Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing, but potentially dated
Review: "House of Sleeping Beauties," and the other short stories in this collection, all deal with the themes of idolization of virginity, degredation, fetishization of the body, and so forth. While this may be food for thought for early and even late 20th century readers, the 21st century reader might not get as much out of it. As with many modern Japanese works, Yasunari Kawabata transcends any cultural barriers by focusing on things that are alien in any settings, and themes that are universal to anyone who has ever struggled with any sort of "hang up" about [anatomy].
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, but potentially dated
Review: "House of Sleeping Beauties," and the other short stories in this collection, all deal with the themes of idolization of virginity, degredation, fetishization of the body, and so forth. While this may be food for thought for early and even late 20th century readers, the 21st century reader might not get as much out of it. As with many modern Japanese works, Yasunari Kawabata transcends any cultural barriers by focusing on things that are alien in any settings, and themes that are universal to anyone who has ever struggled with any sort of "hang up" about [anatomy].
Rating: 
Summary: 3 Stories, 1 Theme - The loneliness and desires of old age
Review: "House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories" contains three variations on the same theme, encompassing the soul-sick loneliness of old age, and the longing for ideal companionship, one with no judgments or confrontation, but merely peace and the contentment that comes from loving someone. According to Kawabata, this longing increases with age, and one romances ghosts from the past, using the present to conjure up their memories from the depths of a forgetting mind.
The leading story, "House of the Sleeping Beauties," is among the best, most powerful Kawabata stories I have ever read. It shows an author in full command of his style, able to arouse a startling depth of emotion using a limited palette of words and scenery. The story is simple in conception, disturbingly erotic in nature, and stunning in execution. An old woman runs a brothel for impotent old men, housing unnaturally sleeping virgins who have no performance expectations of the old man, nor incriminations for their inabilities. The old men may lie with them, hold them and drink in their youth and beauty free from the hard reality of their own impotence. The sleeping girls will never know who was with them, or what was done. The only forbidden act is sex.
The story is pure eros without sex, the desire of the impotent. The leading figure in the tale, Eguchi is "still able to function as a man," unbeknownst to the brothel keeper. He knows what it is to desire more than the girls are willing to give, and the tension between his desires, the rules of the house, and the depressing reality of Eguchi's future impotence combine and take form under Kawabata's guiding hand. With each girl he sleeps next to, Eguchi wanders through his memories, remembering his youth and the girls he shared it with. Such a story can only come to one ending, and reality comes crashing into his fantasy. A stark and gripping tale.
The remaining stories, "One Arm" and "Of Birds and Beasts," suffer in the aftermath of the powerful "House of the Sleeping Beauties." "One Arm" in particular is a disappointment, perhaps due to its too-surreal situation, and an old man who borrows a young woman's arm (given quite willingly) then proceeds to romance and fall in love with the limb. As with "House of the Sleeping Beauties," this is eros without sex, desire without lust, but it lacks the honesty and fantasy/reality blend that makes the former story so strong.
"Of Birds and Beasts" is good enough, and a better story than "One Arm." Completely lacking in eroticism, this is another tale of an old man who seeks companionship, this time in all sorts of dogs and birds. His house is full with his menagerie, and he and his lone maid tend to the creatures with something less than love. Each new animal holds his attention for a few weeks at most, before it is filed away and forgotten in the background. Like "House of the Sleeping Beauties," each new animal summons up memories, this time of the birds that the old man kept accidentally killing, then buying a new set. A sad and lonely story to be sure, but with the same emotional depth one expects from Kawabata.
"House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories" is worth buying for the lead story alone, which is widely considered amongst Kawabata's finest. Author Yukio Mishima ("The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea") considered it his personal favorite. Edward Seidensticker's translation is subtle and enjoyable, far superior to his somewhat heavy handed translation of "Snow Country."
Rating: 
Summary: Somehow erotic....but not enough to lack a plot and....
Review: ...get away with it. Hmm...when I heard the argument of the story, about the house of the sleeping beauties (if you still don't know it read the reviews below), I was seduced by it, I thought it had a lot of potential, and that it could be something really good, refreshing and erotic. The result was not that far from my expectations, but didn't reach them either. The story is very predictable, offers no surprises, a little dull. The best part are Kawabata's descriptions on the female anatomy of the sleeping beauties, from the point of view of the main character, and old man who feels old, but still young enough to be embarrassed to attend such place. As I said, don't expect surprises, the best attitude to approach the book is to try to enjoy the author's descriptions. Don't expect much from the plot, nothing really happens. The other stories are alright, but not much more honestly.Enjoyable, but you won't miss much. Maybe I set my expectations to high because Yasunari Kawabata is a Nobel prize.
Rating:
Summary: A thinker person's collection of short stories
Review: Every time I enter the realm of magical realism I feel as though there's no going back. The intense and sometimes disturbing descriptions in the stories make you think and reflect on the surrealism and powerful message behind the writing. Having read House of the Sleeping Beauties, I realize that no other category of literature is as profound as this one. I love all of the stories in this book, especially "One Arm." This incredible and strange story awed me. There is a recurring theme in the stories: men's perverse obsession with women, particularly young girls. The message is very ambiguous, which means that you have to read between the lines in order to grasp the meaning. Yasunari Kawabata's work is very similar to Banana Yoshimoto's. These Japanese authors write stories filled with interesting language and mystical messages. I strongly suggest that you read this!
Rating:
Summary: Sleeping beauties, an arm, and birds and dogs
Review: I originally read this book aroung half a year ago and I really didn't like it, but after reading a few more Kawabata novels i decided to give this one a try again and I ended up liking it quite a bit more. Although I still prefer Junichiro Tanizaki anyday. Also, if you could make heads or tails of Yukio Mishima's introduction you are a better person than I! The first story i the title story about an old married man named Eguchi who goes to the house of the sleeping beauties. Although 67 years old, Eguchi considers himself to be in pretty good shape, so he thinks that he really does no need to frequent the house, but he goes along with it anyway, and ends up sleeping beside, not with, several young, naked girls who have been put to sleep. Sleeping with each girl brings up memories of the women of Eguchi's past. Kawabata writes a pretty story here with wonderful descriptions of the beauties and landscapes. I could easily see the beauties asleep in the room surrounded by red curtains and the flagstones covered with maple leaves. The next story "One Arm" is quite strange it is about a man who borrows a young woman's arm for the night. He even removes his own arm and attaches the woman's arm to his shoulder. I need to read the story a few more times to grasp its full story, but as always this story is filled with wonderful descriptions. I never thought anyone could make fingernails so alluring. The third story "Of Birds and Beasts" is a very odd tale about a nameless man who cares more for animals than people. As with "One Arm" I am hard pressed to understand this story. It goes on for over 20 pages about the man cares for birds and dogs. Good book, but if you want to read Kawabata I would suggest Thousand Cranes instead
Rating:
Summary: Weird old man likes to sleep with drugged women
Review: Kawabata is a great writer, but these three stories are not his best work in my opinion. The title piece, by far the longest in the book, is a sensitively-written story about a sad, kinky practice. I have no idea if it ever really existed. It has to do with old, impotent men who sleep (literally) with drugged, naked young women who know that they will have "customers", but not whom, and not what they will do. Actual sex is completely forbidden. Most people will not find this story erotic, though Mishima Yukio, the famous writer, calls it that in his introduction. The words "beautiful" and "poetic" seldom came to my mind, though "disturbing" and "thought-provoking" did. The protagonist, Eguchi, sleeps with a number of different "beauties", each of whom reminds him of something in his past. Also, "there seemed to be a sadness in a young girl's body that called up in an old man a longing for death." (p.59) The end is stark and brings out the inhumanity of such fantasies or such practices. If you like this sort of subject, introversion in a rather sick way, an attraction to body parts separate from the whole human, a peeping Tom version of eroticism----a style of ailing or macabre fascination similar to that found in Tanizaki Junichiro's "The Key" and "Diary of a Mad Old Man"----then this book is for you. The other two stories: "One Arm" and "Of Birds and Beasts", are also about such lonely, introverted men, ("autistic" comes to mind), with rather unpleasant themes. I did not like either one. I admit that the writing is good, the translation brilliant; it is just my own taste in subjects. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Rating:
Summary: The terror of lust by the approach of death
Review: Kawabata's magisterial short novel is a beautiful but sad reverie about life and death, young and old, sex and coming impotence.
Sleeping with sleeping girls ('a deathlike sleep') was 'a fleeting consolation, the pursuit of a vanished happiness in being alive.'
'The sleeping beauties are for an old man the recovery of life, but also a sadness ... that called up a longing for death. The aged have death and the young have love, and death comes once, and love comes over and over again.'
Kawabata's writing is subtle (the old man is tempted to breach the house rules) and intimistic (the descriptions of the ethereal bodies of the sleeping virgins).
But, as the great Japanese writer Yukio Mishima expresses it perfectly in his introduction, this book is a pregnant reflection on 'the terror of lust by the approach of death.'
A masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: One of Kawabata's Many, Many Best
Review: This is one of the most elegantly written stories in and outside of Japanese Literature. Kawabta's writing style is so subtle and enticing, it doesn't matter if you are completely turned off by his subject matter, you'll still want to read to the very end. Fortunately for this book, as well as the majority of his other works, that is far from the case. This tale of an old man, who avoids comming to terms with his aging by spends nights at a brothel with young girls put on heavy sleeping medicine, examines the dark truth of loneliness and self-loathing. It is a metaphor for what every person fears in the inevitability of aging, and with Kawabata's unique form, it is a 5 star novella.
Rating:
Summary: One of Kawabata's Many, Many Best
Review: This is one of the most elegantly written stories in and outside of Japanese Literature. Kawabta's writing style is so subtle and enticing, it doesn't matter if you are completely turned off by his subject matter, you'll still want to read to the very end. Fortunately for this book, as well as the majority of his other works, that is far from the case. This tale of an old man, who avoids comming to terms with his aging by spends nights at a brothel with young girls put on heavy sleeping medicine, examines the dark truth of loneliness and self-loathing. It is a metaphor for what every person fears in the inevitability of aging, and with Kawabata's unique form, it is a 5 star novella.
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