Scan barcode
A review by aemynadira
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is my 1st Mishima book. As I started to write this review, I struggled to find the best way to describe it. A love story seems too banal. Father & son dilemma too simple. Then this answer came to me: an attempt to recapture memory, a moment long gone, set into the frame of tragic love story.
It's a story of Kiyoaki set in Tokyo of 1912. Raised in the family tradition of aristocracy, he fell in love with the elegant and sophisticated Satoko. Her beauty overwhelms him, but for Kiyoaki's father, it’s a bad omen. Satoko is about to marry a royal prince, & when all hopes become non-existent for Kiyoaki, he gives her up only to realize too late the magnitude of his despair & passion. The passion is mutual, & the lovers are set on the dangerous, obsessive course. This illicit affair is doomed from the start & they both have to pay an extraordinary price for it.
The love between Kiyoaki & Satoko is beautiful, but so sad & tragic, full of anxiety, existential crisis & like in real life, timing's a b*tch.
Kiyoaki is not exactly a likable character. He's selfish, manipulative & moody, but also enigmatic, unpredictable & melancholy. Another significant character is Honda, Kiyoaki's friend. I love how he's deeply into nuances & philosophy, & how he always contemplates.
Spring Snow is the 1st book of The Sea Of Fertility tetralogy, but I'm not planning to read the next 3 books yet. Someday, perhaps. In this life or next.
It's a story of Kiyoaki set in Tokyo of 1912. Raised in the family tradition of aristocracy, he fell in love with the elegant and sophisticated Satoko. Her beauty overwhelms him, but for Kiyoaki's father, it’s a bad omen. Satoko is about to marry a royal prince, & when all hopes become non-existent for Kiyoaki, he gives her up only to realize too late the magnitude of his despair & passion. The passion is mutual, & the lovers are set on the dangerous, obsessive course. This illicit affair is doomed from the start & they both have to pay an extraordinary price for it.
The love between Kiyoaki & Satoko is beautiful, but so sad & tragic, full of anxiety, existential crisis & like in real life, timing's a b*tch.
Kiyoaki is not exactly a likable character. He's selfish, manipulative & moody, but also enigmatic, unpredictable & melancholy. Another significant character is Honda, Kiyoaki's friend. I love how he's deeply into nuances & philosophy, & how he always contemplates.
Spring Snow is the 1st book of The Sea Of Fertility tetralogy, but I'm not planning to read the next 3 books yet. Someday, perhaps. In this life or next.