Yukio Mishima

Justine44 · Post by **Justine44** » 13 Jun 2012, 12:02

Anyone read any of his work?

Loved The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea.

Maud Fitch · Post by **Maud Fitch** » 15 Jun 2012, 05:51

Please tell us a bit about him.

Justine44 · Post by **Justine44** » 15 Jun 2012, 09:57

I just lost everything I wrote ,I was logged out.

His writing is very captivating. I like The Sailor because it deals with emotions like jealousy, and relationships, but he takes them to the dark side. Like a psychological thriller.

Yukio Mishima commited suicide at age 45 by Seppuku (harakiri) after a failed coup d'etat. His work lives on though.

cyaneus · Post by **cyaneus** » 31 Aug 2013, 16:06

I've read "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea" too. For some reason though, I didn't quite like it back then, as it kind of reminded me of William Golding's "The Lord of the Flies", I even figured that that was probably why they both got the Nobel prize, since their books do have these dark undertones, or are just generally gloomy and show how things can get out of hands really easily without some adult supervision.

One book I did love though, was Mishima's "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion". It was interesting and I just couldn't put the book down.

Loveabull · Post by **Loveabull** » 04 Sep 2013, 20:28

I have never read his books but seek out a book about his life story...he considered himself "The Last Samurai"...quite a colorful life and death, according to legend they conducted a poll among his womenfolk-Marry Yukio Mishima or commit suicide?...guess he wasn't quite the ladies man...

KMilliron · Post by **KMilliron** » 07 Sep 2013, 22:22

I have never read him, but now I want to. Was a huge fan of Lord of the Flies, and I'm always looking more into Japanese cultures.

victoria48 · Post by **victoria48** » 12 Apr 2016, 03:22

Justine44 wrote:Anyone read any of his work?

Loved The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea.

One of my favorite books.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 14 Apr 2016, 19:35

Let me recommend a superb bio of Mishima, by John Nathan. It's thorough and straightforward, discussing Mishima's flaws and greatness. The author knew Mishima personally and was close to him until Mishima turned his back on him.

There's also an incredible film, "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters". This is stunningly made, dir Paul Schrader. The executive producers and creative forces in this film were George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. You can't get better than this. It's also narrated by the late Roy Scheider. And the music is by Philip Glass.

ALL the commentary in the film, the narration, is taken 100% from Mishima's own autobiographical notebooks, under control by his widow (who is a very bright woman). So when you hear "Mishima" (Scheider) speak, it's his own words.

The story starts on that last day, Nov 25, 1970. Then Mishima thinks back to his childhood and youth, and 4 separate works of his are segued into the events of the demonstration and suicide. "Confessions of a Masque" (his autobio of sorts), and "Temple of Golden Pavilion", "Kyoko's House", and "Runaway Horses."

This film isn't just a good bio of Mishima, but it's an incredible work of art, and has received enormous critical acclaim. I own the DVD and watch it often.

Needless to say, I'm a fan of Mishima's writing, too. I spent some time in Japan and visited his memorial shrine.

victoria48 · Post by **victoria48** » 14 Apr 2016, 19:59

moderntimes wrote:Let me recommend a superb bio of Mishima, by John Nathan. It's thorough and straightforward, discussing Mishima's flaws and greatness. The author knew Mishima personally and was close to him until Mishima turned his back on him.

There's also an incredible film, "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters". This is stunningly made, dir Paul Schrader. The executive producers and creative forces in this film were George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. You can't get better than this. It's also narrated by the late Roy Scheider. And the music is by Philip Glass.

ALL the commentary in the film, the narration, is taken 100% from Mishima's own autobiographical notebooks, under control by his widow (who is a very bright woman). So when you hear "Mishima" (Scheider) speak, it's his own words.

The story starts on that last day, Nov 25, 1970. Then Mishima thinks back to his childhood and youth, and 4 separate works of his are segued into the events of the demonstration and suicide. "Confessions of a Masque" (his autobio of sorts), and "Temple of Golden Pavilion", "Kyoko's House", and "Runaway Horses."

This film isn't just a good bio of Mishima, but it's an incredible work of art, and has received enormous critical acclaim. I own the DVD and watch it often.

Needless to say, I'm a fan of Mishima's writing, too. I spent some time in Japan and visited his memorial shrine.

Wow!

Thank you for this.

I will look for the film later on tonight and watch it and will get back to you.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 14 Apr 2016, 20:26

As I said, the film "Mishima" isn't just a superb bio of him -- it's a true work of film art. The film goes back and forth between full color and B&W as well as sepia, the excerpts from his fiction paralleling his actual life's experiences. Some of it is very realistic, some a bit surreal.

But the film isn't goofy nor is it opaque in meaning. It's perfectly clear what's happening and the "surreal" segments are understandable from the outset. The superb modern music by Philip Glass augments the story perfectly.

And the amazing artistry of Francis Ford Coppola with George Lucas? Ha!

This is one of my favorite artistic films. You'll be blown away, I promise.

katiesquilts · Post by **katiesquilts** » 14 Apr 2016, 22:53

When I was studying abroad in Japan, my school building was right down the road from where he tried to stage his coup d'etat

While I think he's quite an interesting person, I'm not sure that I would actually like any of his work. It seems like a lot of it is very controversial because he pushed so much of his own ideology into it.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 15 Apr 2016, 08:46

If you read his bio, you'll soon see that he wasn't a very nice person. Whether this affects the temperature of his fiction, I've never decided. His stories are definitely not "standard" insofar as Western fiction because they're heavily influenced by his Japanese culture, which is understandable. Having lived in Japan you can easily appreciate that.

He's not my fave author, but he is a fascinating person.

-- 18 Apr 2016, 17:59 --

Watched my DVD of the film "Mishima" again this past weekend. Love it! Stunning film.