Book review: Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

On one level this is a love story but on others it provokes thoughts about the differences between city and country, rich and poor, guest and servant.

When Shimamura travels from Tokyo to the snow country there i a sense he has moved to not just a different part of Japan but a place where he can act differently. His relationship with Komako, is the most obvious manifestation of that change in behaviour, with a secret life being led away from his wife and children. 

But this is a different area geographically, it enjoys deep snows and feels cut off from his other existence. When he leaves after one stay in the hot springs resort he travels back by train and moves from one zone to another via a mountain tunnel. That shift sees the weather change, the landscape shift and his mental position also move.

But the focus of this story is the hot springs resort and the relationship between Shimamura and Komako,. her story unfolds over the course of a couple of trips Shimamura makes to the town. She has become a geisha to pay medical bills for her lover, forced into a life of pleasuring guests and is stuck in a trap. He on the other hand is financially secure, wastes his time on academic exercises that lead nowhere and is removed from the life of hardship those in the hot springs resort live.

The relationship is doomed and as she slides deeper into the geisha trap and isolation he appears to be less able to save her.

If you read to escape then this takes you to a land of deep snow, hot springs and Japanese customs that will take you into a different realm. Despite being a short novel it leaves you with questions around the main characters, the life the inhabitants of snow country lead and the limits of love and desire to deliver change.

Book review: American Affair the Americanisation of Britain by Susan Marling and Gerd Kittel

 

To find this book involved wading through a fair few listings for romantic or political books that wanted to cover their own types of special relationship. The attraction for me is the rest of the title, The Americanisation of Britain.

Most focus on the special relationship centres on the Second World War and the close ties as allies between the UK and US. That's true but Susan Marling argues that the crucial year when things really changed was 1956. By then Americans were driving round in their flash finned topped cars, chugging on a  Coke from their large refrigerators and enjoying their televisions. Britain, still suffering the effects of post-war austerity could only look on with envy. Add to that the flowing over the Atlantic of rock and roll, Elvis and the stars of the silver screen that flickered in British cinemas and the captivation with all things American was complete.

This books bounces along looking at areas where Americanisation can be easily spotted - movies, cars, fashion, architecture (malls and Milton Keynes) and food.

The tone is inquisitive, asking a truck driver from North London why he enjoys dressing as a cowboy complete with chaps and an imitation revolver, rather than judgemental. However, there is an acknowledgement that Americanisation splits people, with comments about the 51st State being among those arguing for less influence.

Written in the early 1990s, with Thatcher having left office, this is a book that sits at a time when the heightened Americanisation of the Thatcher-Reagan years could still be felt. A dreary Britain that often willingly adopted the neon-lighted delights from the US.

It is a companion piece to a Tv series, American Affair, that I have to admit I haven’t seen. So in some senses the chapters must have followed the progress of those episodes. What lifts the book out as something you might want to read now, without the programme, isn’t just the text but the photographs by Gerd Kittel.

Each chapter follows a pattern where the text goes so far and then the photographs take over and illustrate the points. Given they are thirty years old they now operate on a historical as well as cultural commentary level.

To be honest this is not a book anyone wanting to read more about the special relationship would start with. For me it’s part of my ongoing look into American suburbanisation and its impact on the UK. It scratches that itch but it’s quite a specific one and so I would not expect this to be sought out by too many fellow readers.

But if you want to understand more about the love affair with America and what that like looked in the early 1990s then it’s a great resource and an interesting read.

Book review: How Do you Live? By Genzaburo Yoshino

 

After enjoying the Boy and the Heron there was an appetite to dive deeper and How Do You Live? was described as the inspiration for the film. It was one of the film's director Hayao Miyazaki's favourite books and was percolating his thoughts as he pulled the story together for the Boy and the Heron.

That word 'inspiration' is an important one because unlike some of the other Studio Ghibli films, Howl's Moving Castle springs to mind, this is not based directly on an existing story. There is no Heron in How Do You Live? and the relationship with the Copper and his uncle is a healthier one than Mahito and his Grand Uncle.

Rather its taking the themes of coming of age, dealing with the loss of a parent and navigating what type of person you want to be in life. Will you be empathetic? show compassion? be arrogant or cowardly? These are all things the main character Copper has to wrestle with.

As he goes through experiences he shares them with his uncle and afterwards the uncle shares his advice in a notebook. It creates for the majority of the book a pattern of Copper's story then directly followed by the Uncle's observations.

Copper is not perfect, makes mistakes and learns from them. But he is likeable and his experiences drive the story. He is coping with the loss of his father and navigating starting senior school, with the threats of bullying and coping with friendships that are evolving with maturity. The reader is encouraged to look at Copper and ask themselves what they would have done and what type of life they want to lead.

This book was written for children but there is more going on here. Understanding the context around the books is important because it was penned at a time when totalitarianism had gripped Japan and to question authority out you in prison and under deep censorship.

Yoshino was imprisoned, fell foul of the thought police but still wanted to counter the aggressive state. That makes this a brave book and a moving one. When Copper's uncle is urging him to think for himself and question authority, he is risking more than just losing the reader's interest.

This is a book that has a power to provoke and move and on that basis alone is worth recommending. But when you add the context and understand the risks that Yoshino and his publisher were running by producing this and it is much more heroic.

Ultimately at a time when populism is on the rise we all need to ask ourselves the question of how we want to live.