Scan barcode
A review by hadia_00
The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
5.0
Unlike the other two books I have read by Mishima, this had a pretty slow start. So much so that at one point, around the 50-page I put it down for over 3 weeks before picking it back up. But after those few chapters the book became unputdownable. So, even though I was initially thinking of giving this a lower rating, the overall story was worth the wait.
We follow a young boy named Mizoguchi, who becomes a stutterer due to some childhood trauma. This gives his schoolmates a reason to make fun of him which affects his self-image severely. He hates his disability and finds himself ugly because of it. On top of that, he now has to become an acolyte at The Golden Temple in Kyoto to fulfil his father's dying wish.
It's the same temple whose beauty his father used to describe in great detail to him as a child. But he doesn't believe it'll be as beautiful in person, that is until he sets his eyes on it. He becomes unnaturally consumed by the temple's beauty, to the point that it inevitably destroys him.
The book is loosely based on a true event and is a brilliantly written psychological study of a young, traumatised mind. Mishima's way of making something banal seem worthy of deeper analysis and conveying complex emotions in an accessible manner is unmatched till date.
We follow a young boy named Mizoguchi, who becomes a stutterer due to some childhood trauma. This gives his schoolmates a reason to make fun of him which affects his self-image severely. He hates his disability and finds himself ugly because of it. On top of that, he now has to become an acolyte at The Golden Temple in Kyoto to fulfil his father's dying wish.
It's the same temple whose beauty his father used to describe in great detail to him as a child. But he doesn't believe it'll be as beautiful in person, that is until he sets his eyes on it. He becomes unnaturally consumed by the temple's beauty, to the point that it inevitably destroys him.
The book is loosely based on a true event and is a brilliantly written psychological study of a young, traumatised mind. Mishima's way of making something banal seem worthy of deeper analysis and conveying complex emotions in an accessible manner is unmatched till date.