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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s amazing how very now this book feels despite being set in WWII Japan. Lucid emotional writing about becoming oneself in the face of norms/expectations and existential dread/threat
So he has to pretend to be someone he's not, big deal, we all do this
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, War
Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Cannibalism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel kind of ambivalent about this book at the moment . Whilst it features some truly beautiful writing and fascinating metaphors , it took me rather a long time to finish because I was struggling to follow the narrator's train of thoughts. I empathised with his inner conflict and self-disgust , leading to the facade of heterosexuality but I found him quite unreliable as a narrator. That obviously is usually fascinating to me but it didn't quite work in this book, he was frequently separating his emotional and intellectual sides , leaving the reader unsure as to how to interpret him as a human. I also thought treatment of Sonoko was quite heartless and futile , experimentation is all well and good but savagely cutting her off ... reminded me of behaviour of narrator in A Personal Matter?
A very short book, melancholy and depressing.
Mishima digs into his core to bring out the tortured and self-torturing childhood, adolescence and early adulthood of a queer man in mid-20th century Japan. From a stifling home to a stifling school to a danger-ridden ending of WW2.
He tries to find normalcy and experience love with women but his real desires and their impossible nature stop him.
I hope queer kids and teens don't experience that in these days, not in first world countries, not that bad.
Mishima digs into his core to bring out the tortured and self-torturing childhood, adolescence and early adulthood of a queer man in mid-20th century Japan. From a stifling home to a stifling school to a danger-ridden ending of WW2.
He tries to find normalcy and experience love with women but his real desires and their impossible nature stop him.
I hope queer kids and teens don't experience that in these days, not in first world countries, not that bad.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes