The Lake

Rating:
Summary: A Tangled Web
Review: Another of Kawabata's masterpieces, The Lake is even less structured than his other work. Told through a series of shifting narrators, the story mainly concerns Gimpei, on the run from the law for an unknown crime. We become intimately acquainted with Gimpei, who turns out to be a real creep: he spends most of his time following beautiful women. Though flashbacks that are carefully woven in to the narrative, we learn Gimpei past: his unrequited love for his cousin Yayori, his destructive affair with his student Hisako, and his possessive madness - he would rather have the objects of his affection dead than with another. The books shifts it's focus slightly at times, turning to the people who come into contact with Gimpei, and revealing how closely connected they all are without even realizing it. It is this tangled web of relationships, both direct and indirect, that make this work so enjoyable. A wonderful book, although some readers may find the character of Gimpei so repugnant that they may abandon the book before it's finish.

Rating:
Summary: Penned with whetted description and passion
Review: Compellingly written by Yasunari Kawabata (the author of the classic "Snow Country" and Japan's first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature), The Lake is the story of a stalker. He is homeless, fugitive from an unknown crime, and driven to trail the women he meets as he wanders. He longs for their beauty yet his desire remains unconsumated. The hallmark of free association that allows the reader to speculate upon human minds and motives is prevalent in "The Lake", a narrative that circulates back time and again to the body of water that forms its name and the people who live alongside it. Very highly recomended reading, The Lake is a rich literary experience penned with whetted description and passion.


Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I think that unless I'd read on the dust jacket that Kawabata was a Nobel Prize winner I wouldn't have known it from this book (I haven't read his others so I don't know how they compare). I found the story to be very uninvolving, although mercifully short. It seemed to have the worst dreary aspects of Knut Hamsun (also a very overrated writer), and I definitely wouldn't suggest it to anyone wishing to introduce themselves to Japanese literature.

I recommend Yukio Mishima or Akira Yoshimura's "Shipwrecks" instead.

Rating:
Summary: A voyage into the mind of a stalker of young girls
Review: Lakes are mysteries, dark bodies of water that swallow secrets and hide those parts of ourselves better left submerged. Bodies are dumped in lakes, along with stolen cars and used weapons of violence. In "The Lake," Kawabata has used this metaphor for his protagonist, the unsettled and possibly psychotic Gimpei Momoi, who's mind swirls past and present and make-believe into one massive body of water, under which the corpse of his father lies sleeping.

It is hard to spend 160-odd pages in the mind of Gimpei, stalker and luster of young girls. His story fluxuates constantly, changing in an instant from his childhood desire for his cousin Yayoi, to his disastrous affair with his High School student Hisako, to his pursuit of the pure 15-year old Machie, or the bath house girl with the voice of an angel. Interspersed roughly with this mix is the tale of Miyako, a sad beauty who sold her youth to an old man for money. Gimpei's thoughts are those of his nature, a dark and lonely pursuer navigating the unlit corners and ditches of other's worlds, a dangerous and haggard animal prowling the fence.

Kawabata's technique used in "The Lake" is quite experimental, and different from his more-famous works. Aside from the dark story, elements of which can be found in most Kawabata, the shifting narrative and abrupt transitions and endings can be off-putting to those expecting a more naturally flowing story. Personally, I found the jump-cuts and unresolved nature of the writing to be complementary to the tale of Gimpei, with the overall effect leaving me uncomfortable and uneasy with the world, which is the stories goal.

Rating:
Summary: Chasing real life.
Review: The main character of this novel, Gimpei, chases unsuccessfully young girls with eyes like a lake. His father also drowned in a lake.
The lake is a symbol for life. Gimpei is chasing real life, but can't conquer it. His deformed feet, soiled by all possible infamies of the world, are a symbol of his Sisyphus run.
He abandons a prostitute with a child.

This novel with an unsympathetic protagonist is captivating because of its poetic vigour.
A minor work.

Rating:
Summary: somewhat memorable
Review: This _The Lake_ is not as well known as Yasunari's _Master of Go_ or _Snow Country_, but I found it a pleasant and profound reading experience.

It's the story of Ginpei. He is a former schoolteacher who has been dismissed for having a relationship with a student, or making advances to a student. Ginpei is truly pathetic; he is more or less an ordinary guy, but he truly cannot help himself. He follows around women all the time. He is truly seeking some kind of affection from women, and needs a boost to his confidence. He thinks he is ugly, and he had feet which look like the feet of a monkey.

The story itself is not exciting or extraordinary, but Yasunari probes the soul of Ginpei to provide a very interesting character study. Also the author does a very fine job of describing nature, whether it be lakes, trees, streams, etc.

Perhaps this is not the masterpiece by Yasunari. I suppose that title falls to one of the other novels. But _The Lake_ is a good solid novel (although it is short on plot) and not a bad introduction to the author.

ken32