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The Sound of the Mountain
The Sound of the Mountain
Jan 11, 2026 7:59 PM

Author:Yasunari Kawabata,Edward G. Seidensticker

The Sound of the Mountain

Ogata Shingo is growing old, and his memory is failing him. At night he hears only the sound of death in the distant rumble from the mountain. The relationships which have previously defined his life - with his son, his wife, and his attractive daughter-in-law - are dissolving, and Shingo is caught between love and destruction. Lyrical and precise, The Sound of the Mountain explores in immaculately crafted prose the changing roles of love and the truth we face in ageing.

Reviews

Kawabata is a poet of the gentlest shades, of the evanescent, the imperceptible

—— Commonweal

A rich, complicated novel. . . . Of all modern Japanese fiction, Kawabata's is the closest to poetry

—— The New York Times Book Review

It is one of those books that you read and feel a shift...the story is told so poetically and eloquently. It is one of those books that you read and think: if I could only remember that sentence - it is so beautiful

—— Sam Taylor-Wood

No one has written more elegiacally about America... Fitzgerald, like his revered Keats, was a compulsive nostalgic, locating happiness in the search for sensation rather than in its realisation; in the dream of desire, not in its fulfilment

—— Guardian

In just a snatch of dialogue or a few lines of description, Fitzgerald can evoke the happy, troubled and perilous balance of a group of friends... He has an acute eye and ear for the nuances of character... an exquisitely crafted piece of fiction

—— Melissa Benn , Independent

Breathtaking... an astounding achievement

—— Frank Delaney

Edward Rutherfurd has written about Dublin with love. It is an expertly researched and highly readable account of a place he has grown to know well'

—— Maeve Binchy , Ireland on Sunday

Sublime talent ... this is history with a human face and a fanciful soul

—— Good Book Guide

If you are looking for something light and provocative for the beach this is a great little number

—— Irish Independent

an engaging, warm-hearted novel'

—— Scotland on Sunday

[A] comic masterpiece

—— Irish Times

Comic, satisfying, thought-provoking, addictive

—— The Telegraph

It's his supreme skill in mastering a lengthily interwoven chronicle, the evolution of such a range and variety of pin-point characters, the wit and the cultural ambition that give the novel a unique place in English Literature.

—— Melvyn Bragg

The London Train is an intelligent and gently manipulative story of human weakness and lies... Wicked but delightful

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

Hadley offers first-class views on the psychological scenery of 21st-century Britain

—— Daily Telegraph

A passionate, hilarious look at mid-twentieth-century Britain.

—— Jeremy Paxman , Gentleman's Journal

Something I know I love ... Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time, which I could read endlessly.

—— Tracey Thorn , Daily Mail

I’m bowled over, hooked and, hurrah, there are 11 more volumes to go as Jenkins grows up. Terrific.

—— Daily Mail

A highly accomplished debut, this is a chilling portrait of racial tension, social immorality, betrayal and love, and also an atmospheric examination of the end of innocence.

—— The Lady Magazine

The writing is strong and though the sections featuring Gay's earlier life lose momentum, the story picks up pace when the girls' paths become entwined and the conclusion is compelling and thrillingly macabre.

—— Telegraph

This fictional account of a true story gives a darkly shocking version of the events surrounding this tragic case.

—— Good Book Guide

Brilliantly melds a factual post-war murder into a dark fictional tale

—— Telegraph
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