Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata, 1968 Nobel Prize winner. I read Thousand Cranes and Snow Country, not moved or shocked as I expected. His novels seem to be incomplete with interstice, like he opened the cage and had all the rats racing but couldn't get them back. His novels are out of his own hands and he failed to do something about it.

Yet his short stories are great. It's neat and simple as Chekhov, but deviant with a Japanese touch. Here's my favorite: 'Canaries'.

It's a letter from a man to his ex-mistress. It goes like this.

Sorry I have to break our agreement to write to you. I can no longer take care of the canaries you gave me. I remember you bought them from different shops and kept them in a cage symbolizing you and me, and also a reminder, a souvenir. But they are dying now, because the person who feeds them, my wife, has passed away. I thought of the possibility to release them or sell them back to the store, but the former will kill them and the latter is a defection to your gift. The fact is, the canaries live till today as my memory of you is due to my wife's effort, that explains why I fell in love with you, madam-- My wife took the responsibility of daily life so I didn't need to pay attention to the difficulties and had the luxury to love. So madam, may I kill the canaries and bury them with my wife?

--An old entry from an old blog

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