Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Beauty and Sadness

By: Yasunari Kawabata
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Returning to Kyoto, where temple bells announce the New Year, a grave and penitent Oki is drawn to a haunting obsession from his past. Gently lyrical, yet fierce with the stark intensity of passion, Kawabata's last novel tells the story of the lasting consequences of a brief love affair.

©1975 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (P)2010 Audible, Inc.
Asian Classics Fiction Literary Fiction Literary History & Criticism Romance United States
Show More Show Less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Snow Country cover art
Kokoro cover art
Thousand Cranes cover art
The Tale of Genji, Volume 1 cover art
I Am a Cat cover art
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids cover art
The Sound of Waves cover art
Sister of My Heart cover art
The Temple of the Golden Pavillion cover art
Spring Snow cover art
Stella Dallas (Dramatized) cover art
Song of a Captive Bird cover art
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea cover art
Sanshiro cover art
Oblomov cover art
Silver Wattle cover art

What listeners say about Beauty and Sadness

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for jesjaspers

A Delicacy of imagery

Kawabata is the king of the understatement. I find his writing tender, intimate and sensual. This cross generational story of love and revenge, of heterosexual and lesbian love, of 'beauty and sadness' is a surprising mix of the modern and old fashioned. It is probably my favourite of his novels.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Amazon Customer

Sublime descriptions

The narration was lovely and the story unusual. No suspense but beautiful with its calm and tragic notes.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!