The Master of Go (Vintage International)

Rating:
Summary: A Poignant Character Study
Review: This is a novel about a man who has devoted his life to only one thing, and who has nothing left when that is taken away from him. The Go Master Shusai is a poignant, but also pathetic (in the negative sense) character. One wonders whether such single-minded dedication, with its concomitant success, is worth the price one pays for it.

The novel is somewhat confusing, as it has not been told chronologically. It goes back and forth with the barest warning. This development feels appropriate, however. The novel feels like a memoir.

This is not Kawabata's best novel, but it is worth reading if you like Kawabata, if you have the money to buy a good (but not a great) novel, or if you like Go. There are quite a number of printing errors in it, however....

If you don't care about Go I don't suppose you would mind these errors. But the book IS about a Go match, and is it too much to ask the editors to do a proper job?