Name: The Old Capital
Author: Yasunari Kawabata
Year Published: 1962
Date Started: 06/30/26
Date Finished: 07/06/26
Rating: ⭐⭐.5
Author: Yasunari Kawabata
Year Published: 1962
Date Started: 06/30/26
Date Finished: 07/06/26
Rating: ⭐⭐.5
Synopsis
The Old Capital is a novel based around the changing traditions of Japan and the many scenic vistas; the chapter progression is done through the changing of seasons. There are multiple character POVs throughout, but the main character is a young woman named Chieko, a girl who is fond of nature, and one who has surprising revelations about her past through the story.
Tags: nature, tradition and modernity, family dynamics
Review
Judging from my low rating of this book, you may assume that I didn't like it. Rather than saying I disliked "The Old Capital", I would say that it...just didn't grasp my attention very much. It's not a long book- only 164 pages, and it isn't particularly difficult to read, however- I found myself having a hard time completing it.
The prose in which Yasunari Kawabata writes is very lyrical. The descriptions of the landscapes and nature in Kyoto is done beautifully, and was my favorite parts of the book. I found it very relaxing to read about the various flowers and the seasons scattered around in "The Old Capital".
In contrast though, the characterization was very weak, in my opinion. I didn't feel any particular way about *any* of the characters, even though there are about 6 or so that we are given a point of view through. Chieko is the main character- a young woman who enjoys nature and is fiercely loyal to her parents; she's also described as being beautiful. But...that's about all I can tell you in regards to Chieko. She comes across nice enough, but I just didn't connect to her that much.
This brings me to the next issue I had with this novel, and that is the dialogue. To me, the dialogue seemed unnatural (including the way the characters behaved), and there were parts that felt a bit choppy. Sometimes, there were conversations that seemed brought up out of nowhere, without any context. The time period this was written in and cultural differences could play into my confusion a bit, (it could also be because of the translation I used), but I've read similar books and never felt that much of a dissonance when reading.
I have other books from this author on my wishlist, so perhaps I will take a read of some of his other work and see if I feel the same or if it's just this novel. I really wanted to like this book, but I felt myself dragging through the last chapter, and it took me much longer than usual to finish a book of this size. Maybe, later on someday, I will try to give this a second read to see if it was just my imagination with the dialogue.
The prose in which Yasunari Kawabata writes is very lyrical. The descriptions of the landscapes and nature in Kyoto is done beautifully, and was my favorite parts of the book. I found it very relaxing to read about the various flowers and the seasons scattered around in "The Old Capital".
In contrast though, the characterization was very weak, in my opinion. I didn't feel any particular way about *any* of the characters, even though there are about 6 or so that we are given a point of view through. Chieko is the main character- a young woman who enjoys nature and is fiercely loyal to her parents; she's also described as being beautiful. But...that's about all I can tell you in regards to Chieko. She comes across nice enough, but I just didn't connect to her that much.
This brings me to the next issue I had with this novel, and that is the dialogue. To me, the dialogue seemed unnatural (including the way the characters behaved), and there were parts that felt a bit choppy. Sometimes, there were conversations that seemed brought up out of nowhere, without any context. The time period this was written in and cultural differences could play into my confusion a bit, (it could also be because of the translation I used), but I've read similar books and never felt that much of a dissonance when reading.
I have other books from this author on my wishlist, so perhaps I will take a read of some of his other work and see if I feel the same or if it's just this novel. I really wanted to like this book, but I felt myself dragging through the last chapter, and it took me much longer than usual to finish a book of this size. Maybe, later on someday, I will try to give this a second read to see if it was just my imagination with the dialogue.
