The Master of Go

Yasunari Kawabata

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battle between old traditions and modern pragmatism

historical go match

japan on the cusp of wwii

contrasting perspectives in japanese go

strategic and elegant nature of the game

deliberate pacing for character exploration

refined and contemplative writing style

rich cultural context

timeless struggle between personalities

interplay of tradition and modern challenges

cultural and personal

evokes deep emotion and reflection

The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata is a novel that chronicles a championship Go match between an aging master and a younger challenger, set against the backdrop of Japan on the cusp of WWII. Through the game, the story delves into the battle between old traditions and modern pragmatism, capturing a timeless struggle between two strong personalities. Kawabata's writing style is described as subtle, graceful, and delicate, mirroring the strategic and elegant nature of the game of Go.

Characters:

The characters represent contrasting perspectives in the evolving landscape of Japanese Go, symbolizing broader generational and cultural shifts.

Writing/Prose:

The writing features a refined and contemplative style that evokes deep emotion and reflection, blending reality and fiction seamlessly.

Plot/Storyline:

The narrative focuses on a historical Go match, illustrating the interplay of tradition and modern challenges through the experiences of a master and his younger opponent.

Setting:

The setting is historical Japan, providing a rich cultural context that enhances the narrative's thematic depth.

Pacing:

The pacing is deliberate, allowing for deep exploration of the characters' thoughts and the intricacies of the game.

January 18 is an easy day to remember in Atami. “Remember in years to come the moon of this night of this month,” said Kan’ichi in the famous scene from Kōyō’s melodramatic novel of the nineties, Demo...

Notes:

The book is based on a real Go match between Master Honninbo Shusai and challenger Kitani Minoru in 1938.

This was Shusai's final match, which lasted from June to December 1938, shortly before his death in January 1940.

Kawabata, who reported on the match for newspapers, later transformed his writings into this novel.

The game of Go is ancient, with origins dating back approximately 4000 years, and it was introduced to Japan from China in the 8th century.

Go is played on a 19 x 19 grid, and the objective is to capture territory by placing stones on the intersections.

The book explores themes of tradition versus modernity, reflecting a transitional period in Japan's history just before WWII.

Kawabata's narrative style blends factual journalism with fictional elements, creating a hybrid form called shōsetsu, or 'chronicle novel'.

Go is known for its underlying philosophy, which often reflects elements of Japanese culture and thought.

The match in the book is a metaphorical representation of generational conflict, showcasing the struggle between the old master and a younger, aggressive challenger.

The narrative includes diagrams of Go moves, helping to illustrate the game's strategies without teaching its rules directly.

From The Publisher:

Go is a game of strategy in which two players attempt to surround each other's black or white stones. Simple in its fundamentals, infinitely complex in its execution, Go is an essential expression of the Japanese spirit. And in his fictional chronicle of a match played between a revered and heretofore invincible Master and a younger, more modern challenger, Yasunari Kawabata captured the moment in which the immutable traditions of imperial Japan met the onslaught of the twentieth century.

The competition between the Master of Go and his opponent, Otaké, is waged over several months and layered in ceremony. But beneath the game's decorum lie tensions that consume not only the players themselves but their families and retainers-tensions that turn this particular contest into a duel that can only end in death. Luminous in its detail, both suspenseful and serene, The Master of Go is an elegy for an entire society, written with the poetic economy and psychological acumen that brought Kawabata the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Translated from the Japanese by Edward G. Seidensticker

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About the Author:

Yasunari Kawabata was born in Osaka in 1899. In 1968 he became the first Japanese writer to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. One of Japan's most distinguished novelists, he published his first stories while he was still in high school,…

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