Reviews

Meleğin Çürüyüşü by Püren Özgören, Yukio Mishima, Yukio Mishima

antony_monir's review against another edition

5.0

I am so sad that I’m done with the Sea of Fertility tetralogy. There is so much to be said about it and about this last entry. I will keep it short. The ending for this book is so devastating and it’s very hard to wrap my head around it, not because it’s confusing but because the thematic implications of it change how I see every other book in the series. I will say though that this book would have benefited from being longer as the pacing seems rushed at some points and the relationship between Tōru and Honda is not developed much. In the end this is an amazing conclusion to one of the greatest series of novels of the 20th century. Final rating: 4/5 (standalone) or 5/5 (as a conclusion to the series).

booccmaster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

benrogerswpg's review against another edition

4.0

Great read.

Mishima was such a talented writer.

Really great end to the Sea of Fertility series.
I liked this book much more than book 3 [b:The Temple of Dawn|787424|The Temple of Dawn (The Sea of Fertility, #3)|Yukio Mishima|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361254923l/787424._SY75_.jpg|1191271].

Lots of deep, inner, hidden meanings in this book.

Great way to end!

Apparently Yukio offed himself within 1 day of submitting this book to the publishers.
With that knowledge, the last portion of this book was very hard to read.

3.8/5

kumipaul's review against another edition

3.0

I normally really love Mishima, and I still did love his beautiful descriptive writing here, but the first 40% or so often felt like he was rambling and trying too hard to create a story. Or maybe trying too hard to find some rational thought patterns. As the story progressed, he seemed to settle into it and it felt less strange. As for characters, Honda was consistent with the character that had been established in his first three books of the tetralogy. Toru, the adopted son, was heartless evil as he became the son and sole heir, which was a little baffling since the author had not established enough of Toru's history to inform us as to why this occurred. Toru's meanness made me want to reach inside the book and grab him, and throw the book at him. I had read the first three books, but there were many times that I thought that this book would be a failure without those first three. Lots of references to the critical early incarnations and their relationships, and I think I would have been lost trying to read this one on its own. Overall, I mostly enjoyed the second half, but the strength of the book was the final scene at the convent.

schenkelberg's review against another edition

4.0

Its been too long since I started the Tetrology, and reading its conclusion reminds me of how little I've retained from the earlier parts of the sequence apart from the general arcs and rough outlines of characters, so really I need to read the four again, in succession. But still, this is one of the most magnificent pieces of writing I've read, second only to the beginning story, Spring Snow (choosing favorites, after Angel I'd choose Runaway Horses, and finally Temple of Dawn simply because that's the one I remember the least of).

These four books are an incredible display of Mishima's absolute mastery over image, stirring convictions across a broad range of topics, ideologies, and belief-systems, and his incredible characters, striding from the page in ways almost more vivid than reality, dancing through generations, driven by evil and beauty, and falling into perfect, beautiful mistakes.

kyuni's review against another edition

Me cago en mi vida. Me cago en mi vida y en las multiples reencarnaciones, reales o no, que me han precedido y me sucederán. Se han hecho múltiples intentos a lo largo de la historia de la literatura de retratar o recrear un país mediante la historia de unos cuantos individuos del mismo (los Episodios nacionales, por no irnos muy lejos), pero no tengo tan claro que se haya intentando reflejar no la realidad externa, sino la consciencia de uno mismo volcada sobre hechos históricos, entretejidos como hebras del mismo hilo, que es el destino de un solo personaje irrelevante, insustancial, apenas un observador sin honor ni orgullo para ser relevante en la Historia, para dejar un impacto o una marca en el Tiempo que le ha tocado vivir. Y, cuando lo hace, aquí, en La corrupción de un ángel, fracasa tan estrepitosamente que borra a su vez todo el pasado que le ha tocado vivir, llegando a la nada más absoluta donde, supongo, se podrá estar en calma. Cada novela de El mar de la fertilidad es un obra magna en sí misma, tirando y siendo tirada de tradiciones literarias, estilísticas e históricas que las diferencian. O quizás es que sus propios personaje exigen que sean narradas de formas tan distintas. Kiyoaki necesita que su obra sea un drama decimonónico, casi que occidental, mientras que Isao rechaza de pleno esta idea para enfrascarse en algo que se asemeja más a un thriller, y Ying Chan pide un ensayo sobre su propia pertenencia como mujer lesbiana en un mundo dominado por hombres que han sido arrebatados de todo poder por otros hombres, empujándolos hasta detrás de las estanterías, donde solo pueden observar. Al final, Toru es una versión especular y deformada de todos estos. No tiene convicciones, no tiene ideales, es una fuerza sin consciencia que no brilla y no importa. Es, Honda se da cuenta al principio, un igual a Honda. Es imposible, en mis limitaciones, hablar de El mar de la fertilidad como si fuera capaz de desentrañar todo lo que aquí se ha tejido, como si pudiera coger de un hilo que cuelga y deshacer por completo el tapiz. Supongo que sería más fácil hacer un trabajo de disección partiendo del suceso final de Mishima. Pero, ¿cómo de banal es eso? El suicidio, tema central en todas las obras, no da sentido a los actos pretéritos, sino que los actos devienen en la única resolución posible. Me cago en mi vida, esto es un caos. Durante cuatro novelas, casi dos mil páginas, me he preguntado por qué Honda, quién es Honda, qué hace Honda aquí. Sería también muy fácil, chabacano incluso, resolver todo el asunto diciendo que Honda es Japón y en sus arrugas, sus acciones, su pensamiento, se encapsula la evolución de un país durante 70 años, un país traumatizado, un país que ha evolucionado en tan poco tiempo como ningún otro, un país con un sentido identitario tan fuerte que es imposible no reconocerlo. Sería este un flaco favor a toda la narración. Honda, me temo, no es Japón. La solución es terrible, me doy cuenta ahora, porque nos lleva a preguntarnos qué hacemos ninguno aquí, por qué nosotros, quiénes somos.

mrears0_0's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

somewhat on the nose but didn’t love or hate this

giancarlon's review against another edition

3.0

Last book of the tetralogy "The Sea of Fertility". I must say that the last two books in the series have left a rather bitter taste in my mouth. Better than the third chapter, but still far from the first two. The book takes too long to get to the heart of the matter, the plot moves without real justification or explanation, and the conclusion seems written just right to close the story as quickly as possible.

villytop's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

stephie's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense

3.75