The Makioka Sisters

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book. but very Frustrating
Review: This was the second Tanizaki novel I have read. The first being Naomi, but unlike that thin tome the Makioka Sisters is quite a fat volume, but is worth ever moment that it takes to read it. Who are the Makioka sisters? They are from an old, proud Osaka family that has fallen on hard times. Each individual Makioka sisters has her own charms and blemished. Tsuruko, the eldest, is very gentle, but worries more than the others of the family's past, and how they should project themselves to the rest of the world. Sachiko who is the main character of the story is very kind and gentle and looks after her two younger sisters, but also lacks a backbone when dealing with her sisters. Yukiko the quiet and reserved picture of the perfect Kyoko lady, but who is also very hard to please. Taeko, or Koi-san, the youngest and most worldly of the sisters seems also to cause the most problems. The book through its 530 pages seems to move very slowly as if not much is really happening the reader is treated to miai after miai for Yukiko onlyto have the negotiations for marriage to fall apart. The reader sees Taeko become more more agitated because as long as her older sister remains unmarried she can not be married. The reader is treated to family sickness scorned lovers, russian and german families who befriend the makiokas. A fascinating book that is too hard to write about. Experience it for your self. kono hon yonda hou ga ii desu yo!