El pabellón de oro
by Yukio Mishima
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 625)
*** NEW ADDITION, Jan 4, 2009.
The real story about the young man who set fire to this Japanese treasure in order to become immortal in the national imagination has always fascinated me. I am choosing this as my introduction to Mishima. ***As every tourist is told, although the young man hoped to live powerfully imbedded in Japanese memory, the officials outfoxed him, blandly telling the public that he was obviously a very disturbed person and so as not to further embarrass his family and hims...more
The real story about the young man who set fire to this Japanese treasure in order to become immortal in the national imagination has always fascinated me. I am choosing this as my introduction to Mishima. ***As every tourist is told, although the young man hoped to live powerfully imbedded in Japanese memory, the officials outfoxed him, blandly telling the public that he was obviously a very disturbed person and so as not to further embarrass his family and hims...more
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Read in May, 2006
Mishima is one of the most famous modern Japanese writers and, near as I can tell, a complete nutjob. Or was, anyway. He killed himself by seppuku back in 1970.
Kinkakuji is one of his most famous works, and I chose it as a first entry into Mishima because I love reading books set in Kyoto and, well, I've been to Kinkakuji a few times.
My reaction upon seeing it was a lot like the main character's - disappointment. In the book, a young Mizuguchi is told by his father that the Golden...more
Kinkakuji is one of his most famous works, and I chose it as a first entry into Mishima because I love reading books set in Kyoto and, well, I've been to Kinkakuji a few times.
My reaction upon seeing it was a lot like the main character's - disappointment. In the book, a young Mizuguchi is told by his father that the Golden...more
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Read in October, 2007
This was the first book by Mishima for me. It is poetic and complex with beautifully written passages and deep multilayered but unlikable characters. The psychological dynamics of the central protagonist seem unfathomable at times, and I have to wonder whether this is the result of a cultural difference (from the original Japanese -- and my wife read it in that language, her native tongue, but we still don't know) or the fact that the character is, by definition, messed up. Based on a true sto...more
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Read in February, 2008
For me, honestly, this was a two star book but I threw it another star out of respect for its quality. I know this guy's one of Japan's most famous and respected authors, but I couldn't get into this young man's struggle at a Zen temple to discover his life's meaning, or understand the true meaning of beauty, or whatever the hell this was about. It's obvious even in translation that Mishima is no slouch, and for a few pages at a time this novel went all the way up to five stars for me, but then ...more
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Read in September, 2008
What a creepy book. Mishima's tale of a nihilistic young Zen monk seems to encapsulate all the poisonous self-loathing of post-war Japan, and crush it down with relentless force into a cancerous diamond. Based on a true story, but don't let the facts distract you from the mythic horror of it all. The young anti-hero gradually but willfully collapses himself into a realm of absolutes, where all his choices are reduced to a singularity: one epic gesture of hateful destruction. If you like modern J...more
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Read in July, 2008
Mishima's death/life has reached a point where his actual body of work has been eclipsed. It's okay with me 'cuz I know he would've wanted it that way.
This book is amazing. Mishima is amazing. I'm totally obsessed with quasi-sociopathic gay men (Mishima, Genet, Cooper, even Burroughs) and their construction of masculinity. Genet and Mishima in particular and their dual worship of criminals and facists. Really, there's just something about poets claiming to be unfeeling slabs of maleness that ...more
This book is amazing. Mishima is amazing. I'm totally obsessed with quasi-sociopathic gay men (Mishima, Genet, Cooper, even Burroughs) and their construction of masculinity. Genet and Mishima in particular and their dual worship of criminals and facists. Really, there's just something about poets claiming to be unfeeling slabs of maleness that ...more
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Read in January, 2008
excellent story of the life of a young acolyte of a zen buddhist sect. mizoguchi is a stutterer from childhood and because of this he never is capable of connecting with other people or what he refers to as the outside world. he believes his stuttering is and therefore he is the opposite of beauty, so he becomes obsessed with what to him is the epitome of beauty which is a golden temple. because he is obsessed with the idea of beauty he has an uncontrollable urge to destroy beauty and to be evil...more
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Read in June, 2008
Based on a real person, this is the account of a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk who loved, became obsessed with, and finally destroyed his home, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. Set around the time of the second world war and published in 1959, this book is thoroughly modern in its exploration of the monk's psyche. At times surreal, at times stunningly beautiful; a true classic of Japanese literature.
An interesting side note--Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide by disemboweling ...more
An interesting side note--Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide by disemboweling ...more
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My least favorite Mishima so far. Also his most introspective interior, which for me conflicts with his straight-forward minimalist narritive. In other works, his style brought out contradictions, here it feel bare and lonely. More appropriate for the narrative admittedly, but otherwise sparse. Perhaps I would've enjoyed it more if I related to the context, or I found it more accessible as collective memory. I dont think he did anything ...more
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Read in February, 2008
Mishima's story of a disturbed young Buddhist acolyte is based on a true account of the burning of Kinkakuji (The title of the book and famous temple in Kyoto). Mishima actually interviewed the arsonist while still in prison. A masterpiece. Mishima understands at the intellectual level the meanings of many Koans (Buddhist puzzles) to play with them and twist them, revealing the mind of the main character, Mizoguchi. Mishima's fascination with Nihilism comes alive in this dark, yet beautifully wr...more
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Read in September, 2008
"In the village roofs whose dim outlines emerged in the darkness of the dawn, in the black trees, in the black summits of the Aobayama, yes, even in Uiko who now stood before me, there was a complete and terrible meaninglessness. Something had bestowed reality on all this without waiting for my participation; and this great, meaningless, utterly dark reality was given to me, was pressed on me, with a weight that I had until then never witnessed."
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Probably the best birthday present I've ever received. It is the story of one man's lifelong battle against religion. Although it concerned a young man destined for the buddhist monastery it spoke volumes to me as a young man destined for the parrish. Ultimately we are faced with the question, "Even if you could kill God, would you really want to live in a world without him?"
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Another of Mishima's often bizarre and sinister masterpieces. Though his deranged public suicide probably affected his stature in the West, it is unfortunate that only a fraction of Mishima's often beautiful writing has been translated from the original Japanese. Books such as Kyoko's House and others previously unavailable would be welcome additions in English.
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Read in July, 2006
recommends it for:
bad monks
Misanthropic monk rides his self destructive spiral, told with classic Mishima intense honesty. Mishima ever seems to me as belonging to the existentialist camp, always ready to take up an antihero as protagonist. Another selfish monk to share more cruel ricks of the trade in this tale. Shame on the family never seemed to eloquent.
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Read in June, 2007
Not until Dan Brown do we see a more thorough conflation of physical disability with ugliness of the soul. Way to go with the original metaphor there, Dan, Yukio. Mishima is, however, perhaps more compelling on the search for and meaning of beauty and the internal arrogance the self-declared misanthrope.
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a favorite. this is like a japanese moby dick to me... the young monk's obsession with the temple and it's beauty, and his need to destroy it. based on a true event.
mishima was a fantastic freak of an artist. check out the paul schrader movie about him.
mishima was a fantastic freak of an artist. check out the paul schrader movie about him.
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中学時代に読まされた本、再び呼んだときに三島由紀夫の文章に再び圧倒された。すばらしい、個人的には彼の作品の中では三番目にすばらしい。
一番は、仮面の告白、二番目は、潮騒。
一番は、仮面の告白、二番目は、潮騒。
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to heather by:
Japanese literature classrecommends it for: Everybody who likes beauty
This is quite possibly my absolute favorite novel. Who can argue with being driven mad by beauty and the Oedipal drama? Nobody, that's who! I am reading it for brain comfort food while I'm ill. It's good. Nom nom nom.
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Read in August, 2007
One of Mishima's most famous, it's a fictitious narrative that seeks to explain the motives of a young Buddhist monk who burned down Kinkakuji (one of Japan's most famous temples) in post-WWII Kyoto.
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La creatividad de Yukio Mishima está fuera de toda duda. Esta novela, cerrada sobre sí misma, difícil para el lector, nos muestra un detallado estudio de personalidades atormentadas y recelosas.
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