@blindish_wasp | Has anyone read Mishima's Sea of Fertility? I finished the series recently and can't find much discussion on it. I think I loved it but my feelings are complicated. | lit.salon
Has anyone read Mishima's Sea of Fertility? I finished the series recently and can't find much discussion on it. I think I loved it but my feelings are complicated.
My thoughts:
Spring Snow -- Portrait of a lost world with fantastic characters, right as Japan is becoming a "modern" nation. Liked it throughout, didn't realize how much I loved it until the afterglow.
Runaway Horses -- More the novel of action, and there's a sort of queasy relationship Mishima has with his characters. You know things probably aren't going to work out for this ragtag band of swordcels, and Mishima realizes how futile romantic bushido is, but he still really really wants to be a heroic warrior-poet. Foreshadowing foreshadowing foreshadowing.
Temple of Dawn -- My favorite of the bunch, although perhaps that's just a love of tropical decadence on my part. Lots of long-winded philosophical meandering, some truly unsettling imagery, and some excellent louche Graham Greene-style set pieces.
Decay of the Angel -- My least favorite. I hated the conceit of "NOW I shall be EVIL!" But that ending... graceful and utterly haunting. Made up for the entire rest.
Now off to the Ministry of Defence in my Hugo Boss-goes-samurai outfit to do a thing ttyl.
My thoughts: Spring Snow -- Portrait of a lost world with fantastic characters, right as Japan is becoming a "modern" nation. Liked it throughout, didn't realize how much I loved it until the afterglow. Runaway Horses -- More the novel of action, and there's a sort of queasy relationship Mishima has with his characters. You know things probably aren't going to work out for this ragtag band of swordcels, and Mishima realizes how futile romantic bushido is, but he still really really wants to be a heroic warrior-poet. Foreshadowing foreshadowing foreshadowing. Temple of Dawn -- My favorite of the bunch, although perhaps that's just a love of tropical decadence on my part. Lots of long-winded philosophical meandering, some truly unsettling imagery, and some excellent louche Graham Greene-style set pieces. Decay of the Angel -- My least favorite. I hated the conceit of "NOW I shall be EVIL!" But that ending... graceful and utterly haunting. Made up for the entire rest. Now off to the Ministry of Defence in my Hugo Boss-goes-samurai outfit to do a thing ttyl.