's the story of Chieko, who was either abandoned or stolen at birth. The story chronicles her relationship with her adopted family, and explores the boundaries of familial love and support in the absence of any biological bond. While it hits themes that may be antiquated today--a daughter's total obedience to her parents, marriage as a business transaction between families, and the role of class in interpersonal relationships--in the post-World War II Japan psyche, I can see how this book would be considered liberal for its time. With a better translation I would have given 4 stars.