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/lit/ - Literature

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1468035 No.1468035 [Reply] [Original]

Sup /lit/...
What do you guys think about Yukio Mishima? I'm almost done with The sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. I've found it to be a really awesome read so far. I have copies of Sun and Steel and the Sea of Fertility cycle. Anyone read a lot of Mishima? I've heard people compare Sea of Fertility to Proust, who I have not tackled yet, but He's well respected in literary snob circles...
Pic Related, it's his severed head! (Wheeeeeeeeeee!)

>> No.1468042

Proust is a complete nightmare to read, so you've just put me off ever trying this guy. It's not that Proust is a bad writer (totally the opposite), but he spends seven pages talking about how a candle is lit. I can take over-description, but Proust is pretty much my limit of it.

>> No.1468046

come on... no one is going to call me a weeaboo? or shit on my taste in books? Oh, wait, this isn't /b/... So can I get a little enlightening discussion, /lit/?

>> No.1468053

Wait, is this the guy that committed suicide in that military base?

>> No.1468061

>>1468042
Well, I wouldn;t let that put you off Mishima; The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea was actually not over-descriptive in the least. Short, sweet, and very disturbing. Basically, it is about a group of 13 year old Japanese schoolboys who are obsessed with what they call "objectivity" but in practice is in fact a murderous sociopathy. They begin to worship a sailor who is screwing one of their mothers. Then they decide he is romantic, sentimental, and weak. It does not end well for him. Makes Lord of the Flies look like Goodnight Moon.

>> No.1468069

>>1468053
Yes. He was obsessed with death. He stormed a Japanese self defense force base with his paramilitary gang of schoolboys and tried to make a political speech, which was shouted down by the gathering crowd, he then went inside and performed ritual disembowelment. His Second, (Kaishaku in moonspeak, the dude who is supposed to sever his head,) was a young boy with no trining in swordsmanship. He tried three times to do the deed and failed. cutting into Mishima's shoulder, back, and once into his neck but the blade got stuck in the back of his jaw. Finally an older member of his group who had trained in kendo and iaido took the sword and finished the job. That is mostly what Mishima is remembered for, but he is also a well-respected writer.

>> No.1468076

>>1468069
Yikes. I guess the Proust comparisons are at least partially due to the homosexuality then.

>> No.1468089

>>1468076
Indeed. Sea of Fertility is also a lengthy tetralogy spanning several decades, so I guess it's similar to Proust's seminal work In Search of Lost Time, (or Remembrance of Things Past or whatever, depending on the translation...)

>> No.1468094

I've only read Temple of the Golden Pavilion and Sun and Steel, loved the former, latter was interesting in its own way.

>> No.1468214

I read "Sailor" and his final tetralogy (all in a row))...and I have to say he's a fascinating writer...heavy, exhausting, but very interesting. My favorite would have to be "Runaway Horses"- basically a plan for his last act... I heard "Confessions of a Mask" is good too.

>> No.1468219

I heard his writing called bondage porn for intellectuals. Still, some of his short stories are good, like Raisin Bread. George Lucas made a decent biopic about him.

>> No.1468270

>>1468042
Mishima is nothing like Proust!
I've only read Sun and Steel, but it's one of my favourite books. It gave me a lot to think about.
Got a copy of madame de saade that I will read next.