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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
3.5 out of stars
This was a peculiar book. I don't really know how to rate of review his, because my feelings on it are a little unclear still. Here's an attempt.
As for the writing in the book, I personally found it beautiful. It might seem pompous at first, but once you realize that instead of pretentious it is simply Mishima's prefered style, it is pretty easy to adapt to. It took me a while to warm up to it, but later on I enjoyed its flow despite the embelishments.
Themes in the book range from the disturbing and sacrilegious to the philosophical and existential. The protagonist exhibits self-destructive behaviour throughout the story, which maakes it especially sad, considering he is dealing with some deep-rooted shame concerning his sexuality. The author's own experience with sexuality could provide some interesting context to the reader who would like to to look it up. Mishima's life and idiosyncrasy are very interesting in general due to the notoriety of his political views and the conditions of his death.
The tone of course is confessional so the book is direct and character-driven. It could even possibly be described as esoteric. The way the matter of the protagonist's "deviant desires" was handled was a lot more careful and sympathetic that I had originally feared. That being said, I am adding some potential content warnings here. TRIGGER WARNINGS: homophobia, internalized homophobia, graphic violence, ephebophilia-attraction towards minors*.
Happy reading!
*Note:
This was a peculiar book. I don't really know how to rate of review his, because my feelings on it are a little unclear still. Here's an attempt.
As for the writing in the book, I personally found it beautiful. It might seem pompous at first, but once you realize that instead of pretentious it is simply Mishima's prefered style, it is pretty easy to adapt to. It took me a while to warm up to it, but later on I enjoyed its flow despite the embelishments.
Themes in the book range from the disturbing and sacrilegious to the philosophical and existential. The protagonist exhibits self-destructive behaviour throughout the story, which maakes it especially sad, considering he is dealing with some deep-rooted shame concerning his sexuality. The author's own experience with sexuality could provide some interesting context to the reader who would like to to look it up. Mishima's life and idiosyncrasy are very interesting in general due to the notoriety of his political views and the conditions of his death.
The tone of course is confessional so the book is direct and character-driven. It could even possibly be described as esoteric. The way the matter of the protagonist's "deviant desires" was handled was a lot more careful and sympathetic that I had originally feared. That being said, I am adding some potential content warnings here. TRIGGER WARNINGS: homophobia, internalized homophobia, graphic violence, ephebophilia-attraction towards minors*.
Happy reading!
*Note:
Spoiler
Although a distinction between prepubescent and pubescent bodies is made, paedophilia and ephebophilia are a little too close for comfort in my mind, so I thought I should mention it.
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
reflective
slow-paced
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Confessioni di una maschera parla del l'introspezione della voce narrante - lo stesso Mishima - e la sua scoperta di sé stesso e della sua omosessualità.
La lettura è stata molto interessante, a mio parere, soprattutto lo scorcio storico del Giappone negli anni '30 e '40, oltre che per lo stile a tratti crudo e a tratti poetico di Mishima. Lo stile nel suo insieme risulta scorrevole e intrigante.
In generale mi sento di consigliare il libro (anche se ci sono cose come il knife/blood play che possono non essere le cups of tea di tutti quanti, come nel mio caso).
La lettura è stata molto interessante, a mio parere, soprattutto lo scorcio storico del Giappone negli anni '30 e '40, oltre che per lo stile a tratti crudo e a tratti poetico di Mishima. Lo stile nel suo insieme risulta scorrevole e intrigante.
In generale mi sento di consigliare il libro (anche se ci sono cose come il knife/blood play che possono non essere le cups of tea di tutti quanti, come nel mio caso).
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Me ha gustado más la segunda mitad que la primera. Al final, toda la subtrama de Sonoko me ha gustado mucho también, y, como en general el protagonista me caía bien, leer sus comidas de tarro era ameno. Me ha parecido miy interesante y me ha hecho pensar en lo mucho que ha avanzado la sociedad, y menos mal. ¡Me ha gustado cómo estaba escrito y sobre todo el final!
4.5⭐️
This is one of those books that’s to me more about the writing and the characters themselves than about the story (though the story is ok as well). How this man could write with such beauty and delicacy about the most crude things and somehow get me more interested in each sentence I don’t know. I think I just like these unreliable narrators, because I was really curious and interested in every doing and thought of the MC and with everything he did I pondered questions about myself. This book will forever be dear to my heart somehow, or I least I think so.
This is one of those books that’s to me more about the writing and the characters themselves than about the story (though the story is ok as well). How this man could write with such beauty and delicacy about the most crude things and somehow get me more interested in each sentence I don’t know. I think I just like these unreliable narrators, because I was really curious and interested in every doing and thought of the MC and with everything he did I pondered questions about myself. This book will forever be dear to my heart somehow, or I least I think so.
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes