I like those exotic Japanese tales, cleanly and elegantly written. In fact, I like them more than
Tanizaki's most well-known work "The
Makioka Sisters", which reads a little dull to me.
Surely, "A Portrait of
Shunkin" is the best in this collection. What surprises me is that the impression I received from the novel is totally different from that from the movie, the latter, starred by
Momoe Yamaguchi (山口百惠)
and Tomokazu Miura (三 浦友和) leaving me the impression of beauty. However, in the book,
Shunkin, although very beautiful, is a self-centered, cruel, and pathetic woman;
Sasuke, her love, seems to be abusing and humiliating himself as
Shunkin's slave. I did not appreciate such love when I started reading; however, after seeing
Shunkin experiencing her calamity and the two "lovers" finally got their "love" interleaved, I somehow understood their unique love. Anyway, it is their love.
"The bridge of Dreams" is also an interesting story. The strange love between the son and his stepmother is, again, a little pathetic, but what lies beneath it is a feeling of warmth.
After reading the book, I think I need to re-interpret the word "pathetic": it is not necessary bad, and, together with "healthy", it is just part of what we are, just like the other unbreakable negative and positive forces, without which, humans are
not humans, and the nature is not the nature.
Translated by Howard
Hibbett. Published by Alfred A.
Knope in 1963. The book contains some Japanese style sketches, and they fit the exotic style of the stories very well.
Murderer: Does not recognize the right of existence of others. Towards the perfection of his own idea.
A fun readying. An entertaining story. Borrowed from Wuthering Height, One Hundred Years of Solitude and Rebbecca, but mixed well.
I put down the book after reading several chapters. It was not an easy reading -- Mishima threw in too many his words and "philosophy".
含三部作品：《生死场》，《马伯乐》，《呼兰河传》。《马伯乐》有250页，但是我看了100页就看不下去了。也不是说写得差，但是一直在重复同样的东西。如果缩成50页，应该是和《阿Q正传》相似的，但是比《阿Q正传》犀利。《呼兰河传》是萧红的代表作，一部《呼兰河传》也就足以让萧红传世了。
含三个作品。《小城三月》是个精品，《回忆鲁迅先生》也有独特的风格。《生死场》很差，破坏了我对萧红的印象。
A story of adventure and a geographer's expeditions. Not bad, but not exciting. Need better writing/translation. The reading would be different if John McPhee wrote or translated the story.
In the dream, the explosion of sadness, so heavy. "This is not real!" I struggled to wake up, to the world of peace.
I read about 20 pages shortly after I came to LA. I did not find Mark Twain's humor which had amused me when I was a child. Either did I find it when I re-read some of his stories which I once enjoyed so much. Maybe it was because I could not appreciate the English language, or because I lost what I had as a child.
It has two novellas. The prose of the first 25 pages of The Reed Cutter is very beautiful and elegant. But its story is so so. The second story is not interesting either.
What a unique and malicious woman! What a passion!
It contains two novels: "The Key" and "Diary of a Mad Old Man".
Finally finished it -- in fact, I skipped the other story collection in the book; even for the first collection, I skip the last story. Could not endure it anymore.
Hemingway's hero, the Great Gatsby, and Mrs. Golightly in this story, those spiritless but shining characters are unique outcomes of America?
Unique, talented.
She has a dream;
It is an entertaining story, with complicated and smartly designed plots. This is probably all the good words I can say.
高中时，一个朋友（性格很温婉的女生）多次说她想拥有这本书。大学时我读了川端康成的《雪国》，震慑于它的清冷飘幻之美。得知《细雪》也是日本唯美派代表作之一，于是对其期望甚高。
