The Sound of the Mountain [Paperback]

Yasunari Kawabata (Author), Edward G. Seidensticker (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Vintage International | Publication Date: May 28, 1996

Ogata Shingo is growing old, and his memory is failing him. At night he hears only the sound of death in the distant rumble from the mountain. The relationships which have previously defined his life - with his son, his wife, and his attractive daughter-in-law - are dissolving, and Shingo is caught between love and destruction. Lyrical and precise, The Sound of the Mountain explores in immaculately crafted prose the changing roles of love and the truth we face in ageing.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Japanese (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679762647
• ISBN-13: 978-0679762645
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That's the Sound of Life, That's the Sound of Death, July 17, 2000

By 

Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sound of the Mountain (Paperback)

Kawabata Yasunari won the Nobel Prize in 1968 and this novel above all his others, in my opinion, gives readers a chance to find out why. This is a classic of world literature, a work of genius. It is a finely-written tale of family, a simple story about an older man who is fond of his daughter-in-law, though his relations with his own two grown children, son and divorced daughter, are ambiguous. The story line, as in other Kawabata novels, is simple----there are no great events, no dramatic conclusions or climaxes. Natural phenomena---birds, animals, plants, and weather---play a large role in setting the mood and are used as symbols throughout. Far from being a recurring theme, the "sound of the mountain" is heard only once, on page 10, yet it and many other signs presage changes in life that follow a pattern unseen by human eyes.

The most amazing thing about THE SOUND OF THE MOUNTAIN is its capacity to summarize or to encapsulate family life, the compexity of family relationships. The only other book I know that comes close is Christina Stead's "The Man Who Loved Children", but that is a most verbose book whose characters verbalize nearly every emotion, or else the author does it for them. Kawabata's novel, however, succeeds in portraying family life equally well, if not better, with an absolute minimum of brush strokes. The indecision, the steps not taken, the regrets, the lost loves who return in dreams---all the myriad small events from which marriages and families are constructed---flow in a way that is both typically Japanese and universal. Shingo, the old man, was particularly kind towards Kikuko, his daughter in law, who "was for him a window looking out of a gloomy house." "Kindness towards her was a beam lighting isolation. It was a way of pampering himself, of bringing a touch of mellowness into his life." There is nothing so definite (or crass) as an out-and-out love affair between the two. Rather, there are solutions that are no solutions, compromises that have to paper over the disappointments. Life goes on and Hollywood is for children. What a brilliant book !

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This too, shall pass, June 30, 2004

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sound of the Mountain (Paperback)

"The Sound of the Mountain" ("Yama no Oto") should have been a script for an Yasujiro Ozu film. All of the elements are here, with the kindly aged father Shingo who cannot gain his children's respect or love, ready to be portrayed by Chishu Ryu, and the lovely and loving daughter-in-law Kikuko, far more understanding than his real children, designed exactly for Setsuko Hara. The family who has left its rural home to uproot to Tokyo, following the jobs, losing their heart in the process. It really is too perfect.

Instead, the story is guided by the gentle hand of Yasunari Kawabata, who gives us the Japanese family, still disheveled by the end of the war and not quite certain what their roles are and dealing with their loss of identity. Confucian ideals, such as respect for the elder parents, have been swept aside in the post-Occupation reality. Shingo's son Shuichi has come back from the war an indifferent, cold-hearted man, flaunting his affairs with neither spite nor pleasure. Shingo's wife, Yasuko, is an ugly reminder of her sister, whom Shingo loved in is youth yet died. Their daughter Fusako is a burden, returning home with ugly children, her husband a waste and their marriage broken. The only pleasure in his life is the daughter-in-law Kikuko, whom his son wounds daily with his lack of caring.

In the Kawabata style, there is neither complaint nor surface rage at life's inconstant fortunes, but rather an acceptance and perseverance. Life is about moving forward, even at the advanced age of Shingo and Yasuko, who take their burdens as they come. Shingo is the main character, and so this is a book of old age, of looking back at life's mistakes and longing for fading pleasures. "The Sound of the Mountain" is a brilliant, cherishable book, one that captivated and moved me.

Interestingly enough, "The Sound of the Mountain" was eventually made into a movie, and while Ozu didn't get to direct, Setsuko Hara did get the part of Kikuko. Someone else must have had the same idea.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting novel of family life in post war Japan, July 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sound of the Mountain (Paperback)

A haunting, evocative novel of family life in the immediate aftermath of the second world war. Shingo, the grandfather of the family, describes the relationships between his children and their partners, interwoven with flashbacks of his own early life. The disharmony of their lives is overwritten with a sense of Shingo's personal unfulfillment and unrequited love for the long dead sister of his wife. A constant theme of the novel is the decline in the powers of Shingo as head of the family and his inability to shape the destiny of his children as the story unfolds. This is a beautifully written book, rich in the culture of Japan which maintains a sense of melancholy throughout yet accurately reflects the mundane nature of day to day family existence. A highly recommended, gentle read.