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Spring Snow cover art

Spring Snow

By: Yukio Mishima
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
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Summary

The first novel of Mishima's landmark tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility.

Spring Snow is set in Tokyo in 1912, when the hermetic world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders -- rich provincial families unburdened by tradition, whose money and vitality make them formidable contenders for social and political power. Among this rising new elite are the ambitious Matsugae, whose son has been raised in a family of the waning aristocracy, the elegant and attenuated Ayakura. Coming of age, he is caught up in the tensions between old and new -- fiercely loving and hating the exquisite, spirited Ayakura Satoko. He suffers in psychic paralysis until the shock of her engagement to a royal prince shows him the magnitude of his passion, and leads to a love affair that is as doomed as it was inevitable.

©1972 Copyright 1972 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Originally published in Japan as Haru no Yuki by Shinchosha Company, Tokyo, in 1968. c. 1968 by Yukio Mishima (P)2010 Audible, Inc

Critic reviews

"[The Sea of Fertility] is a literary legacy on the scale of Proust's." ( National Review)
"Mishima is like Stendhal in his precise psychological analyses, like Dostoevsky in his explorations of darkly destructive personalities." ( Christian Science Monitor)

What listeners say about Spring Snow

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great challenge with depth and layers.

I have been wanting to read Yukio Mishima’s works for a few years and spring snow was not a disappointment. Characters with depth and layers. Settings description was not overly done which kept me interested and receptive.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

kiyoaki sucks

I couldn't feel sorry for Kiyoaki, in the end I was glad about what happened to him

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

not my kind of story

I struggled to chapter 3. I don't find Japanese courtesan material very interesting. I don't feel in a position to judge it. The narration seemed appropriate.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I couldn't get into this book at all. I found the depth of description of every aspect of each moment in the narrative distracted me so much from the story I couldn't follow it's thread. I persisted, hoping I'd get immersed in the story as I became more familiar with the characters. Unfortunately this didn't happen and I ended up giving up on it after the first few chapters. I wouldn't recommend it.

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