Confessions of a Mask (Peter Owen Modern Classics)
by Yukio Mishima
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Read in April, 2007
Vers herlezen: Bekentenissen van een gemaskerde (Kamen no kokuhaku) van Yukio Mishima, de legendarische Japanse schrijver (die vooral bekend werd door z’m behoorlijk spectaculair overlijden). Het is zijn eerste volwaardige roman, beeindigd toen hij amper 23 was (in 1948), en meteen een soortement autobiografie. De meeste feiten (opgroeien onder het bewind van zijn grootmoeder, de jaartallen, etc) komen perfect overeen met het leven van Mishima. Ook aanwezig: thema’s die zijn hele leven zoude...more
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taking place during decimating war, bombs reddening the night sky, the narrator (whose name is mentioned once, maybe twice, though the book itself is highly autobiographical) relates his history of lust for Ephebe torsos, his non desire for women, the nothingness, the vacancy of much touted/ celebrated desire that erupts upon kissing a woman. Eager to die bravely, beautifully, like the images of fallen young male heroes in his childhood art books, our narrator laments life yet when given the o...more
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After reading Donald Richie's journals recently, I decided to delve into my first Mishima - he was one of Richie's close friends up until his bizarre suicide in 1970. I already owned a copy of _Temple of the Golden Pavilion_ but I wanted to start with Mishima's most notable work.
COAM is the semi-autobiographical story of a boy who comes of age in prewar Japan and struggles with his homosexuality in a society where even the simplest deviations are rejected and suppressed. The main character's...more
COAM is the semi-autobiographical story of a boy who comes of age in prewar Japan and struggles with his homosexuality in a society where even the simplest deviations are rejected and suppressed. The main character's...more
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What most people don't like about Mishima is his terrible (as in Ivan the Terrible) lucidity. Reading his work, especially in the original Japanese, the reader becomes self-conscious of a prickle in the mind. This is Mishima poking around in the reader's brain with a pair of chopsticks, pulling out fat sour tidbits.
Confessions of a Mask follows the discovery of a young boy of his homosexuality in a totally apolitical, humiliating starkness. The author himself is disgusted with his ...more
Confessions of a Mask follows the discovery of a young boy of his homosexuality in a totally apolitical, humiliating starkness. The author himself is disgusted with his ...more
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Read in October, 2007
The first two sections reminded me of Genet with a little bit less of the Henry Miller-esque rambling structure. Thankfully it didn't completely continue in that direction, endlessly equating homosexuality with depravity. Although that was certainly still touched upon, the last two sections were a bit more narrative driven and there are actual flesh and blood characters instead of mirrored reflections of an overblown ego.
I felt terrible for Sonoko. She drew my sympathies far more than the na...more
I felt terrible for Sonoko. She drew my sympathies far more than the na...more
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Read in January, 1991
I stole this book from some loser with whom I went on a date. This was the only good thing to come of that experience. Mishima's account of coming to accept his homosexuality is engrossing. While his prose is a bit clunky (perhaps in translation), it serves to fill the gap regarding the history of homosexuality in Japan. I taught this novel in an LGBT lit class and supplemented it with an excerpt from Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks. My students enjoyed the pairing.
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Read in January, 2001
Mishima is a controversial underground icon, to be sure, and his characters are never shy; thus it stands to reason he likely has as many fans as he does detractors.
Wherever you fall on the scale, this book will capture you. Gruesome lucidity aside, it is heartbreaking and strikes a universal chord. Well worth making the attempt, even if you can't finish the ride....
Wherever you fall on the scale, this book will capture you. Gruesome lucidity aside, it is heartbreaking and strikes a universal chord. Well worth making the attempt, even if you can't finish the ride....
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Read in October, 2007
The narrator tells the story of his childhood and early adulthood in conservative, post-WWII Japan. A dark coming-of-age tale involving a young man questioning and hiding what he calls his "inversed" sexuality. The novel's main plot acts like the mask that covers the speaker's inner thoughts. Heavy, but reads like a classic.
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Yukio Mishima's first novel that made an impression to the world outside Japan. A 'Gay' classic but also for those who think about identity as well. A very beautiful book in my opinion as well as a work that can't go back what it was before. It must have been an incredible experience for Mishima to write a book like this.
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Didn't quite meet my expectations. I was expecting some serious Rimbaud-esque type shit, but much of the narrative seemed a little effected (although that could be due to the translation). Mishima pulls a Quentin Tarrantino; loudly wearing his influences to the point of name-dropping left and right.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in April, 2007
This dude is crazy! Facinating insight into the mind of suicidal teen coming to terms with his homosexuality, his violent fantasies all amidst World War II. Semi-autobiographical, Confessions of a Mask leaves you with a chilling background upon which to examine the author's later fate.
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What does it mean to be homosexual in an extremely reserved and traditional culture? This book is a great picture of this in WWII era Japan, and is quite visceral and enthralling. Some of the passages do shade into rambling though.
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recommends it for:
no one
The tedious self examination of a twisted character; sadistic, narcissistic and emotionally frigid. It pisses me off that some readers have bought this load of crap and confused homosexuality as part of this creep's pathology.
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Read in March, 1997
wait, I take it back. THIS is is by far the gayest thing I've ever read. I only got it because I was intrigued with Mishimas public suicide. This is maybe his most acclaimed book and it just sucks.
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Read in November, 1985
I read this one as a high school senior. I plowed through several Mishima novels, alternating them with Kurt Vonnegut.
This prompted my mother to ask "Is there something we need to talk about?"
This prompted my mother to ask "Is there something we need to talk about?"
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
the gays
wow, i mean i'm into st. sebastian and s&m too and all, but this book is crazy. akenji, i hope you don't think i'm all dark and dead inside like this.
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Read in March, 2006
Se dice que este libro es la mejor historia clínica que se haya escrito jamás. A mi me encantó, se lee como seda y es super interesantísimo
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Read in September, 2007
An unabashed look at homosexuality in a conformist Japanese society. Can get long-winded at times but so far a good read.
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i'm not sure mishima is for me. i will say this, though. his books all have great titles.
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Read in April, 2002
Very, very depressing. So depressing that the author committed seppuku in 1970.
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