Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata

I read the beginning part of the novel as a reflection on art and life; married and middle aged Oki Toshio, a Kawabatan male artist falls in love with teenage Otoko Ueno, and impregnates her. The baby dies at birth, but out comes a novel by Oki through the experience, which is type written by his real wife. Oki begins his career as a novelist, and Otoko soon follows with a career as a painter.

The story takes place more than 20 years after this event. The novel he wrote almost takes on an autonomous life of its own, stripped is it from the particularities of its existence and moved to the universal plane of art. 

Kawabata writes through Otoko to explore the relationship between the artist and art, following the minute thoughts that pass through her as she prepares a painting.
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