Description
Book SynopsisYukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he performed. Several films have been made from his novels, including
The Sound of Waves,
Enjo which was based on
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels
Confessions of a Mask and
Thirst for Love and the short story collections
Death in Midsummer and
Acts of Worship.
The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of
The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On 25 November 1970, the day he completed
The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committ
Trade Review[a] beautiful and austere tale… written in lush, languid prose, filled with beautiful sentences and turns of phrase, this is one of the most enjoyable books I have read this year * Reading Matters *
Romantic obsession and sexual intrigue meet in the sumptuous historical melodrama * Variety *
An austere love story, probably my favourite of his novels -- David Mitchell * Independent on Sunday *
Mishima is the Japanese Hemingway * Life magazine *
This tetralogy is considered one of Yukio Mishima's greatest works. It could also be considered a catalogue of Mishima's obsessions with death, sexuality and the samurai ethic. Spanning much of the 20th century, the tetralogy begins in 1912 when Shigekuni Honda is a young man and ends in the 1960s with Honda old and unable to distinguish reality from illusion. En route, the books chronicle the changes in Japan that meant the devaluation of the samurai tradition and the waning of the aristocracy. * Washington Post *
