Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata (born in 1899, Osaka) was one of the most distinguished writers of Japan. 

He graduated from Imperial University, Tokyo in 1920. His first critical success was brought about by his novella ' The Izu Dancer.' 

He was the first Japanese novelist to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968.

I have recently read 'The Sound of the Mountain' and 'Snow Country' ,the latter regarded as his most famous work. 

'Snow Country' tells the story of a wasted love affair of a middle-aged man and an aging geisha; Komako, though she is well aware that the affair is doomed to have only one outcome: separation. Set in western Japan, the snowiest region on earth, it gives the reader a sense of isolation as well as sadness.

Get yourself a copy of this 'melancholy lyricism' if you feel like drifting away for a couple of hours...