The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata

Over time Eiko tells Shingo about the woman, even taking him to see the house where she lives. For this reason, Shingo asks his secretary, Eiko, about his son's mistress. The way his own son treats such a young, engaging young woman makes Shingo feel himself a failure when it comes to his children. Kikuko is a beautiful young woman who reminds him of the sister he once adored. Shingo has also become aware that his son is unfaithful to his wife. Despite more than thirty years of marriage, Shingo finds himself still wishing he had been lucky enough to marry the other sister. Shingo finds himself thinking often of his wife's sister, a woman he once loved deeply who died at too young an age. Age has sneaked up on Shingo and it often causes him to think back on his life and to recall the people of his past. Often Shingo becomes aware that his son and his secretary have to subtly remind him of things that he needs to do at work or help him find items he has left in some place he cannot recall. Shingo is aware that his mind is beginning to go. The Sound of the Mountain is a novel of mortality and the legacy each living being leaves behind upon his death. A complicated situation emerges, causing Shingo to question his own actions in regards to the disaster that has become of both his children's marriages. While consumed with memories of the sister of his wife, a woman with whom he was once madly in love, Shingo finds himself growing closer to the young woman who is his son's wife. Shingo becomes obsessed with his memories and the legacy he will leave behind when he dies. In this novel, Ogata Shingo is a man in his sixties who is beginning to feel the edge of his mortality.

The Sound of the Mountain is a novel by Nobel Prize winning writer Yasunari Kawabata.

The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata