Palm-of-the-Hand Stories
Worth buying if: You savor Kawabata's Palm-of-the-Hand Stories' haiku-like, lingering vignettes.
Skip it if: You prefer plot-driven novels with long arcs and sustained character development.
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780374530495. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
If this page helped you decide, purchasing through the Amazon button above supports UPB Books at no extra cost to you and helps us continue improving the site. Thanks for visiting today.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some outbound links are paid links, at no additional cost to you.
Summary
This collection gathers Yasunari Kawabata’s compact, image-rich tales—each vignette tight, poetic, and quietly resonant—showing why he’s celebrated for economy of language and emotional precision.
Why this book now
Revisit Kawabata’s minimalist craftsmanship to appreciate how brief fiction can capture modern attention and reward close, contemplative reading.
30-second preview
Two quick cards, fifteen seconds each.
Card 1 of 2
Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- You savor Kawabata's Palm-of-the-Hand Stories' haiku-like, lingering vignettes.
- You appreciate compressed, sensory snapshots about memory, longing, and transience.
- You prefer plot-driven novels with long arcs and sustained character development.
- You want explicit explanations or neat, conventional resolutions to every scene.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9780374530495
Worth buying if: You savor Kawabata's Palm-of-the-Hand Stories' haiku-like, lingering vignettes.
Skip it if: You prefer plot-driven novels with long arcs and sustained character development.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Light Short sit-downs
About 280 pages of brief stories; easy to dip into one at a time but best appreciated slowly—an evening per story or several stories per sitting depending on mood.
What stands out here
Farrar Straus & Giroux’s edition collects Kawabata’s famed short pieces, highlighting his poetic translation and presentation of minimalist Japanese modernism.
Best way to approach it
Read one or two stories slowly, pausing to savor imagery and implication rather than rushing for plot; re-read favorites to unveil layered emotion.
Was this page helpful?
Quick thumbs only. No login.
Loading feedback…
Exact edition: ISBN-13 9780374530495
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.