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This is a novella, of the title, and two short stories. I have read five of Kawabata’s novels and a collection of short stories but these three stories are unlike anything I have previously read of his. All of these have an erotic flavor and one is science fiction. The blurbs call the stories erotic fantasy underlaid with longing and memories of past loves



In the title story, Sleeping Beauties, the action surely ranks up there with the doings of 'dirty old men.' Elderly men, “who aren’t men anymore,�� visit a brothel where they can sleep for the night with drugged, unconscious virgins in their teens and early twenties. As he sleeps with them, the main character reflects back on women and loves he has had in the past. There’s a shocking ending.

In One Arm, the science fiction story, I’ll just give you the opening lines: �� ‘I can let you have one of my arms for the night,�� said the girl. She took off her right arm at the shoulder and, with her left hand, laid it at my knee.��

In the story Of Birds and Beasts, a man is obsessed with his pet birds and dogs. Being anti-social, he obviously prefers their company to humans. You can tell his maid thinks he’s nuts. You imagine he has a loving relationship with these animals �� yes, with most -- but he also has a streak of cruelty toward them.

All three stories are disturbing, chilling, bordering on horror. A bit Stephen Kingish-ish. But good stories and, as I said at the beginning, unlike the tone of his novels I have read.



Kawabata was the first Japanese writer to win a Nobel Prize (1968). He was a mentor to Yukio Mishima, who wrote the introduction to this collection, and like Mishima may have committed suicide.

[Revised 5/19/23]

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The author from counterpointpress.com