The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion
Because of the boyhood trauma of seeing his mother make love to another man in the presence of his dying father, Mizoguchi becomes a hopeless stutterer. Taunted by his schoolmates, he feels utterly alone untill he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto, where he develops an all-consuming...
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Because of the boyhood trauma of seeing his mother make love to another man in the presence of his dying father, Mizoguchi becomes a hopeless stutterer. Taunted by his schoolmates, he feels utterly alone untill he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto, where he develops an all-consuming obsession with the temple's beauty. This powerful story of dedication and sacrifice brings together Mishima's preoccupations with violence, desire, religion and national history to dazzling effect.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780099285670 (0099285673)
Publish date: May 3rd 2001
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Edition language: English
Category:
Classics,
Novels,
Literature,
Cultural,
Historical Fiction,
20th Century,
Asian Literature,
Asia,
Japan,
Japanese Literature,
Fiction
This is my second book by Mishima. My first was the Sound of the Waves which is a simple love story, and basically a Novella. This is very different. The Temple of the Golden Pavillion is transgressive literature and very good. It is apparently based on real events. The story concerns a young Buddhi...
“To be sure, there are times when the reality of the outer world seems to be waiting for me, folding its arms as it were, while I was struggling to free myself. But the reality that is waiting for me is not a fresh reality. When finally I reach the outer world after all my efforts, all that I find i...
This is the kind of book which makes me feel very very stupid, because I found it utterly impenetrable. Wonderful, but completely mystifying.
I enjoyed this book for the descriptive writing and the evocation of place that the author created. I particularly liked the night scene where the narrator, Mizoguchi, follows Uiko. The passage where he walks to the Sea of Japan from Maizuru was also very well done.However... I did not really unders...
7 years ago
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