Snow Country For Old Men

While reading Snow Country by Kawabata Yasunari, I was fully invested in the story and constantly on the edge of my seat.  The story is from Japan and there is a difference in the writing style but nothing that will cause the reader any trouble.  The subject matter and what is accepted culturally is different from what is typical in America.  But, what people in the United States would consider unacceptable socially, they love to read about or watch shows about it on television.  For example, the TV show Desperate Housewives, people in America would never want to live in this neighborhood with all the drama but they love watching it on TV.  Back to the work, some would say that reading the story is a “waste of time,” oddly enough the idea of wasting time is a reoccurring theme throughout the story.  However, I would argue against the story being a waste of because I feel that many readers can understand the struggle in the story and relate to it.  I also feel that people who relate are even more enticed to keep reading to see how the male character handles his conflict.  Unfortunately, the readers who relate to the story do not get the satisfaction that he/she is looking for.  This is because the end of the story does not give a definitive answer or solution to the conflict in the work.  I, as a reader, loved the story all the way up until the ending.  The ending left me unsatisfied and wanting more; however it allowed me to write my own conclusion.  I believe that this is especially important for those individuals who could relate to the conflict so that they could make their own decision as well.  The interesting part to the whole story is that part one ends with closure in a way that a reader would not complain if it ended there, without a part two.  The story also has many reoccurring themes that add another level of depth to the story and make it even better.

A comment on the title of this post, the main male character is would not be considered “old” but he is close enough to allow me this play on words.  The real title of this post should be “Satisfied but Unsatisfied.”  This would be more representative of my feelings on the work as a whole; satisfied with the story as a whole, but unsatisfied with the ending and its lack of closure.  However, the lack of closure is somewhat typical of Japanese literature, and thus I can accept the ending for what it is and not be bitter about it.