Reviews

Star by Yukio Mishima

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mxnprsmpower's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

qomareads's review against another edition

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3.0

Loved the cover from the penguin series.

angelsbeforeman's review

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reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

a very short book about rikio, a young actor. there's not much plot beyond rikio filming a movie, because the book's point is to analyze a celebrity's life. rikio is constantly in the spotlight, he's loved by many, and many would like to be with him. he's also in some strange sexual relationship with kayo, his makeup artist, who goes out of her way to defy beauty standards.
the author explores how a celebrity might feel lonely and empty despite everything they appear to have. it's like rikio wants something more from life but can't put it into words, and he often feels empty. he feels like he's putting on a mask every time he starts recording, and it's difficult for him to draw a line between who he is and who he's acting as. his attitude towards fans is also interesting, since he

can't take a fan's suicide seriously.

the discussions of death as a celebrity in this book are also interesting. i don't have any complaints about the writing style, i feel like it fit the novel and was well done overall. i would've given this 4 stars if it made me more emotional.

evilisarelaysport's review

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reflective tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character

600bars's review

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4.0

First time reading Mishima, this was under 100 pages but I liked it. I had "lucky" by Britney Spears stuck in my head and was thinking about her conservatorship, for obvious reasons. I was also reminded of perfect blue (fame, unreality) a bit, and justin bieber, and that video of BTS in some sad side room on one of the boy's birthdays where he is facetiming his family and crying. Will u still love me when Im no longer youngggg and beautifulllllllllllllll

SOS quotes that apply:

60) The celebrity, the spectacular representation of a living human being, embodies this banality by embodying the image of a possible role. Being a star means specializing in the seemingly lived; the star is the object of identification with the shallow seeming life that has to compensate for the fragmented productive specializations which are actually lived. Celebrities exist to act out various styles of living and viewing society unfettered, free to express themselves globally. They embody the inaccessible result of social labor by dramatizing its by-products magically projected above it as its goal: power and vacations, decision and consumption, which are the beginning and end of an undiscussed process. In one case state power personalizes itself as a pseudo-star; in another a star of consumption gets elected as a pseudo-power over the lived. But just as the activities of the star are not really global, they are not really varied.

61) The agent of the spectacle placed on stage as a star is the opposite of the individual, the enemy of the individual in himself as well as in others. Passing into the spectacle as a model for identification, the agent renounces all autonomous qualities in order to identify himself with the general law of obedience to the course of things.

neck tilting scene reminded me of the business card scene from american psycho

"thats its plan. it wants to cleanse the planet by eradicating everything else that contradicts its vision" p 86 zoinks

I can't say I feel bad for celebrities per se aside from child stars who are forced into it, but I can't imagine not belonging to yourself or to reality, and they probably don't get to sleep very much. THat would scramble my brains. That's why having a celeb character is such a good setting for this type of psychological story.

His only true friend being his assistant is like how if you look at the instagram stories of the Kardashians, the people they actually hang out with are their makeup artists and hairdressers and stylists. It's like how Denaerys in GOT's close companions are people who work for her like her guards and serving girls.