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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Read 4/29/21 - 5/9/21: See The Sea of Fertility for review.
I still don't know how I'm going to reconcile entries of the individual works alongside my reading of the entire [b:The Sea of Fertility|171087|The Sea of Fertility|Yukio Mishima|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1318520725l/171087._SY75_.jpg|15067059] tetralogy, but I can at least add them as I go along.
I still don't know how I'm going to reconcile entries of the individual works alongside my reading of the entire [b:The Sea of Fertility|171087|The Sea of Fertility|Yukio Mishima|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1318520725l/171087._SY75_.jpg|15067059] tetralogy, but I can at least add them as I go along.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Il primo e secondo me migliore dei romanzi che compongono la tetralogia "Il mare della fertilità", quello più onirico e sospeso in un Giappone in bilico tra tradizione e modernità e, nello stesso tempo, quello con la trama più comprensibile per un occidentale: una classica storia d'amore e morte, impreziosita dai per noi estranei stilemi giapponesi che la rendono particolarmente coinvolgente ed esotica.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful prose: Mishima punctuates each point with a spiritual parable that binds the human condition to something more ethereal. The juxtaposition of those too imaginative and those without create a prison-like atmosphere-- will your self-awareness save you? Not until it's too late.
I yearn at the side of Kiyo and at the same time, I judge him for his fits of flight. Each character serves as a different foil to his sensitivity, and each one falls for it. Either by Honda's passive indulgence or Satoko's coy antagonism, Kiyo is spun around and around again until his physical body blows away-- leaving only the soul. (A consequence for neglecting the body and heart)
A joy to read.
I yearn at the side of Kiyo and at the same time, I judge him for his fits of flight. Each character serves as a different foil to his sensitivity, and each one falls for it. Either by Honda's passive indulgence or Satoko's coy antagonism, Kiyo is spun around and around again until his physical body blows away-- leaving only the soul. (A consequence for neglecting the body and heart)
A joy to read.
Beautiful writing, interesting plot. The main character was so loathsome to me that it colored the whole book. Still interested in the next installment in this tetralogy.
Even when we're with someone we love, we're foolish enough to think of her body and soul as being separate. To stand before the person we love is not the same as loving her true self, for we are only apt to regard her physical beauty as the indispensable mode of her existence. When time and space intervene, it is possible to be deceived by both, but on the other hand, it is equally possible to draw twice as close to her real self.
Delectable writing, disturbing characters; what a mixture.
* Review to come? Maybe on my blog.
** The Sea of Fertility:
Runaway Horses
The Temple of Dawn
The Decay of the Angel
Delectable writing, disturbing characters; what a mixture.
* Review to come? Maybe on my blog.
** The Sea of Fertility:
Runaway Horses
The Temple of Dawn
The Decay of the Angel
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Did not expect this book to be as good as it was. A tragic love story, but only because it was brought on by the protagonist himself—his haughtiness. Such a tragic end could have been avoided. Nonetheless good book that mixes intellectual discussion with a dramatic plot.
My first Mishima but maybe not my last. Such an interesting story. It took like 150 pages for me to get fully invested but then i couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen. Plenty of twist and turns. Lots of character development and character devolvement. The ending is everything I could have wanted. There were a few parts that were a bit slow but overall I very much enjoyed it.
Spring Snow reminded me a lot of Thomas Mann's 'The Magic Mountain', with its focus on a wealthy young man coming of age under the reader's gaze, and its frequent philosophical excursions. Fascinating reflections on free will, transmigration of souls, natural law, e.g.
Mishima writes with that classically Japanese sensitivity to the natural, and seamlessly blends in some profound points of symbolism.
This book was also an interesting insight into Japanese high society at the end of the Meiji era. The attractions of the West were clear, while maintaining a very strong sense of Japan's unique identity. It has a lot to say about the place of personal duty to one's family, state or emperor. We are given elegant portraits of what it looks like to promote oneself at the expense of the other/collective, and the opposite (especially in the recurring image of the soldier). This is certainly relevant to the author, given the manner of his death.
Makeup, and its dual ability to enhance one's looks and to breed disease, is another frequent symbol. It allows individuals to dissemble, but also to better play the role assigned to them in the game (or stage) of life in imperial Japan. Interesting too how we are given so little insight into the thoughts of any female character, in contrast to the superfluity we receive of Kiyo's.
The tone throughout was measured, meticulous, and beautiful, though still with a forward impetus retaining the reader's interest, and avoiding the book slipping into mere sentimentality (as much as Kiyo himself is guilty of this).
Having finished the book, I was left with the impression of having encountered an epic, perhaps because of the seriousness of its subject matter, but more (I think) because of its beautiful proportions. Mishima's characters will certainly stay with me.
Mishima writes with that classically Japanese sensitivity to the natural, and seamlessly blends in some profound points of symbolism.
This book was also an interesting insight into Japanese high society at the end of the Meiji era. The attractions of the West were clear, while maintaining a very strong sense of Japan's unique identity. It has a lot to say about the place of personal duty to one's family, state or emperor. We are given elegant portraits of what it looks like to promote oneself at the expense of the other/collective, and the opposite (especially in the recurring image of the soldier). This is certainly relevant to the author, given the manner of his death.
Makeup, and its dual ability to enhance one's looks and to breed disease, is another frequent symbol. It allows individuals to dissemble, but also to better play the role assigned to them in the game (or stage) of life in imperial Japan. Interesting too how we are given so little insight into the thoughts of any female character, in contrast to the superfluity we receive of Kiyo's.
The tone throughout was measured, meticulous, and beautiful, though still with a forward impetus retaining the reader's interest, and avoiding the book slipping into mere sentimentality (as much as Kiyo himself is guilty of this).
Having finished the book, I was left with the impression of having encountered an epic, perhaps because of the seriousness of its subject matter, but more (I think) because of its beautiful proportions. Mishima's characters will certainly stay with me.