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BOTM June - Spring Snow
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Oh this sounds fabulous, Celia! I will definitely be reading this one. Great review!
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I had not planned on reading it, but I will try to fit it in. There 2 or 3 more in the series if we like this. (❁´◡`❁)
I actually jumped the gun and finished it today. I thought it was amazing and gave it 5 stars. Also highly recommend reading about the author himself his life was...fascinating and disturbing. I'll wait a bit for other people to read it before I start discussing the book itself, but I'm very excited to! There are 3 more in the series which I'm antsy to get onto now after this one, plus all four count as one entry on the 1001 books list.
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Ah, what an evocative romantic tale. I could almost see the maple gardens, the view of the sea, the uniformed and so immature Kiyoaki standing in the spring snow. I loved how the relationship between Honda and Kiyoaki evolved and how the changing Imperial society saw itself in relationship to the changing times. Fascinating, powerful and as Cecilia said; “bittersweet”.
Gail wrote: "Ah, what an evocative romantic tale. I could almost see the maple gardens, the view of the sea, the uniformed and so immature Kiyoaki standing in the spring snow. I loved how the relationship betwe..."I agree. The strong visual language of the novel really put me into their gardens, the waterfalls around the mountains, the temples, etc. It was just such a rich and beautiful read from that perspective (and perfect to listen to on audio while walking through my local park past the willows :))
I was also blown away by a couple of the conversations that Honda and Kiyoaki have in the novel. One was the conversation about whether or not people can intentionally change and place themselves into the course of history, when those without will and intent later become integral to its fabric in ways they couldn't have anticipated. That to assume you will fit in to changing the course of history assumes that we know what will be significant and groundbreaking in the future, a viewpoint limited by our present. I thought that was amazing. This really fits into the grand structure of the tetrology as well, where Kiyoaki will be reborn as several different people with different effects on the world.
The other one I really loved was the discussion about how "chance" is integral to upholding the Western belief of free will and bootstraps logic, because without it there is no accounting for the failures of those who do still exercise their will as expected for success. But, this way of thinking can discount that there is no true chance because causality is a web of many forces acting, not just one individual's will.
I thought the book also did a great job exploring the intersection of Westernization and traditional Japanese beliefs and reverence for the Emperor at the time.
I also got the vibe reading this that Honda was a bit in love with/attracted to Kiyoaki and didn't know how to process that? So I looked this up, and it seems like the subtext was very intentional and present (Mishima also wrote a book called Confessions of the Mask which detailed his own struggles with his sexuality and need to present himself as the ideal masculine man he actually desired which sounds fascinating and I'll probably read after the 1001 list).
I also looked up other facets of Mishima's life in the process and ...whoa boy. There was a lot going on there. Apparently the last book in the series was sent to his publisher the day he died by suicide...by commiting seppuku after staging a failed right wing imperialist military coup with his militia group...in the 70s. Not going to lie, I was not expecting that when I started this book. The more I read about it, the more it reads like he knew it wouldn't work and did a half hearted coup attempt so he would have the grounds to die in the way he romanticized.
The second book in the series- Runnaway Horses- which I'm going to finish today, sees Kiyoaki reborn as his teacher Iinuma's son who is himself a right wing militia member who wants to die via seppuku. So knowing what happened to Mishima...it's been an intense read. But also, Honda serves to interject everything I was thinking about while reading about Mishima's life- like he understood everything flawed in his own desire to die for a long lost Imperial Japan. It's very deep and layered and I've been captivated by that one as well.
At this rate, I'm hoping to finish the series by next month, and will likely give the whole thing 5 stars if the last 2 have the quality of the first two.
I have committed to reading the whole series also, except I will probably be done by 2022 instead of next month....
Spring Snow is a tumultuous and bittersweet romance novel set in 1912 Tokyo, where one’s loyalty to the emperor comes before all else and rich families are finding themselves in new powerful roles due to the external influence of the western world. At a time of great social upheaval, Kiyoaki Matsugae, the son of a nouveau-riche family, and Satoko Ayakura, the daughter of an aristocratic family that has fallen on hard times, embark a secret romance that must inevitably end in tragedy.
Although Kiyoaki and Satoko are childhood friends, Kiyoaki is caught between love and loathing at the beginning of the novel. He is aloof, manipulative and cruel not only to Satoko but to his tutor, Iinuma, and I found him completely unlikeable for most of the novel. It is only at the very end that he spectacularly redeems himself. I found Satoko much more likeable, who becomes engaged to a prince early on, which kindles Kiyoaki’s conflicted affection for her. She is sadly a victim of the historical period she lives in, where her family’s loyalties to the emperor take priority and women are defined by their virginity and marriage.
The story does not revolve solely around Kiyoaki and Satoko and is by no means a simple historical romance. Shigekuni Honda, Kiyoaki’s loyal friend, plays a number of important roles: not only in keeping his relationship with Satoko a secret, but also in the narration and driving of the story. It is through Shigekuni that the author poses most of his philosophical questions about reincarnation, the rule of law, the nature of war and much more.
Even in its translated form, it doesn’t feel that any of the meaning behind and beauty of Spring Snow has been lost in the process. Michael Gallagher’s translation is poetic and emotive, whether you are reading about the scenery, the characters or the romance.
It is hard to go into much further detail about the plot or characters without giving too much away, but I cannot recommend Spring Snow enough if you are looking to read more classical Japanese literature. Yukio Mishima was born into a samurai family, imbued with the code of complete control and loyalty to the emperor, which clearly comes across in his many other novels. Spring Snow is the first book in The Sea of Fertility tetralogy and, shockingly, Mishima committed ritual suicide when he had finished writing this series. I will certainly be reading more Mishima this year, and Spring Snow is a very good place to start if you have not come across his work before.
From: https://sophiesjapanblog.com/2016/01/...