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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was my first ever book by Yukio Mishima and certainly not the last. So excited to explore more of his work. I read it slowly or more like one short story at a time and thoroughly enjoyed his writing style.
My favorite stories were (in this order);
Patriotism
Dōjōji
Death in Midsummer
The Seven Bridges
The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love
The Pearl.
Three Million Yen, Thermos Bottles, and Swaddling Clothes were good too but not the best ones out of the nine stories selected for this collection.
My favorite stories were (in this order);
Patriotism
Dōjōji
Death in Midsummer
The Seven Bridges
The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love
The Pearl.
Three Million Yen, Thermos Bottles, and Swaddling Clothes were good too but not the best ones out of the nine stories selected for this collection.
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Some pretty writing and the story about the soldier and his wife was very immersive, but it was clear the author had some weird views about women
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I found this book to be a bit of a mix. I really enjoyed a couple of the short stories, some I thought were pretty good and others I found less engaging. It took me a little while to get into the style of writing but I did enjoy it and found it to be reflective and contemplative at times.
Highlights for me were the stories: The High Priest of Shiba, Patriotism, Death in Midsummer and The seven Bridges.
If I were to read this book again, I would read it slightly differently and rather than read it like a normal book, I would set aside a chunk of time to read each story.
Warning: There are some quite graphic depictions of suicide/blood/death in the book.
Highlights for me were the stories: The High Priest of Shiba, Patriotism, Death in Midsummer and The seven Bridges.
If I were to read this book again, I would read it slightly differently and rather than read it like a normal book, I would set aside a chunk of time to read each story.
Warning: There are some quite graphic depictions of suicide/blood/death in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail
read the short story death in midsummer in one sitting, very traumatic themes but well written
It's always a delight when a gifted novelist proves to also be a deft hand at writing short stories. Mishima displays his mastery of the form in this 1966 collection, and the translators did a wonderful job conveying his meaning and all the strange undercurrents of his writing.
Standout stories:
Death in Midsummer: a couple grapples with the enormity of grief in the wake of the loss of most of their young family.
The Priest and His Love: a famed Buddhist priest, known for his purity and transcendence, finds himself unaccountably infatuated with a concubine, who has her own startling experience when made aware of his affections.
Seven Bridges: Three geishas and a country servant attempt to cross seven bridges in Tokyo without speaking or being spoken to in order to fulfill their secret wishes.
Patriotism: this might be the single most prophetic and horrific piece Mishima wrote -- an account of a lieutenant's suicide in the wake of the February 26 Incident -- it's impossible to separate from his own death and ideology and that adds to the horror.
Onnagata: A non-artistic man who works at a Kabuki theater finds himself suddenly jealous of a new director's attentions towards the star onnagata (male actor who plays female roles) and struggles to deal with his own emotions towards the man.
The Pearl: a pearl is lost at a birthday party and a comedy of manners ensues among four friends.
This collection was fantastic. Mishima displays a wicked sense of irony and a disturbing hint of his future plans. The stories range from Wilde-esque comedy to unsettling nationalist fantasies to a short play about a wardrobe.Threaded throughout the collection is a deep anxiety about modernity and post-war Japanese life. I'm not an expert in translation but found the light hand in this work impeccable, and a contemporaneous NYT review of the collection supports the claim that this is truly exemplary translation work.
my copy had the previous owner's notes in it. next to the story about seppuku they wrote "a little too nutcase"
Standout stories:
Death in Midsummer: a couple grapples with the enormity of grief in the wake of the loss of most of their young family.
The Priest and His Love: a famed Buddhist priest, known for his purity and transcendence, finds himself unaccountably infatuated with a concubine, who has her own startling experience when made aware of his affections.
Seven Bridges: Three geishas and a country servant attempt to cross seven bridges in Tokyo without speaking or being spoken to in order to fulfill their secret wishes.
Patriotism: this might be the single most prophetic and horrific piece Mishima wrote -- an account of a lieutenant's suicide in the wake of the February 26 Incident -- it's impossible to separate from his own death and ideology and that adds to the horror.
Onnagata: A non-artistic man who works at a Kabuki theater finds himself suddenly jealous of a new director's attentions towards the star onnagata (male actor who plays female roles) and struggles to deal with his own emotions towards the man.
The Pearl: a pearl is lost at a birthday party and a comedy of manners ensues among four friends.
This collection was fantastic. Mishima displays a wicked sense of irony and a disturbing hint of his future plans. The stories range from Wilde-esque comedy to unsettling nationalist fantasies to a short play about a wardrobe.Threaded throughout the collection is a deep anxiety about modernity and post-war Japanese life. I'm not an expert in translation but found the light hand in this work impeccable, and a contemporaneous NYT review of the collection supports the claim that this is truly exemplary translation work.
my copy had the previous owner's notes in it. next to the story about seppuku they wrote "a little too nutcase"
Read it mainly for Patriotism but FUCKKKK I was bored as hell, man, and I'm not blaming the book, I think I just need something exciting and fun and Japanese books just don't offer that, it's a lot more contemplative.