A painfully beautiful book. 
 Like the other works by Kawabata I've read, it is not so strictly concerned with plot and action. Instead this is a novel which works slowly and quietly, with description of gesture and emotions, or subtle changes in the weather or in conversation. 
 It centers around an older man, Shingo, who is distant to his wife and sons. There is a tremendous magnitude of emotion told here, but with the bare minimum of words, even just fragments of sentences. We see the weather pass as a bellwether of mood, and Shingo's quiet acceptance. 
 A subdued yet compelling book.