/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13024497]

what does /lit/ think of this genius?

[Anonymous No.13024500]

he wrote some good books

[Anonymous No.13024501]

>>13024497
I haven't read him and know next to nothing about him and yet I feel he is very relatable.

[Anonymous No.13024508]

>>13024497
MY WHOLE LIFE MY WHOLE FUCKING LIFE, MY WHOLE LIFE MY WHOLE FUCKING LIFE

[Anonymous No.13024515]

>>13024497

[Anonymous No.13024517]

>>13024508
YOUR WHOLE LIFE YOUR WHOLE FUCKING LIFE

[Anonymous No.13024534]

>>13024517
Slippery when panickin', this seems like surfin' gasoline
At the mercy of my discrepancy
I've got countless current identities
Which one should I pretend to be?
Which will be the end of me?

[Anonymous No.13024550]

>>13024517
Which will be the end of me?
Fuck my present coordinates
I will 'em dead like, like, like, like, like, like, like
It's not what you think
Fuck you want from us?
We're the same as you
But we know we're fucked
But we came as you, like you know it's us
And your mind, not you

[Anonymous No.13024558]

pewdiepie, pol and discord trannis ruined mishima for me.. or rather the discussion of him online.. hurts bros..

[Anonymous No.13024581]

>>13024558
What did fagpie have to say about Mishima?

[Anonymous No.13024595]

>>13024500
Damn, beat me to it.

[Anonymous No.13024600]

>>13024558
how do discord trannies feel about him?

[Anonymous No.13024774]

Cant wait to read him anon-kun. Saving him for a rainy day when I've gotten all my work done. So kawaii desu.

[Anonymous No.13025256]

>>13024581
He said he liked it

[Anonymous No.13025332]

>>13024581
It's his favorite author.

[Anonymous No.13025864]

Only read Sun and Steel and have little recollection. I intend to read all his work; it seems interesting, I just haven't had the time since it's on backlog behind like ten other works more pressing.

Anyone who commits suicide is a friend of mine.
>>13024515
Based Dazai.

[Anonymous No.13025888]

>>13024497
he was gay

[Anonymous No.13026308]

>>13024497
literally changed my life.

[Anonymous No.13026320]

>>13024497
We're not going to give you material for your new video, Pewds.

[Anonymous No.13026336]

Read Patriotism (ideology in the form of high melodrama) and Sound of the Waves (trite rural love story) and neither of them were impressive. Too daunted to try his tetralogy based on how little I enjoyed those other 2 works. Any other thing worth reading to change my mind?

[Anonymous No.13026430]

>tfw you'll never turn your life into a Gesamtkunstwerk

[Anonymous No.13027837]

don't care if some people see him as a meme, we'll never get another man like him from japan again sadly

[Anonymous No.13027885]

>>13024558
Letting the fanbase ruin something for you it pathetic.


>>13024497
Reading Spring Snow and liking it so far. I have not read anything else by him.

[Anonymous No.13027942]

He was able to write prize winning poems in courtly ancient Japanese and Chinese by the time he was 13. To anyone that is familiar with the difficulties of those languages, that is quite impressive.

[Anonymous No.13027948]

>>13027885
>Letting the fanbase ruin something for you it pathetic.

This.
It's like when people are scared of reading Buddhist works in case they'll get associated with new age hippies. It is embarrassing.

[Anonymous No.13028011]

>>13027948
You shall know them by their fruits.

[Anonymous No.13028017]

>>13028011
You're the only fruit here.
Well, unless we're counting Mishima. Which we aren't.

[Anonymous No.13028027]

>>13026336
His short stories are what won me over. People seem to like The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and Confessions of a Mask

>ideology in the form of high melodrama

Yeah, that's the point. His nationalistic anti-colonialism is primarily centered around an aesthetic appreciation of Japanese culture. He was a LARPer, and would've admitted it himself

[Anonymous No.13028030]

>>13028017
No u haha lol

[Anonymous No.13028342]

>>13024558
You havent read him anyway who are you kidding

[Anonymous No.13028375]

He's pretty good. Runaway Horses and Decay of the Angel are by far the two best books he wrote.

[Anonymous No.13028409]

>>13028375
Excellent taste

[Anonymous No.13028438]

>>13024497
Good man, I did a record with a Japanese musician inspired by Mishima.

[Anonymous No.13029224]

>>13024497
Reading Spring Snow right now, I really enjoy his Philosophy

[Anonymous No.13029510]

>>13027942
Less impressive when you realize that it's considerably easy for kids to learn languages and that most kids learn the bare minimum; almost any child could emulate that kind of writing with enough input. Also, Japanese and Chinese, more specifically regarding their writing systems, aren't so much difficult as they are time-consuming.

[Anonymous No.13029636]

>>13026336
Spring Snow is fine as a standalone work, it closes as if it wasn't part of a series.

[Anonymous No.13029767]

>>13024497
I'm reading Confessions of a Mask right now and I really like it.
I read 'My Friend Hitler...' and it was fucking garbage.
I really like some of his work and dislike other parts of his work (his love for blood doesn't do a lot for me)

I really like Oscar Wilde so I've enjoyed a lot of the work that has gone into exploring Mishima's love for Wilde, too.

[Anonymous No.13029873]

>>13029767
He don't considered lot of his work part of his work and was quite open in saying that he wrote them to make money (often in 2 o 3 days). My Friend Hitler is an obvious example.

[Anonymous No.13029885]

>>13024497
Great writer poor thinker. sadboi teenager me was a fanboi

[Anonymous No.13029918]

Pissin myself

[Anonymous No.13029925]

>>13024497
Im trying to figure out the spoiler

[Anonymous No.13029957]

>>13029873
Do you have a source? I'd really like to read more about this.
Currently drinking a cold one and watching this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPAZQ6mhRcU
Mishima's take on the "hidden brutal side" of the Japanese is so refreshing from a post-war author
When he talks not liking that Japanese culture only being represented by flower arrangement, peace, and love being not accurate and him disliking it I think you can make a strong case for him talking, at least in part, about the Kawabata (whom I'm starting to fucking hate) and I love that.

[Anonymous No.13029959]

>>13024497
I don't doubt he could write well, but I think there was an element of instability/insecurity to everything the guy did. Not long before his suicide he had unironically said at a dinner that literature was totally worthless... While he was still writing his final book anyway. Sun and Steel is written on the premise that everything in it is a 'fragment' (forgot the Japanese term he uses) of what he once was or might have thought. Yet people look at that book like it's an honest to god autobiography. He couldn't even be consistent on what his sister's death meant to him. This is not mentioned in S&S as far as I'm aware.

>"My sister's death was the worst thing that ever happened to me."
>"Actually what had me so upset back then was that the Japanese lost the war"

[Anonymous No.13029982]

>>13029959
I really agree with this, it sounds like you dislike it more than I do though. I actually really enjoy the inconsistency of Mishima.

[Anonymous No.13029993]

>>13029982
I'll have to read Confessions of a Mask, it sounds like it could give me an appreciation for his way of thinking.

[Anonymous No.13030014]

Is Mishima worth it? I read Sun and Steel and liked it alright, although I thought he was fucking insane. Should I sink some time into the Sea of Fertility?

[Anonymous No.13030045]

>>13030014
start with temple of the golden pavillion. The tetraology is fantastic though

[Anonymous No.13030052]

>>13029982
I'll have to go and read it again, this really resonates with some new developments I've had in my life

[Anonymous No.13030062]

>>13030014
"The outstanding weakness of this, the final novelistic effort of Mishima Yukio—and indeed the major failing of the bulk of his work—is its striking inability to rise above the emotional and intellectual limitations of its author."

I think that him being fucking insane is a pretty agreeable contention, but I think that the tetralogy is probably not the best next-step for you.
The Golden Pavilion is a really good place to start.

One thing that I'd keep in mind is that Sun and Steel and the tetralogy are his five last works and obviously are closer to the 'Mishima Incident', it's probably best to go into his work having read a little bit about him personally so that you can fully reflect on the autobiographical aspects of his work, and to start with some of his earlier work before he gets a hard-on for the fucking Bushido code.
>sorry for wall of text

[Anonymous No.13030065]

As a gnostic Christian, I think Mishima is fascinating. On the one hand, you have characters like the protag from Temple of the Golden Pavilion: a Dostyevskian case-study, but entirely without hope of salvation. So, from this limited perspective, one can see what becomes of the "modern man" without any religion or father figure.

On the other hand, he was deeply indebted to Christianity and Western culture, despite being virulently anti-Christian and anti-Western. I can't back this up, but I think it's because calligraphy was among the highest Japanese arts — thus, art and language are wholly inseparable. But you see a Christian image like St. Sebastian, and it communicates truths impossible by language.

[Anonymous No.13030080]

>>13024497
he was incredibly photogenic

[Anonymous No.13030086]

>>13030080
well not incredibly. but definitely cool to look at.

i like this one also

[Anonymous No.13030117]

>>13030065
I'm reading pic related right now and Starrs talks about how Mishima was anti-Western but was indebted to the West due to his fascination with Nihilism. Someone earlier mentioned his inconsistency, but this is another thing that people bring up when they talk about that; Mishima may be known for being anti-Western but he was also fluent in French, German, and English and had read a wealth of literature in all three languages (Jun Etō points out that he had read significantly more Western literature than most Japanese of his era)

>hates the west
>hangs out with Donald Keene all the time
>it was one of his life goals to bring Salome by Oscar Wilde to Japanese theater, which he did in 1960

[Anonymous No.13030120]

Mishima literally summoned demons to destroy America

[Anonymous No.13031689]

>>13026336
Confessions of a Mask is very good. By turns, I hated, sympathized with, and pitied the protagonist. There were certain points in the book that made me feel hollow to the point where I had to stop. I then read Sun and Steel, which is an excellent change of pace because it's pretty uplifting and made me take a critical look at the way I write. About a quarter into the Temple of the Golden Pavilion and I have to say at this point I'm just keeping with it to see if it gets any better. I thoroughly enjoy Mishima's prose though, so it's still a treat. Just a few suggestions, I personally loved Patriotism so we may have different tastes entirely.

[Anonymous No.13031996]

am reading sea of fertility rn

[Anonymous No.13032006]

>>13031689
Why is Sun and Steel fucking impossible to find
I dont want to pay 400 dollars for an old copy

[Anonymous No.13032036]

>>13032006
It's online and the text is short.

[Anonymous No.13032064]

>>13030120
What is this?

[Anonymous No.13032096]

to get a sense of mishima's life just read the penal colony by kafka he's like the dude who puts himself on the torture machine rather than change his ideals about using it. also reminds me of the mc in seventeen by kenzaburo oe.

summary of p much every mishima story

>angsty misunderstood macho man randy savage in sensitive period of life

>peter pan heroics i don't wanna grow up

>oops chasing after idealized samurai fantasy went crazy along the way and lost myself

>confusion of teenage style mix ups of violence and beauty

>dang it's art, baby

>underestimated the average japanese, gets ridiculed in moment of truth

>sudoku

>american 20-somethings..he was a hero :')

there you go

[Anonymous No.13032105]

>>13032036
But anon
I want to OWN books
Reading online is for filthy plebs

[Anonymous No.13032176]

>>13032105
So download it and read offline. Be noble!

[Anonymous No.13032180]

>>13032105
It's the only way you're going to do it unless you want to shell out over 100 bucks. I would guess that it went out of print? I've never looked into why it's so expensive. I do know that a lot of people consider it important just from a literary standpoint simply because of the strange format and the rich prose. I imagine it was desirable even before the recent "How to manly" craze. Not that I'm knocking the trend mind, I never would have read any of his stuff if I wasn't curious about all the fuss. Glad I did. The epub is on libgen, suck it up and read it. I'm seriously considering dropping the money to get a physical copy though. Not to sound douchey or pretentious, but I identify pretty strongly with Mishima. I'm less of a larper, though only just, because I was in the military and did see combat. But I identify strongly with a lot of his views and thought processes. Sun & Steel seemed perfectly clear and reasonable to me when I read it, if a little dense, but I just looked at Goodreads and saw that everyone thinks it's basically the ramblings of a madman. I think it's extremely relevant to authors as a whole as well.

Read the epub you nutsack.

[Anonymous No.13032215]

>>13032180
>in the military and saw combat
I'm joining the infantry in a few years once I'm done with school. How was your experience?

[Anonymous No.13032318]

>>13032215
Great honestly.The only bad part was that I didn't die. Or so I thought, for years after. I grew up wanting to join the military, wanting to see combat. I was 11 when 9/11 happened there was a strange feeling of contentment, and when we invaded Iraq I saw what I thought was my destiny. When I got to my unit and we got orders for Iraq, it was like a prophecy being fulfilled. I wasn't suicidal, mind. I wasn't going to give my life away, someone was going to have to take it. The only problem was, and this is simply a fact not a boast, that myself and my unit were too good, and the war machine of the United States was too overwhelming. We had almost 10 months of very intensive training, constantly in the field or the classroom, and there was a strong warrior spirit in the battalion. We were strong, we were fast, we were excellent. And when we saw combat it was like putting a hen in the ring with a pit bull. We assisted infantry units in raids (I was a combat engineer), and trained the Iraqi army (50 percent useless, 30 percent corrupt, 20 percent patriotic killers), when we weren't clearing routes of IED's. We were hot shit at that too; we found more IEDs than any other unit ever had up until that point, (we found them the hard way, which means actually finding them. We only found about a dozen the easy way, which is getting blown up) and cleared enough route to go around the world twice.

But then we came home. I didn't die. I didn't know what to do with myself. Went through some serious hard times after that, but goddamn did I love being in. I got out because I didn't know what else to do, then fought tooth and claw to get back in. I wouldn't reclass and they didn't have any slots, so I didn't manage it. There was a point where I was popping pills like candy and drinking constantly, trying to find just the right balance that would give me the courage to kill myself. But I couldn't. I still cant. Someone's going to have to take it from me.

Blogpost aside, I think you'll enjoy it. Actual operations have cooled down, which sucks, but that means the military will start doing force on force training, which is awesome. If you're getting a commission listen to your NCOs and your Senior enlisted guys. Find a crusty ass Specialist (or Lance Corporal) and make him your driver, if you get to a heavy unit, your RTO if light. Dont buy into the politics shit, and take care of your guys. If you're doing enlisted then just dive the fuck in and embrace the suck. Learn to love the shit, wallow in it like a pig. It's all just a game, and nobody can stop time. And dont be like me, have a plan for when you get out. That's about it, I can answer more specific questions if you'd like. I'm sick as shit so I'm just lying in bed reading and shitposting.

[Anonymous No.13034036]

>>13030080
Hnnggn Miwa Akihiro was such a qt

[Anonymous No.13034046]

>>13032064
Shin Megami Tensei

[Anonymous No.13034257]

>>13032096
Yeah except most of those points just don't apply to the vast majority of his works

[Anonymous No.13034281]

>>13032318
holy based

[Anonymous No.13034484]

>>13034281
What?

[Anonymous No.13034580]

>>13032105
>>13032006
You posted here before. You were told you were retarded then and you'll be told you're retarded now. Shut the fuck up you little faggot.

[Anonymous No.13034607]

Man, Mishima's prose is gorgeous.

"It ended a few feet from where he sat. The sea,
broad and vast, with all its mighty force, ended right there before his eyes. Be it the edge of time or space, there is nothing so awe-inspiring as a border. To be here at this place with his three companions, at this marvelous border between land and sea, struck him as being very similar to being alive as one age was ending and another beginning, like being part of a great moment in history. And then too the tide of their own era, in which he and Kiyoaki lived, also had to have an appointed time to ebb, a shore on which to break, a limit beyond which it could not go.
The sea ended right there before his eyes. As he watched the final surge of each wave as it drained into the sand, the final thrust of mighty power that had come down through countless centuries, he was struck by the pathos of it all. At that very point, a grand pan-oceanic enterprise that spanned the world went awry and ended in annihilation.
But still, he thought, this final frustration was a
gentle, soothing one. A small, lacy frill, the wave’s last farewell, escaped from disintegration at the last moment before merging into the glistening wet sand as the wave itself withdrew, and vanished into the sea. "

[Anonymous No.13034617]

I read his short story Death in Midsummer and severely detested it. Should I read more of him or not?

[Anonymous No.13034618]

>>13034607
shit, sorry for the terrible paste.

[Anonymous No.13034623]

>>13034580
What the fuck? No I havent you autist

[Anonymous No.13034649]

>>13034623
Are your 12 years old?

[Anonymous No.13034657]

>>13034617
What did you dislike about it?

[Anonymous No.13034724]

>>13024497
Pretty based for getting pewdiepie's subscribers into armpit fetishes

[Anonymous No.13034736]

weeb bullshit sanctioned by a well known e-celeb

[Anonymous No.13034910]

>>13034657
How illogically his characters acted and how he treated writing them. It read like an overdramatic play where you want to slap your forehead and yell at the characters. None of them seemed human in the least and they didn't have personalties of any depth. The entire story read more like a newspaper article than something supposed to elicit empathy or emotion.

His descriptions and prose in general also bothered me but that's a far less serious crime and I'll chalk it up to being a translation.

But idk. I hate kawabata's short stories and liked his novels, so maybe it would be the same with mishima.

[Anonymous No.13035387]

>>13034617
Read Confessions of a Mask or the Sea of Fertility

[Anonymous No.13035525]

>>13024497
i think the people who talk about him are less interested in his books than in how he shuffled himself off

[Anonymous No.13035530]

>>13024497
faggot

[Anonymous No.13035532]

>>13034736
This. It's funny how literate readers of history find random people in it so attractive.

[Anonymous No.13035776]

https://lithub.com/yukio-mishima-on-the-beautiful-death-of-james-dean/

[Anonymous No.13035790]

>>13024497
Generally don't read sodomites desu

[Anonymous No.13036677]

>>13035525
I mean can you separate the two? His work is centered around ritual death and the fetishization of it, and then he goes and does it, the fucking mad lad.

[Anonymous No.13036824]

>>13024497
his embarrassing death and his ineffectual paramilitary LARP put me off his work.

[Anonymous No.13037187]

>>13036824
Good riddance

[Anonymous No.13037909]

>>13034617
definitely not.

patriotism encapsulates most of his books. basically a nutjob who'd rather die following some quixotic ideal than deal with real life shit. basically kafka's penal colony come to life.

you might like sound of waves though. i love that book. it's not pretentious and not about some angsty insane protagonist. i've read almost every mishima available in english and it wasn't worth it.

[Anonymous No.13038044]

>>13037187
nah, he could've been better