Snow Country Thus Far            

What strikes me as most odd about Snow Country by Kawabata, is how much we know about the main characters without really knowing much about them at all. The story itself begins entirely out of context, on a train in the winter. The setting isn't even entirely disclosed in that we never know for sure what time the story takes place in. We know very little of Shimamura's past, occupation, or family. Komako is quite the mystery as well. I have only read up to the end of book one, but we still do not know why she is a geisha or where her real family is. Kawabata hints at the fact that Yoko went into the city to have an abortion, but she too is somewhat left up to the imagination. Finally, there is Yukio who is dying and being taken care of by Yoko. The reader is offered only a small window into the lives of these four characters without much explanation of the past.

I find it funny that Komako only writes the characters names and their relationship to one another in her diary. It is this simplistic skeleton of a story that is offered in the first book of Snow Country. I personally really like that we only know exactly what is presented by the author. It leaves a lot of room for implications and reading between the lines. It also gives the story a mysterious flare that suits the culture presented. I find it very intriguing and look forward to Book Two!