Over the years I must have read this novel a half dozen times or more, and each time the experience is more rewarding. I'm in the middle of re-reading five Kawabata novels for a project I'm working on, and with each novel I finish I feel that my reading soul has been cleansed and elevated.

I read this time as closely as ever, summarizing for myself each chapter, and each section of each chapter; such a slow and careful reading really underlined for me how sublime this novel is.

It has to be said, too, that Edward Seidensticker's translation shows how brilliantly he understood Kawabata's intentions for this novel, and what an impressive writer he was himself.

I'm now in the mind of re-reading Kawabata's best work every year.