>>42 I also found Confessions of a Mask to be underwhelming. A large reason as to why it became so well-known was simply because it was the first major modern Japanese novel to explicitly tackle the psychological intricacies of homosexuality. It's kind of foundational to queer canon, in that sense. To be totally fair, Mishima was young (24, in the beginning of his career as a writer) when he wrote it. That being said, Mishima was a great writer. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is particularly good. Very, very cathartic work. It's unironically kind of reminiscent of Death in Venice and the like, in how it portrays an obsessive protagonist who is ultimately driven to destruction upon being faced with an idealized beauty beyond his comprehension. I'd strong recommend it to anyone.
I also found Confessions of a Mask to be underwhelming. A large reason as to why it became so well-known was simply because it was the first major modern Japanese novel to explicitly tackle the psychological intricacies of homosexuality. It's kind of foundational to queer canon, in that sense. To be totally fair, Mishima was young (24, in the beginning of his career as a writer) when he wrote it.
That being said, Mishima was a great writer. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is particularly good. Very, very cathartic work. It's unironically kind of reminiscent of Death in Venice and the like, in how it portrays an obsessive protagonist who is ultimately driven to destruction upon being faced with an idealized beauty beyond his comprehension. I'd strong recommend it to anyone.