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The Sea of Fertility #4
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?????? ????? "???? ??????" "??? ??????"? "?????? ???????"? ?"???? ?????"? ????? ??? ??????? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? ???????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???????. ?? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ????? "???? ??????" ?????? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ????? "??????" ???? "??? ??????"? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ????? "?????" ????? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ???????? ?? ??????? ???? ??????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?????? ????????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ???? ????????? ???????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ???????? ???????!! ????? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????? ?????: "???? ??????? ????? ???? ????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ???????? ???? ??????? ???????".
?? ?? ??????? ?????? ???????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ????? ?????? ???????? ??? ???? 25 ?????? 1970 ?????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??????? ??????? ????? ????????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ????????? ??? ?????? ????????? ??? ??????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ????? "???? ????? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?????". ???? ?? ??????? ???? ???? "??? ?????" ????? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ??????... ???? ??? "??? ?????" ??? ???? ?? ?????? ?????? ???????? ??? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???? ??? ? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ??????? ??????? ????? ???? ????? ?? ??? ????? ????? ???? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??? ?????? ????? ???????? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????.
???? "???? ??????" ??? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??????? "??? ?????" ?????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ?????. ?? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ??????? ???? ???????? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ????????? ?????? ???? ??????? ??????? ?????.
?????? ????? "???? ??????" "??? ??????"? "?????? ???????"? ?"???? ?????"? ????? ??? ??????? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? ???????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ??????? ?????? ??? ?????? ???????. ?? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ????? "???? ??????" ?????? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ????? "??????" ???? "??? ??????"? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ????? "?????" ????? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ???????? ?? ??????? ???? ??????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?????? ????????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ???? ????????? ???????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ???????? ???????!! ????? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????? ?????: "???? ??????? ????? ???? ????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ???????? ???? ??????? ???????".
?? ?? ??????? ?????? ???????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ????? ?????? ???????? ??? ???? 25 ?????? 1970 ?????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ??????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ??????? ??????? ????? ????????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ???? ????????? ??? ?????? ????????? ??? ??????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ????? "???? ????? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?????". ???? ?? ??????? ???? ???? "??? ?????" ????? ??? ?????? ?? ??? ??????... ???? ??? "??? ?????" ??? ???? ?? ?????? ?????? ???????? ??? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???? ??? ? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ??????? ??????? ????? ???? ????? ?? ??? ????? ????? ???? ???? ?????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??? ?????? ????? ???????? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????.
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1970
206 people are currently reading
15278 people want to read
About the author
Yukio Mishima
463?books8,754?followersYukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫) was born in Tokyo in 1925. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University’s School of Jurisprudence in 1947. His first published book, The Forest in Full Bloom, appeared in 1944 and he established himself as a major author with Confessions of a Mask (1949). From then until his death he continued to publish novels, short stories, and plays each year. His crowning achievement, the Sea of Fertility tetralogy—which contains the novels Spring Snow (1969), Runaway Horses (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971)—is considered one of the definitive works of twentieth-century Japanese fiction. In 1970, at the age of forty-five and the day after completing the last novel in the Fertility series, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide)—a spectacular death that attracted worldwide attention.
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September 11, 2019
This is the fourth and final volume in Mishima’s tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility.
Class divisions and changing values in Japan due to western influence are major themes. Another theme all the way through the series is reincarnation. In Decay of the Angel, the reincarnated spirit is an orphan. He has a job helping ships in port navigate to their docks. Obviously it was pre-ordained that Honda finds him since he encounters him by simply wandering around the port.
Honda, the lawyer, who is another main character through the four volumes. He is now 76 years old but he adopts the young boy. He does this even though, if the pattern holds, he knows the boy will die at age 20. A sub-theme tied in with the reincarnation is how Honda, originally an associate justice in the national courts, is initially all into rationalism and logic. But when he meets the young boy gang leader in volume two, Runaway Horses, he notices three moles on his body identical to his deceased friend from years ago. Despite his rationality, he comes to believe the young boy is his old friend reincarnated.
But unlike in the other volumes, the boy in The Decay of the Angel sets out to do evil – thus the ‘decay’ in the title. “I vow it: that when I am twenty I will cast Father into hell. I must start making plans.” The boy is attached to an ugly, obese, mentally ill young woman whom he eventually marries. His evil starts out small, getting his tutor dismissed, but graduates to where he terrorizes his adoptive father by striking him with a poker. He makes his four maids his mistresses.
Although you can pick up most of the back story in context, it really helps to have to have read the whole series in sequence. For those who want to read this book but have not read the preceding volumes, here are brief summaries for each book:
Spoiler for the first volume, Spring Snow:
Spoiler for the second volume, Runaway Horses:
Spoiler for third volume, The Temple of Dawn.
Mishima (1925-1970) was a classic Japanese author. He committed ritual suicide the same day he delivered this book to his publisher. His best-known work is this tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility. I thought the whole series excellent, with the first volume, Spring Snow, the best.
Photo of Japanese a port in the 1930's from
The author from
Class divisions and changing values in Japan due to western influence are major themes. Another theme all the way through the series is reincarnation. In Decay of the Angel, the reincarnated spirit is an orphan. He has a job helping ships in port navigate to their docks. Obviously it was pre-ordained that Honda finds him since he encounters him by simply wandering around the port.
Honda, the lawyer, who is another main character through the four volumes. He is now 76 years old but he adopts the young boy. He does this even though, if the pattern holds, he knows the boy will die at age 20. A sub-theme tied in with the reincarnation is how Honda, originally an associate justice in the national courts, is initially all into rationalism and logic. But when he meets the young boy gang leader in volume two, Runaway Horses, he notices three moles on his body identical to his deceased friend from years ago. Despite his rationality, he comes to believe the young boy is his old friend reincarnated.
But unlike in the other volumes, the boy in The Decay of the Angel sets out to do evil – thus the ‘decay’ in the title. “I vow it: that when I am twenty I will cast Father into hell. I must start making plans.” The boy is attached to an ugly, obese, mentally ill young woman whom he eventually marries. His evil starts out small, getting his tutor dismissed, but graduates to where he terrorizes his adoptive father by striking him with a poker. He makes his four maids his mistresses.
Although you can pick up most of the back story in context, it really helps to have to have read the whole series in sequence. For those who want to read this book but have not read the preceding volumes, here are brief summaries for each book:
Spoiler for the first volume, Spring Snow:
Spoiler for the second volume, Runaway Horses:
Spoiler for third volume, The Temple of Dawn.
Mishima (1925-1970) was a classic Japanese author. He committed ritual suicide the same day he delivered this book to his publisher. His best-known work is this tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility. I thought the whole series excellent, with the first volume, Spring Snow, the best.
Photo of Japanese a port in the 1930's from
The author from
June 15, 2020
A strange, swift landing to the Sea of Fertility tetralogy, and a book that can't help but be altered by the fact that Mishima's strange, ritualistic suicide occurred the day after he handed it in, on the date on the last page of the mansucript. There is a lot to like in this volume, which cleverly inverts the reincarnations of Kiyoaki by questioning whether this particular rendition (a sociopathic ship watcher named Tōru Yasunaga, a character w/ virtually no inner life) is a complex imposter. The middle of the book, Toru's journal, is an interesting return to the first book, set in 1970s Japan, as the lead, Honda, battles old age. But there are shortcomings here: the book moves too fast, accepting its strangeness as a matter of course, and cutting short the intriguing push and pull between Honda and his adopted son, who have so much in common. It's almost as if Mishima himself is in dread of his aged narrator, whose gradual disintegration is treated rather grotesquely. The ending, however, is excellent: something we've waited for for 4 books...for 60 years of plot.
As an overall project, The Sea of Fertility is fascinating to consider: flawed, weird, autobiographical, ambitious. I enjoyed my journey through its lush, barren pages.
As an overall project, The Sea of Fertility is fascinating to consider: flawed, weird, autobiographical, ambitious. I enjoyed my journey through its lush, barren pages.
January 21, 2023
What’s this one about, do you suppose? There is in all translations of Mishima’s work I have read—by a host of translators—a fundamental woodeness or clunkiness of description, especially in his philosophical flights. In Japan he is often referred to as a stylist with a penchant for archaic Japanese word forms. So it could be that Mishima’s use of archaisms means he doesn’t translate well into English. I don’t know. But this fourth volume of The Sea of Fertility tetralogy seems to me in the first half worst of the batch. One has no idea why the characters are alternately so goddamned indifferent then so cruel. The novel seems to be all surface. Why is there mention of evil out of the blue like that? What’s evil? I'd like to be shown Tōru's evil and not simply be told about it. It would do wonders for the suspense. Yet the motivations are often completely opaque. Except at the end, there is little or no insight into character. Tōru is without parentage. No past for him is ever given. He lives alone without friends, motivated like most Mishima protagonists, entirely by a mix of na?veté and cryptic self inquiry. The day after Mishima finished this MS he committed suicide. He was 45. Maybe that was his only alternative. He certainly makes clear here, as in all his books to some degree, his absolute detestation of old age. The book seems to me a farrago, a pastiche whose fragments are not without interest, but a novel they do not make.
July 18, 2022
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January 10, 2023
In the recent review of "The Temple of Dawn," the third installment in Mishima's tetralogy, we left Honda, the fiftieth lawyer, prey to the pangs of the noon demon and unable to curb obsessive voyeurism.
We find him in 1970 in the last opus entitled "The decaying angel" in the guise of an old man of 76 years, now widowed and walking painfully with the help of a cane. Since the death of his wife, he has lived more or less with Keiko, a neighbor of his age. However, it has kept a pronounced penchant for beautiful young women, an inclination that harmonizes quite well with the voyeurism of Honda.
We have known this central figure in the tetralogy since his 18th birthday, the date from which a growing attraction for the ancient Indian laws of Manu was manifested in him, which gave particular importance to reincarnation.
This Honda has approached, twice already in its life, two people who, in its eyes, were the reincarnation of Kiyoaki, its friend of youth, tragically disappeared:
- in 1932, he took the criminal defense of a young nationalist, Isao, accused of an attempted assassination. Then, in 1940, he met fortuitously during a professional trip to Bangkok a Siamese princess, Moon Light, a young woman he saw again a few years later in Tokyo under very particular circumstances.
Like Kiyoaki, Isao and Moon Light had three perfectly aligned moles under their left arms at armpit level.
As "The Decaying Angel" begins, Toru Yasunaga is at his observation post and watches for the arrival of the cargo ships off the port of Shimizu. Its job is to alert the various port institutions one hour before the boat dock.
Orphan of exceptional beauty, this sixteen-year-old boy is wholly convinced that he does not belong to this world. But, by observing the horizon line, the conviction that he comes from another planet had forged in his mind.
Three moles mark his left side, and the reader quickly understands that Toru is the third reincarnation of Kiyoaki. What will be the relationship between Toru, the young man who looks like an angel, and Honda, the older man assaulted by his past demons? The ultimate Mishima tragedy is in place. The outcome is approaching, the central character slowly advances towards the end of his life, and a deep sadness gradually gains the reader, who turns, regretfully, to the last pages of "The angel in decay."
He knows that just now, his literary work completed, the great Japanese writer will truncate his pen for the saber and that the man will go, in the pure samurai tradition, towards the destiny he has chosen. Thus ends this famous tetralogy entitled "The Sea of Fertility" concerning a body of water on the moon (also called "The Sea of Fertility"). Few writers have contemplated the heavens as Mishima did. Many of his novels contain descriptions of the sky and the sky more magnificent than the others, and this strange title was probably not chosen in the hazard.
Oddly enough, when a book fascinates me, I love to drag through the last chapters, so I regularly start a new book while the suspense intensifies in the current one. So, of course, this cobblestone of Mishima, with constant twists and turns, has not departed from this habit of making the pleasure last. Moreover, a period of settling between each opus of the tetralogy is not excessive. So much is the author's erudition on historical, philosophical, and religious themes.
Some time ago, amazed by the beauty of the prose of "Spring Snow," I was inspired by a splendid reference of Mishima to the constellation Orion to evaluate this first dazzling book. So naturally, the eight stars of the Orion harness retained during this rating are subjective.
We find him in 1970 in the last opus entitled "The decaying angel" in the guise of an old man of 76 years, now widowed and walking painfully with the help of a cane. Since the death of his wife, he has lived more or less with Keiko, a neighbor of his age. However, it has kept a pronounced penchant for beautiful young women, an inclination that harmonizes quite well with the voyeurism of Honda.
We have known this central figure in the tetralogy since his 18th birthday, the date from which a growing attraction for the ancient Indian laws of Manu was manifested in him, which gave particular importance to reincarnation.
This Honda has approached, twice already in its life, two people who, in its eyes, were the reincarnation of Kiyoaki, its friend of youth, tragically disappeared:
- in 1932, he took the criminal defense of a young nationalist, Isao, accused of an attempted assassination. Then, in 1940, he met fortuitously during a professional trip to Bangkok a Siamese princess, Moon Light, a young woman he saw again a few years later in Tokyo under very particular circumstances.
Like Kiyoaki, Isao and Moon Light had three perfectly aligned moles under their left arms at armpit level.
As "The Decaying Angel" begins, Toru Yasunaga is at his observation post and watches for the arrival of the cargo ships off the port of Shimizu. Its job is to alert the various port institutions one hour before the boat dock.
Orphan of exceptional beauty, this sixteen-year-old boy is wholly convinced that he does not belong to this world. But, by observing the horizon line, the conviction that he comes from another planet had forged in his mind.
Three moles mark his left side, and the reader quickly understands that Toru is the third reincarnation of Kiyoaki. What will be the relationship between Toru, the young man who looks like an angel, and Honda, the older man assaulted by his past demons? The ultimate Mishima tragedy is in place. The outcome is approaching, the central character slowly advances towards the end of his life, and a deep sadness gradually gains the reader, who turns, regretfully, to the last pages of "The angel in decay."
He knows that just now, his literary work completed, the great Japanese writer will truncate his pen for the saber and that the man will go, in the pure samurai tradition, towards the destiny he has chosen. Thus ends this famous tetralogy entitled "The Sea of Fertility" concerning a body of water on the moon (also called "The Sea of Fertility"). Few writers have contemplated the heavens as Mishima did. Many of his novels contain descriptions of the sky and the sky more magnificent than the others, and this strange title was probably not chosen in the hazard.
Oddly enough, when a book fascinates me, I love to drag through the last chapters, so I regularly start a new book while the suspense intensifies in the current one. So, of course, this cobblestone of Mishima, with constant twists and turns, has not departed from this habit of making the pleasure last. Moreover, a period of settling between each opus of the tetralogy is not excessive. So much is the author's erudition on historical, philosophical, and religious themes.
Some time ago, amazed by the beauty of the prose of "Spring Snow," I was inspired by a splendid reference of Mishima to the constellation Orion to evaluate this first dazzling book. So naturally, the eight stars of the Orion harness retained during this rating are subjective.
September 18, 2023
I waited for Satoko's return from the moment I finished 'Spring Snow'. Books 2 and 3 of this tetralogy were a struggle, but Mishima really knows what a great ending is, and he delivers one of the best I've ever read with this one.
June 16, 2012
To be as honest as possible, I must run the risk of not making any sense: this is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite book in the series. Parts of it were hugely gorgeous -- the prose was pure and had an almost cleansing aura to it, and I felt alive while reading it. However, I wanted to strangle Mishima for writing some other parts that I felt were not only uncalled for but intentionally annoying to read (I'm looking at you, several descriptions of harbor boats). I know that Seidensticker is apparently revered as some sort of translator god in the Japanese world, but I couldn't help but feel he edited it sentence by sentence with his mindset alternating between "How do I make this as beautiful as possible?" with "How can I make this as tedious as possible?"
Where has Honda come to, then? He was first the friend of Kiyoaki Matsugae, then the lawyer of Isao Iinuma, and finally the friend/voyeur of Ying Chan. Now he's the guardian of Toru, a diabolical young teenager who in wanting to see himself as superior to everyone else decides to be evil. Honda's journey has been as remarkable as it has been beautiful, and according to him that may be for the better. It would appear that beauty is perhaps one of the most undefinable things in the universe. It is pain, fragility, distance, youth, and above all death. When you put it together, it seems to be that it becomes the "art of suicide" - to kill yourself before you really grow up. Beauty, then, becomes nothing more than the physicality of your being, your existence, as an independent entity - a transcendental adolescence, and by killing yourself at that stage, your life becomes synonymous with that beauty. Hell, if that was Kiyoaki's objective, I think he did a bang-up good job.
The last twenty pages are worth reading it all again for, though. It makes me want to go back and read the first one again, if only that. There's a throwback to a scene from the end of Spring Snow, where Honda, at wits end, decides to visit someone he hasn't seen in sixty years. The discussion that ensues chills me.
"Memory is like a phantom mirror. It sometimes shows things too distant to be seen, and sometimes it shows them as if they were here."
Has this all, then, been but a dream? No, it wasn't all just a dream. That would be silly. Mishima isn't some nutjob with a pen -- well, okay, maybe he was... but let's be honest with ourselves here. Mishima might actually be testing us with this one. He wasn't a Buddhist, but there's definitely something weird going on in the last installment, and the writing itself betrays a sort of unsettling of his own philosophy. There might be a good reason why Mishima chose to stage his coup right after finishing this final piece. Perhaps it is not Honda but Mishima who arrives with the reader where there is no memory -- to the place where the noontide sun of summer flows over an empty garden.
Where has Honda come to, then? He was first the friend of Kiyoaki Matsugae, then the lawyer of Isao Iinuma, and finally the friend/voyeur of Ying Chan. Now he's the guardian of Toru, a diabolical young teenager who in wanting to see himself as superior to everyone else decides to be evil. Honda's journey has been as remarkable as it has been beautiful, and according to him that may be for the better. It would appear that beauty is perhaps one of the most undefinable things in the universe. It is pain, fragility, distance, youth, and above all death. When you put it together, it seems to be that it becomes the "art of suicide" - to kill yourself before you really grow up. Beauty, then, becomes nothing more than the physicality of your being, your existence, as an independent entity - a transcendental adolescence, and by killing yourself at that stage, your life becomes synonymous with that beauty. Hell, if that was Kiyoaki's objective, I think he did a bang-up good job.
The last twenty pages are worth reading it all again for, though. It makes me want to go back and read the first one again, if only that. There's a throwback to a scene from the end of Spring Snow, where Honda, at wits end, decides to visit someone he hasn't seen in sixty years. The discussion that ensues chills me.
"Memory is like a phantom mirror. It sometimes shows things too distant to be seen, and sometimes it shows them as if they were here."
Has this all, then, been but a dream? No, it wasn't all just a dream. That would be silly. Mishima isn't some nutjob with a pen -- well, okay, maybe he was... but let's be honest with ourselves here. Mishima might actually be testing us with this one. He wasn't a Buddhist, but there's definitely something weird going on in the last installment, and the writing itself betrays a sort of unsettling of his own philosophy. There might be a good reason why Mishima chose to stage his coup right after finishing this final piece. Perhaps it is not Honda but Mishima who arrives with the reader where there is no memory -- to the place where the noontide sun of summer flows over an empty garden.
January 22, 2018
????? ?????? ??????? ?? ???? ???????? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ??????. ??? ??????? ???? ????? ???? ????? ????? ??????. ?? ???? ???? ??????? ??????? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ?? ????? ???...???? ?????.
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??? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ?????? ???????. ??? ???????? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????. ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ? "???????" ?? ???? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ??????? ????????? ??? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ????? ??????.
?????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ???????? ??? ????? ?? ???????? ???????. ??? ?? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ???? ????????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ????? ????? ??? ????????.
??? ?? ??????? ??????? ???????? ?? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ??????. ????? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????.
????? ??????? ?? ??????? ???? ??????????? ???? ??????? ????????. ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ??????? ?????? ????? ?????. ?????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ??????? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ????????? ????? ?? ????? ???. ????????? ??????? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???????? ??? ????.
??? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ?????? ???????. ??? ???????? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ??????. ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ? "???????" ?? ???? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ??????? ????????? ??? ?????? ?? ??????? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ????? ??????.
?????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ???????? ??? ????? ?? ???????? ???????. ??? ?? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ???? ????????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ????? ????? ??? ????????.
June 19, 2021
WISHFUL THINKING
1970, Honda is now 80. He meets Toru, a young signalman he immediately surmises to be a reincarnation of Ying Chan, Isao and his deceased friend Kiyoaki. A contemplative orphan, Toru also looks like Honda in terms of personality. Honda decides to adopt him, paving the way for a merciless strife for domination between the two men...
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
MAJOR THEMES:
? Universal decay.
Be it trash, rotten vegetables, old flesh, everything comes down to be mere matter. Even angels rot. Everything is germinating, maggoty, eaten by corruption. Decay and corruption lie at the very heart of life. Life itself is corruption.
? Futility of politics, pointlessness of time and absurdity of being.
In the Sea of Fertility cycle, Nowhere else than in The Decay of the Angel are references to politics and contemporary events in Japan that scarce in the narrative.
The main reference to foreign affairs is one about the US military operations in Cambodia, which rings quite ironically, after reading , taking place as the Japanese imperial army fights in the South-Eastern Asia area, a mere 25 years before.
? Toru, a living embodiment of non-being.
? Unescapable vulgarity, derision and debasement in Westernized Japan.
? Set-ups and cover-ups.
- Toru has his fiancée working to her own demise, dictating her a letter exposing degrading motives behind her union with Toru : in this letter, her father is said to have worked this scheme of marrying his daughter to Toru because he is after Honda's money.
- This story also displays crual plots designed by Honda and Toru against one another. Toru even resorts to gaslighting and blackmail... This sadistic and masochistic backgroung is not a little reminiscent of , the first book in the Sea of Fertility series, of or of .
? Obsessing over meaning: the ceaseless need to construe reality.
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
SIMILAR WORKS:
Painstaking deconstruction and analysis of life, the fixation with decay:
Non-being and unnaturalness:
Epistolary novels, diaries and masquerades :
Mind tricks from other adept writers :
Beauty and finiteness :
SOUNDTRACK :
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
V?U PIEUX
1970, Honda a maintenant quatre-vingt ans. Il fait la rencontre de Toru, un jeune observateur de navires et orphelin qui lui para?t immédiatement être la réincarnation de Ying Chan, d'Isao, et de son ami Kiyoaki. Contemplatif, il lui appara?t aussit?t qu'il est comme la copie crachée de sa propre personnalité. Il décide de l'adopter. S'engage alors une relation de domination et de surenchère à la cruauté entre les deux hommes, dont chacun n'existe qu'autant qu'il nie l'autre.
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
----
LES TH?MES :
? Le pourrissement universel.
Tout se réduit ici à de la matière : déchets, pourriture, végétaux en décomposition et vieilles chairs plus particulièrement. Même les anges pourrissent. Tout est germinatif, véreux, mangé de corruption. Le pourrissement et la corruption existent au sein même de la vie. La vie même est corruption.
- Les personnages Honda et Keiko, vieillards, ont un dégo?t pour la vieillesse affiché qu'accompagne une jalousie de la jeunesse. Ils s'appuient l'un sur l'autre pour tromper leur ennui et leur déclin.
? Vanité de la politique, du temps et de l'être.
Il me semble que nulle part ailleurs que dans L'ange en décomposition la politique et les évènements contemporains sont si peu présents dans la narration.
La principale référence est celles des opérations armées des ?tats-Unis au Cambodge. Ce qui, à peine 25 ans après et les opérations militaires de l'armée impériale japonaise en Asie sud-orientale... laisse un arrière-go?t amer d'éternel retour.
? Toru et le non-être, Toru et l'anti-nature, Toru, contradiction vivante de la vie.
- Lorsque Honda rencontre Toru, il est presque renversé par la ressemblance de sa personnalité avec la sienne.
Toru témoigne un mépris infini pour le monde. Il pratique une forme de solipsisme ultra-analytique très proche de celui de Honda, à la différence que pour Toru, il n'y a pas d'arrière-plan métaphysique ou mystique, seulement une immensité indigo indicible... Tous deux sont des voyeurs pratiquement dépourvus de volonté et qui mènent une vie sans enjeu, sans marées, "sans poésie et sans félicité". Du reste, Honda décèle le mal absolu en Toru et le reconna?t pour sien.
- Toru la conscience exacerbée, Kinué l'enfermement en soi ?
Dans les deux cas, il y a refus du monde. Négation du monde extérieur, confondu avec le monde intérieur.
? Vulgarité, affreuse dérision et contrefa?on des idéaux.
- Le sanctuaire de Mio, visité par Honda et son amie Keiko, est devenu un parc d'attraction bruyant.
- Toru, incarnation dérisoire de la conscience Alaya ?
- Toru détruit le journal de Kiyoaki. Il détruit et salit tout ce que Honda a pu rassembler.
? Montages et mises en scènes.
- Toru fait collaborer sa fiancée Momoko à un stratagème qui va la perdre : il lui dicte une lettre qui avilit les motifs derrière son union avec Toru : il ne serait question que de faire un bon parti pour son père désargenté.
- Mises en scènes cruelles de Honda et de Toru l'un contre l'autre. "Gaslighting", chantage... Chez les deux personnages, masochisme et sadisme. Qui ne sont pas sans faire penser à Neige de Printemps, aux Liaisons dangereuses ou au Journal du séducteur.
? La manie d'interpréter.
- Arrivé à un point de l'histoire, la vieille amie Keiko s'entiche de culture japonaise traditionnelle et entend tout de travers, du moins l'interprète, erronément, à sa fa?on. Ce qui ne manque pas de faire doucement sourire Honda. C'est un thème qui revient obstinément. Qui est exempt de ces biais, de cette manière d'envisager le monde par le petit bout de la lorgnette, ou bien en s'affranchissant de ce qui vient contre notre fa?on de voir ?
- Sur la fin de ses jours, Honda conna?t une invasion onirique. Dans le monde éveillé comme en sommeil, tout lui sert d'aliment à théorie, tout lui sert de signe, est per?u comme signal. Au point de ne plus bien faire la différence entre le signe, le signifiant et le signifié. Bref, entre le monde et ce qu'il veut bien en voir.
Toru, lui, est visité par des visions inquiétantes qui le visitent sans prévenir. On dirait un peu les apparitions inquiétantes de Raskolnikov dans l'excellent ...
- Mishima lui-même, ma?tre du grand montage, induit le lecteur en erreur en l'incitant à faire des rapprochements entre des évènements peut-être fortuits. En fin de compte, jusqu'à la prose de ce livre est désossée par ces rapprochements, ces perceptions gratuites mais toujours interprétées de la manière la plus concluante possible. Honda cl?t le cycle en retournant à Gesshuji, où Satoko a passé sa vie comme abbesse.
Il est accueilli par l'image du néant.
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
MON AVIS :
A l'origine, je comptais terminer ce cycle en hiver, pour avoir une belle régularité dans la lecture de ses quatre livres : Neige de printemps en mai, Chevaux échappés en juillet, Le Temple de l'Aube en septembre et puis L'ange en décomposition pour cet hiver. Et puis je me suis dit : bah, à quoi bon patienter. J'en suis à un stade où clairement ce sont les lectures qui battent la mesure de ma vie, et ce cycle de La mer de la fertilité a donné forme à cette étrange année 2020, au moins autant que les évènements de politique intérieure et internationale.
Bref, je l'ai proprement dévalé, et n'était le travail, je l'aurais lu en une traite.
L'évolution de la personnalité de Honda m'a vraiment frappé à partir du Temple de l'Aube. Ici, impossible de ne pas garder en vue la date de remise du manuscrit, qui co?ncide avec celle du suicide de Mishima. Il y a fort à parier que l'auteur y a mis beaucoup de sa conception du monde et de sa personne tout simplement. Je suis pris à la fois de sympathie et saisi par la vie étrange de cet homme. Cette étrangeté n'est pas la mienne, mais elle me permet de mieux remarquer combien étranges sont les vies que l'on mène. De combien de préconceptions et de raccourcis, par quels détours et quels rapprochements hasardeux, de quelle incohérence et de quelles contradictions nous nourrissons ce qu'il faut bien appeler sa vision du monde.
----
?UVRES VOISINES :
Décomposition des mécanismes de la vie et morbidité :
Le non-être et l'anti-nature :
Jeux de regards et de miroir, tenue d'un journal ; pouvoir extraordinaire de simulation des mots. Montage épistolaire :
Savants montages de la part d'autres écrivains :
Beauté et finitude :
TH?ME MUSICAL :
1970, Honda is now 80. He meets Toru, a young signalman he immediately surmises to be a reincarnation of Ying Chan, Isao and his deceased friend Kiyoaki. A contemplative orphan, Toru also looks like Honda in terms of personality. Honda decides to adopt him, paving the way for a merciless strife for domination between the two men...
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
MAJOR THEMES:
? Universal decay.
Be it trash, rotten vegetables, old flesh, everything comes down to be mere matter. Even angels rot. Everything is germinating, maggoty, eaten by corruption. Decay and corruption lie at the very heart of life. Life itself is corruption.
? Futility of politics, pointlessness of time and absurdity of being.
In the Sea of Fertility cycle, Nowhere else than in The Decay of the Angel are references to politics and contemporary events in Japan that scarce in the narrative.
The main reference to foreign affairs is one about the US military operations in Cambodia, which rings quite ironically, after reading , taking place as the Japanese imperial army fights in the South-Eastern Asia area, a mere 25 years before.
? Toru, a living embodiment of non-being.
? Unescapable vulgarity, derision and debasement in Westernized Japan.
? Set-ups and cover-ups.
- Toru has his fiancée working to her own demise, dictating her a letter exposing degrading motives behind her union with Toru : in this letter, her father is said to have worked this scheme of marrying his daughter to Toru because he is after Honda's money.
- This story also displays crual plots designed by Honda and Toru against one another. Toru even resorts to gaslighting and blackmail... This sadistic and masochistic backgroung is not a little reminiscent of , the first book in the Sea of Fertility series, of or of .
? Obsessing over meaning: the ceaseless need to construe reality.
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
SIMILAR WORKS:
Painstaking deconstruction and analysis of life, the fixation with decay:
Non-being and unnaturalness:
Epistolary novels, diaries and masquerades :
Mind tricks from other adept writers :
Beauty and finiteness :
SOUNDTRACK :
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
V?U PIEUX
1970, Honda a maintenant quatre-vingt ans. Il fait la rencontre de Toru, un jeune observateur de navires et orphelin qui lui para?t immédiatement être la réincarnation de Ying Chan, d'Isao, et de son ami Kiyoaki. Contemplatif, il lui appara?t aussit?t qu'il est comme la copie crachée de sa propre personnalité. Il décide de l'adopter. S'engage alors une relation de domination et de surenchère à la cruauté entre les deux hommes, dont chacun n'existe qu'autant qu'il nie l'autre.
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
----
LES TH?MES :
? Le pourrissement universel.
Tout se réduit ici à de la matière : déchets, pourriture, végétaux en décomposition et vieilles chairs plus particulièrement. Même les anges pourrissent. Tout est germinatif, véreux, mangé de corruption. Le pourrissement et la corruption existent au sein même de la vie. La vie même est corruption.
- Les personnages Honda et Keiko, vieillards, ont un dégo?t pour la vieillesse affiché qu'accompagne une jalousie de la jeunesse. Ils s'appuient l'un sur l'autre pour tromper leur ennui et leur déclin.
? Vanité de la politique, du temps et de l'être.
Il me semble que nulle part ailleurs que dans L'ange en décomposition la politique et les évènements contemporains sont si peu présents dans la narration.
La principale référence est celles des opérations armées des ?tats-Unis au Cambodge. Ce qui, à peine 25 ans après et les opérations militaires de l'armée impériale japonaise en Asie sud-orientale... laisse un arrière-go?t amer d'éternel retour.
? Toru et le non-être, Toru et l'anti-nature, Toru, contradiction vivante de la vie.
- Lorsque Honda rencontre Toru, il est presque renversé par la ressemblance de sa personnalité avec la sienne.
Toru témoigne un mépris infini pour le monde. Il pratique une forme de solipsisme ultra-analytique très proche de celui de Honda, à la différence que pour Toru, il n'y a pas d'arrière-plan métaphysique ou mystique, seulement une immensité indigo indicible... Tous deux sont des voyeurs pratiquement dépourvus de volonté et qui mènent une vie sans enjeu, sans marées, "sans poésie et sans félicité". Du reste, Honda décèle le mal absolu en Toru et le reconna?t pour sien.
- Toru la conscience exacerbée, Kinué l'enfermement en soi ?
Dans les deux cas, il y a refus du monde. Négation du monde extérieur, confondu avec le monde intérieur.
? Vulgarité, affreuse dérision et contrefa?on des idéaux.
- Le sanctuaire de Mio, visité par Honda et son amie Keiko, est devenu un parc d'attraction bruyant.
- Toru, incarnation dérisoire de la conscience Alaya ?
- Toru détruit le journal de Kiyoaki. Il détruit et salit tout ce que Honda a pu rassembler.
? Montages et mises en scènes.
- Toru fait collaborer sa fiancée Momoko à un stratagème qui va la perdre : il lui dicte une lettre qui avilit les motifs derrière son union avec Toru : il ne serait question que de faire un bon parti pour son père désargenté.
- Mises en scènes cruelles de Honda et de Toru l'un contre l'autre. "Gaslighting", chantage... Chez les deux personnages, masochisme et sadisme. Qui ne sont pas sans faire penser à Neige de Printemps, aux Liaisons dangereuses ou au Journal du séducteur.
? La manie d'interpréter.
- Arrivé à un point de l'histoire, la vieille amie Keiko s'entiche de culture japonaise traditionnelle et entend tout de travers, du moins l'interprète, erronément, à sa fa?on. Ce qui ne manque pas de faire doucement sourire Honda. C'est un thème qui revient obstinément. Qui est exempt de ces biais, de cette manière d'envisager le monde par le petit bout de la lorgnette, ou bien en s'affranchissant de ce qui vient contre notre fa?on de voir ?
- Sur la fin de ses jours, Honda conna?t une invasion onirique. Dans le monde éveillé comme en sommeil, tout lui sert d'aliment à théorie, tout lui sert de signe, est per?u comme signal. Au point de ne plus bien faire la différence entre le signe, le signifiant et le signifié. Bref, entre le monde et ce qu'il veut bien en voir.
Toru, lui, est visité par des visions inquiétantes qui le visitent sans prévenir. On dirait un peu les apparitions inquiétantes de Raskolnikov dans l'excellent ...
- Mishima lui-même, ma?tre du grand montage, induit le lecteur en erreur en l'incitant à faire des rapprochements entre des évènements peut-être fortuits. En fin de compte, jusqu'à la prose de ce livre est désossée par ces rapprochements, ces perceptions gratuites mais toujours interprétées de la manière la plus concluante possible. Honda cl?t le cycle en retournant à Gesshuji, où Satoko a passé sa vie comme abbesse.
Il est accueilli par l'image du néant.
Koishikawa Kōraku-en, Tokyo
MON AVIS :
A l'origine, je comptais terminer ce cycle en hiver, pour avoir une belle régularité dans la lecture de ses quatre livres : Neige de printemps en mai, Chevaux échappés en juillet, Le Temple de l'Aube en septembre et puis L'ange en décomposition pour cet hiver. Et puis je me suis dit : bah, à quoi bon patienter. J'en suis à un stade où clairement ce sont les lectures qui battent la mesure de ma vie, et ce cycle de La mer de la fertilité a donné forme à cette étrange année 2020, au moins autant que les évènements de politique intérieure et internationale.
Bref, je l'ai proprement dévalé, et n'était le travail, je l'aurais lu en une traite.
L'évolution de la personnalité de Honda m'a vraiment frappé à partir du Temple de l'Aube. Ici, impossible de ne pas garder en vue la date de remise du manuscrit, qui co?ncide avec celle du suicide de Mishima. Il y a fort à parier que l'auteur y a mis beaucoup de sa conception du monde et de sa personne tout simplement. Je suis pris à la fois de sympathie et saisi par la vie étrange de cet homme. Cette étrangeté n'est pas la mienne, mais elle me permet de mieux remarquer combien étranges sont les vies que l'on mène. De combien de préconceptions et de raccourcis, par quels détours et quels rapprochements hasardeux, de quelle incohérence et de quelles contradictions nous nourrissons ce qu'il faut bien appeler sa vision du monde.
----
?UVRES VOISINES :
Décomposition des mécanismes de la vie et morbidité :
Le non-être et l'anti-nature :
Jeux de regards et de miroir, tenue d'un journal ; pouvoir extraordinaire de simulation des mots. Montage épistolaire :
Savants montages de la part d'autres écrivains :
Beauté et finitude :
TH?ME MUSICAL :
April 7, 2018
Do you think that your hopes and those of someone else coincide, that your hopes can be smoothly realized for you by someone else? People live for themselves and think only of themselves. You who more than most think only of yourself have gone too far and let yourself be blinded.
You thought that history has its exceptions. There are none. You thought that the race has its exceptions. There are none.
There is no special right to happiness and none to unhappiness. There is no tragedy and there is no genius. Your confidence and your dreams are groundless. If there is on this earth something exceptional, special beauty or special evil, nature finds it out and uproots it. We should all by now have learned the hard lesson, that there are no ‘elect.’
Like a knife. So… the last volume of The Sea of Fertility tetralogy. It tells the story of an elderly Honda and Tōru, a 16-year-old he adopts after noticing that the boy had a certain characteristic that led the old man to believe he was in the presence of Kiyoaki’s third reincarnation, the protagonist of , the first volume, which, despite my previous doubts, is still my favorite of the series. This book is far from mediocrity, however, I can’t say, even while having the same rating, that it matches the first installment’s excellence.
I have to admit that I suffered. I was expecting repulsion, mostly. I didn’t imagine I was going to be this disoriented, fluctuating between annoyance and boredom. So I suffered for almost the entire book. It only takes one allusion to abuse – in any way, shape, or form; in this case, toward the elderly – for me to feel incredibly sad. I can’t describe the feeling when such situations stop being fiction. In any case, Honda’s vulnerability made me forget, from time to time, the disgust I felt in , the previous volume. My ultimate cause of suffering was the adopted son, who symbolized the vastly unoriginal juxtaposition of external beauty and internal ugliness. Clichéd to the point of boredom, if this isn’t your first novel of the kind. As I told someone before, I think I reached the limit and can’t tolerate more stories involving handsome and aloof boys/men who think girls/women are shallow and fairly unnecessary if it weren’t for lust.
Aside from that, Tōru is the embodiment of evil. In that sense, the story felt forced and rushed. It took forever to start and then, quite abruptly, we find a diabolic adolescent whose mission in life is to injure - among others - his adoptive father. By the end, we are given some explanations we all heard before but it was too late to revert the process. I was already looking forward to a conclusion.
Having read a fair amount of his books, Mishima remains a conundrum to me. A delightful enigma endowed with the ability to attract and repel. As ever, his writing is painfully poetic, and when it clashes with obnoxious ideas or disgusting actions, the counterpoint has an enthralling effect. The search for beauty – something that never leaves the sphere of the flesh, a word the author loves, as well as self-respect – still continues and everything that interferes with the narrator’s visions of what’s pure and beauteous is severely ridiculed. The aversion to aging is almost insulting. Moreover, the idea of rising against not a machine but a natural and inexorable process is an absurd way to experience life.
Too many signs of decay.
This book was meandering toward the 3-star realm, but the last few chapters struck a chord. The following quote is part of one brutal rebuke. The little cloud of evil had found an implacable opponent.
[…] All puffed up by illusions born of abstract concepts, you strut about as the master of a destiny even though you have none of the qualifications. You think you have seen to the ends of the earth. But you have not once had an invitation beyond the horizon. You have nothing to do with light or enlightenment, there is no real spirit in flesh or in heart.
Honestly, there was nothing special about the previous 'reincarnations' either, as they were all brimming with selfishness, the most ordinary of qualities. From a practical point of view, humanity is defined by a self-absorbed, completely narcissistic nature; nothing more commonplace. A trite old joke with an air of uniqueness, with delusions of grandeur. The truly remarkable is the opposite; kindness, empathy, altruistic acts amid so much filth.
April 2, 18
* Later on . Note to self: edit.
** The Sea of Fertility:
Spring Snow
Runaway Horses
The Temple of Dawn
August 14, 2019
Bereket Denizi d?rtlemesi son kitab?n?n okunmas?yla bitti. ??üncü kitapta kopan ?ykü bu son kitapta yeniden kar??m?za ??k?yor. Yine 3. kitaptaki felsefik ve mistik aray??lar burada da devam ediyor ancak bu sefer ba??ms?z olarak de?il ?yküye yedirilerek veriliyor.
Mi?ima’n?n Budizm konusunda ikircikli?i yer yer devam etse de art?k Budizm’e teslim oldu?u anla??l?yor. Toru’nun güncesi Mi?ima’n?n kuyruklar? birbirine de?meyen bin tilkili kafas?n? ?ok iyi anlat?yor. Sonu belirsizlikle ve okuyucuyu bir ?ok soruyla kar?? kar??ya b?rakarak kitab? yani d?rtlemesini bitiriyor. ?lk iki kitaptaki yüksek ??ta ü?üncüde biraz dü?se de son kitapta tekrar yükseliyor.
欧宝娱乐’ten en büyük kazan?lar?mdan biri Yukio Mi?ima’y?, Japon Edebiyat?n? tan?m?? olmamd?r.
Mi?ima’n?n Budizm konusunda ikircikli?i yer yer devam etse de art?k Budizm’e teslim oldu?u anla??l?yor. Toru’nun güncesi Mi?ima’n?n kuyruklar? birbirine de?meyen bin tilkili kafas?n? ?ok iyi anlat?yor. Sonu belirsizlikle ve okuyucuyu bir ?ok soruyla kar?? kar??ya b?rakarak kitab? yani d?rtlemesini bitiriyor. ?lk iki kitaptaki yüksek ??ta ü?üncüde biraz dü?se de son kitapta tekrar yükseliyor.
欧宝娱乐’ten en büyük kazan?lar?mdan biri Yukio Mi?ima’y?, Japon Edebiyat?n? tan?m?? olmamd?r.
December 23, 2016
mele?in ?ürüyü?ü, 1912 y?l?nda ba?layan bereket denizi d?rtlemesini 1970'lere ta??y?p muhte?em bir finalle sonland?r?yor. "bereket denizi'nin sonu" yazan son sayfa ?evrildi?inde "bu kitaplara ya?amla ve bu dünyayla ilgili hissetti?im ve dü?ündü?üm her ?eyi yans?tt?m" diyen ve roman? tamamlad??? gün intihar eden mi?ima'n?n sade, derin, ?iddetli ve ac?mas?z ger?ekli?ini yan?ba??m?zda buluyoruz.
mesele ne japonya'n?n kültürel yozla?mas? ne de kaybetti?i sava?. ne tutkusuz, ama?s?z, a?ks?z insanlar?n varl??? ne salt ak?lc?l???n bo?lu?u. ne eski ?are ne yeni, ne do?uda bir ya?am var ne bat?da. d?rt roman, ba?tan sona a??r a??r ama kararl?kla g?rülen her ???k zerresinin üstüne gidiyor, ?nce ????? g?rünür k?l?yor sonra üzerinden ge?ip yok ediyor. kopkoyu bir karanl?k kal?yor geride bereket denizi'nden.
bereket denizi: ay yüzeyindeki geni? düzlü?e verilen ad. bereket denizi, bereketli de?il. bereket denizi, deniz bile de?il. bereket denizi, bir damla su bile de?il. bereket denizi susuzlu?un ta kendisi. mi?ima yoklu?u, hi?li?i anlatmasa eserine bu ad? neden versin?..mi?ima'n?n "ya?amla ve bu dünyayla ilgili hissetti?i ve dü?ündü?ü her ?ey" neden hi?lik olmas?n?..(mi?ima sadece japonya geleneksel de?erlere d?nsün diye neden intihar etsin?..)
mesele ne japonya'n?n kültürel yozla?mas? ne de kaybetti?i sava?. ne tutkusuz, ama?s?z, a?ks?z insanlar?n varl??? ne salt ak?lc?l???n bo?lu?u. ne eski ?are ne yeni, ne do?uda bir ya?am var ne bat?da. d?rt roman, ba?tan sona a??r a??r ama kararl?kla g?rülen her ???k zerresinin üstüne gidiyor, ?nce ????? g?rünür k?l?yor sonra üzerinden ge?ip yok ediyor. kopkoyu bir karanl?k kal?yor geride bereket denizi'nden.
bereket denizi: ay yüzeyindeki geni? düzlü?e verilen ad. bereket denizi, bereketli de?il. bereket denizi, deniz bile de?il. bereket denizi, bir damla su bile de?il. bereket denizi susuzlu?un ta kendisi. mi?ima yoklu?u, hi?li?i anlatmasa eserine bu ad? neden versin?..mi?ima'n?n "ya?amla ve bu dünyayla ilgili hissetti?i ve dü?ündü?ü her ?ey" neden hi?lik olmas?n?..(mi?ima sadece japonya geleneksel de?erlere d?nsün diye neden intihar etsin?..)
June 13, 2023
"Ce putere, ce poezie, ce binecuvantare!" - un citat ce descrie perfect acest minunat roman.
Rareori mi se intampla sa raman fara cuvinte, insa opera de fata este de o perfectiune si frumusete deosebita. Cartea are stilul ei specific, rece si distant, dar si o capacitate extraordinara de a te tine captiv in lumea si starea pe care ti-o transmite. Cateva zile dupa ce am terminat-o, nici nu am mai putut sa citesc alta carte, inca mai fiind sub influenta sentimentelor pe care ea mi le-a indus.
Descrierile sunt foarte vii, pline de figuri de stil, un adevarat rasfat pentru cititor, comparatiile mai ales fiind neobisnuit de frumoase si referindu-se adesea la mare, la port sau la far:
"Soarele era ascuns intr-un cocon de nori subtiri, ca un vierme de matase stralucitor."
"... marea capata un aer inciudat si melancolic, plina de iesituri ascutite, de o culoare intunecata, ca niste spini pe o ramura de trandafiri."
"Valurile mici se adunau la mal. Cu o clipa inainte de a se sparge, isi aratau crestele impodobite cu alge inchise la culoare, ca penajul privighetorilor."
"Un port adevarat este un sir de dinti albi, mereu stralucitori, indreptati catre mare. Dinti albi ai docurilor, macinati de mare."
"Ingerul decazut" este ultima parte a unei tetralogii, in care il avem in prim plan pe Shigekuni Honda, un avocat ajuns la varsta de 80 de ani ce intalneste un tanar neobisnuit pe care doreste sa-l infieze crezand ca este reincarnarea prietenului sau din tinerete Kiyoaki. Acesta a mai avut trei incarnari pe care autorul le trateaza in celelalte trei parti.
Tanarul orfan de 16 ani, Toru, face parte din personalul de semnalizare al portului, lucrand in far si in ciuda varstei sale fragede este cel care practic decide soarta fiecarui vas, unde si la ce chei va doca. Personal il invidiez, chiar daca pare o activitate tipic masculina, eu as fi fericita sa ma ocup cu asa ceva si sa privesc ore in sir marea cea involburata (in timp ce probabil vapoarele se ciocnesc in voia sortii). :)
Baiatul intruchipeaza un inger intunecat ce desi pare pur si inocent are o latura malefica si o rautate ce vor iesi la iveala dupa ce acesta va fi infiat. Mi-au placut mult trasaturile sale care seamana cu cele ale unui samurai:
"Toru avea un chip frumos si palid, ca sculptat in gheata, pe care nu se citeau nici sentimente, nici dragoste, nici lacrimi."
"Fusese inzestrat cu scoarta groasa din nascare. Scoarta dura a dispretului."
Toru credea despre sine ca "lumea ar trebui sa imi fie recunoscatoare pentru stapanirea mea de sine. In acelasi timp, batranul avocat gandea despre el ca "tanarul e raul pur".
In ceea ce priveste titlul, se face referire la cantul lui Hagoromo in care un pescar ii fura vesmantul unui inger si acesta nu se mai poate intoarce in ceruri, fiind supus astfel decaderii. Ne sunt descrise cele 5 semne ale decaderii unui inger (acestea fiind usor diferite de la o opera japoneza la alta): cununile de flori i se ofilesc, vesmintele i se ponosesc, la subsori i se scurge sudoarea, nu se mai bucura de sine si isi pierde aura.
Din pacate am aflat ca dupa terminarea acestei carti autorul, care a facut parte dintr-o familie de samurai si a crescut in conformitate cu cerintele unei educatii stricte si traditionale, a apelat la gestul sinuciderii rituale prin seppuku. In roman avem si o viziune despre sinucidere la pagina 147 in care un profesor de-al lui Toru ii povesteste ca exista un fel de sinucidere care este acceptabila, "aceea pentru afirmarea sinelui". In sprijinul acestei afirmatii istoriseste parabola soarecelui care se inchipuia pisica. Este foarte interesanta si merita ca cititorul sa reflecteze asupra ei.
Romanul este o capodopera care te rascoleste si te impresioneaza foarte mult, din care avem multe de invatat, in special de la batranul Honda care este un etalon pentru demnitate dincolo de orice. Am retinut doua lucruri de la el: sa nu privim viata printr-un telescop, asa cum o face Toru, urmarind vapoarele care vin si pleaca ci sa vedem dincolo de el, caci e mult mai mult. De asemenea sa "radiografiem" oamenii, adica sa cautam si scheletul de sub pielea lor, pentru ca, adesea, lucrurile intunecate sunt la interior nu la exterior.
In incheiere atasez cateva citate superbe, mare parte dezvaluind intelepciunea si filosofia de viata a protagonistilor:
"Daca privitul insemna intalnirea dintre ochi si existenta, sau mai bine zis intalnirea dintre existenta si existenta, atunci era intalnirea a doua oglinzi ale existentei."
"Numai o femeie frumoasa poate cunoaste pe de-a-ntregul, asa cum se reflecta in ochii barbatului care o priveste, uratenia lumii si adevarata fata mizerabila a omenirii, care nu mai poate fi mantuita."
"Frumusetea umana, si cea trupeasca, si cea sufleteasca, de fapt tot ce tine de frumos se naste numai din necunoastere si iluzie."
"E foarte important sa nu-ti pierzi respectul de sine, chiar daca asta aproape te va ucide."
"Dar eu am nevoie de dragostea ei si trebuie mai intai sa-i ofer cutitul cu care se va rani singura."
"Amintirile sunt ca niste ochelari magici. Uneori arata lucruri prea indepartate pentru a putea fi vazute si le aduc aproape, ca si cum ar fi langa noi."
Rareori mi se intampla sa raman fara cuvinte, insa opera de fata este de o perfectiune si frumusete deosebita. Cartea are stilul ei specific, rece si distant, dar si o capacitate extraordinara de a te tine captiv in lumea si starea pe care ti-o transmite. Cateva zile dupa ce am terminat-o, nici nu am mai putut sa citesc alta carte, inca mai fiind sub influenta sentimentelor pe care ea mi le-a indus.
Descrierile sunt foarte vii, pline de figuri de stil, un adevarat rasfat pentru cititor, comparatiile mai ales fiind neobisnuit de frumoase si referindu-se adesea la mare, la port sau la far:
"Soarele era ascuns intr-un cocon de nori subtiri, ca un vierme de matase stralucitor."
"... marea capata un aer inciudat si melancolic, plina de iesituri ascutite, de o culoare intunecata, ca niste spini pe o ramura de trandafiri."
"Valurile mici se adunau la mal. Cu o clipa inainte de a se sparge, isi aratau crestele impodobite cu alge inchise la culoare, ca penajul privighetorilor."
"Un port adevarat este un sir de dinti albi, mereu stralucitori, indreptati catre mare. Dinti albi ai docurilor, macinati de mare."
"Ingerul decazut" este ultima parte a unei tetralogii, in care il avem in prim plan pe Shigekuni Honda, un avocat ajuns la varsta de 80 de ani ce intalneste un tanar neobisnuit pe care doreste sa-l infieze crezand ca este reincarnarea prietenului sau din tinerete Kiyoaki. Acesta a mai avut trei incarnari pe care autorul le trateaza in celelalte trei parti.
Tanarul orfan de 16 ani, Toru, face parte din personalul de semnalizare al portului, lucrand in far si in ciuda varstei sale fragede este cel care practic decide soarta fiecarui vas, unde si la ce chei va doca. Personal il invidiez, chiar daca pare o activitate tipic masculina, eu as fi fericita sa ma ocup cu asa ceva si sa privesc ore in sir marea cea involburata (in timp ce probabil vapoarele se ciocnesc in voia sortii). :)
Baiatul intruchipeaza un inger intunecat ce desi pare pur si inocent are o latura malefica si o rautate ce vor iesi la iveala dupa ce acesta va fi infiat. Mi-au placut mult trasaturile sale care seamana cu cele ale unui samurai:
"Toru avea un chip frumos si palid, ca sculptat in gheata, pe care nu se citeau nici sentimente, nici dragoste, nici lacrimi."
"Fusese inzestrat cu scoarta groasa din nascare. Scoarta dura a dispretului."
Toru credea despre sine ca "lumea ar trebui sa imi fie recunoscatoare pentru stapanirea mea de sine. In acelasi timp, batranul avocat gandea despre el ca "tanarul e raul pur".
In ceea ce priveste titlul, se face referire la cantul lui Hagoromo in care un pescar ii fura vesmantul unui inger si acesta nu se mai poate intoarce in ceruri, fiind supus astfel decaderii. Ne sunt descrise cele 5 semne ale decaderii unui inger (acestea fiind usor diferite de la o opera japoneza la alta): cununile de flori i se ofilesc, vesmintele i se ponosesc, la subsori i se scurge sudoarea, nu se mai bucura de sine si isi pierde aura.
Din pacate am aflat ca dupa terminarea acestei carti autorul, care a facut parte dintr-o familie de samurai si a crescut in conformitate cu cerintele unei educatii stricte si traditionale, a apelat la gestul sinuciderii rituale prin seppuku. In roman avem si o viziune despre sinucidere la pagina 147 in care un profesor de-al lui Toru ii povesteste ca exista un fel de sinucidere care este acceptabila, "aceea pentru afirmarea sinelui". In sprijinul acestei afirmatii istoriseste parabola soarecelui care se inchipuia pisica. Este foarte interesanta si merita ca cititorul sa reflecteze asupra ei.
Romanul este o capodopera care te rascoleste si te impresioneaza foarte mult, din care avem multe de invatat, in special de la batranul Honda care este un etalon pentru demnitate dincolo de orice. Am retinut doua lucruri de la el: sa nu privim viata printr-un telescop, asa cum o face Toru, urmarind vapoarele care vin si pleaca ci sa vedem dincolo de el, caci e mult mai mult. De asemenea sa "radiografiem" oamenii, adica sa cautam si scheletul de sub pielea lor, pentru ca, adesea, lucrurile intunecate sunt la interior nu la exterior.
In incheiere atasez cateva citate superbe, mare parte dezvaluind intelepciunea si filosofia de viata a protagonistilor:
"Daca privitul insemna intalnirea dintre ochi si existenta, sau mai bine zis intalnirea dintre existenta si existenta, atunci era intalnirea a doua oglinzi ale existentei."
"Numai o femeie frumoasa poate cunoaste pe de-a-ntregul, asa cum se reflecta in ochii barbatului care o priveste, uratenia lumii si adevarata fata mizerabila a omenirii, care nu mai poate fi mantuita."
"Frumusetea umana, si cea trupeasca, si cea sufleteasca, de fapt tot ce tine de frumos se naste numai din necunoastere si iluzie."
"E foarte important sa nu-ti pierzi respectul de sine, chiar daca asta aproape te va ucide."
"Dar eu am nevoie de dragostea ei si trebuie mai intai sa-i ofer cutitul cu care se va rani singura."
"Amintirile sunt ca niste ochelari magici. Uneori arata lucruri prea indepartate pentru a putea fi vazute si le aduc aproape, ca si cum ar fi langa noi."
June 21, 2018
...poi... il silenzio
Il quarto volume della tetralogia 'Il mare della fertilità' è anche l'ultima opera di Mishima, che spedì all'editore poche ore prima di darsi la morte.
L'ormai vecchio Honda, che già ben conosciamo dai precedenti tre romanzi, ha 76 anni. L'altro protagonista è un sedicenne, Toru, orfano, impiegato come guardia costiera, il quale "sapeva che la ricchezza e la virtù erano incompatibili" e "viveva lontano dall'ambizione, dall'avidità, dalle passioni".
La prima parte è un susseguirsi di grandiose descrizioni marine : "Il sole spuntò di nuovo, e di nuovo il sole si trasformò nella placida dimora della bianca luce" ; "il bianco delle onde diventò per un istante del colore della rosa gialla, annunciando l'arrivo della sera".
Honda, "dopo aver superato i settant'anni, ciò che aveva visto ogni mattina al suo risveglio era il volto della morte". La sua vita ha un'ulteriore svolta quando si convince che Toru sia la reincarnazione del suo amico di gioventù Kiyoaki, morto ventenne, tanto che decide di adottarlo.
Si susseguono aspetti sconcertanti che inquietano per il loro acuto pessimismo : l'approfondimento psicologico dei personaggi fa emergere un'ambiguità interiore che ci sorprende, quasi increduli.
Si evidenzia la perdita di punti fermi, di valori, "in cui le convenzioni sociali venivano usate a proprio piacimento, e l'onestà e la sincerità trasformate in gioco". Giochi perversi, dove l'obiettivo freddo e consapevole è ferire o godersi la morte dell'altro. Personaggi che conoscono il male che alberga in loro, in bilico fra disperazione e compiacimento.
L'idea della morte è spesso presente : "la carne stessa rappresenta un'affezione, una morte latente".
Conoscendo la biografia dell'autore è facile passare dalle pagine del testo al travaglio dell'intera sua vita : dai successi fino all'orrore delle immagini della tragedia finale.
La scrittura di Mishima , durante l'intera narrazione, si mantiene ad un livello letterario sempre molto alto. Il lungo capitolo conclusivo è indimenticabile sorprendente eppure in qualche modo atteso : ricongiunge l'ultima vicenda a fatti di sessant'anni prima. Si tratta di un piccolo gioiello narrativo, che si apre a innumerevoli interpretazioni. Una scena semplice e solenne, l'ultima che lo scrittore ci ha lasciato ...prima del silenzio.
Il quarto volume della tetralogia 'Il mare della fertilità' è anche l'ultima opera di Mishima, che spedì all'editore poche ore prima di darsi la morte.
L'ormai vecchio Honda, che già ben conosciamo dai precedenti tre romanzi, ha 76 anni. L'altro protagonista è un sedicenne, Toru, orfano, impiegato come guardia costiera, il quale "sapeva che la ricchezza e la virtù erano incompatibili" e "viveva lontano dall'ambizione, dall'avidità, dalle passioni".
La prima parte è un susseguirsi di grandiose descrizioni marine : "Il sole spuntò di nuovo, e di nuovo il sole si trasformò nella placida dimora della bianca luce" ; "il bianco delle onde diventò per un istante del colore della rosa gialla, annunciando l'arrivo della sera".
Honda, "dopo aver superato i settant'anni, ciò che aveva visto ogni mattina al suo risveglio era il volto della morte". La sua vita ha un'ulteriore svolta quando si convince che Toru sia la reincarnazione del suo amico di gioventù Kiyoaki, morto ventenne, tanto che decide di adottarlo.
Si susseguono aspetti sconcertanti che inquietano per il loro acuto pessimismo : l'approfondimento psicologico dei personaggi fa emergere un'ambiguità interiore che ci sorprende, quasi increduli.
Si evidenzia la perdita di punti fermi, di valori, "in cui le convenzioni sociali venivano usate a proprio piacimento, e l'onestà e la sincerità trasformate in gioco". Giochi perversi, dove l'obiettivo freddo e consapevole è ferire o godersi la morte dell'altro. Personaggi che conoscono il male che alberga in loro, in bilico fra disperazione e compiacimento.
L'idea della morte è spesso presente : "la carne stessa rappresenta un'affezione, una morte latente".
Conoscendo la biografia dell'autore è facile passare dalle pagine del testo al travaglio dell'intera sua vita : dai successi fino all'orrore delle immagini della tragedia finale.
La scrittura di Mishima , durante l'intera narrazione, si mantiene ad un livello letterario sempre molto alto. Il lungo capitolo conclusivo è indimenticabile sorprendente eppure in qualche modo atteso : ricongiunge l'ultima vicenda a fatti di sessant'anni prima. Si tratta di un piccolo gioiello narrativo, che si apre a innumerevoli interpretazioni. Una scena semplice e solenne, l'ultima che lo scrittore ci ha lasciato ...prima del silenzio.
November 16, 2020
Bereket Denizi’nin sonu.
E?er Bereket Denizi d?rtlemesini okumak istiyorsan?z, ?ncelikli olarak yazar? tan?man?z? ve de budizme dair biraz fikir sahibi olman?z? tavsiye ederim. ?zellikle de ?afak Tap?na?? ve Mele?in ?ürüyü?ü birbiriyle olduk?a ba?lant?l?. Her ne kadar serinin okunmas? en zor kitab? da olsa, ü?üncü kitab? ger?ekten dikkatinizi vererek okumak bu serinin temelini olu?turuyor. ?ünkü bir noktada Mi?ima’n?n y?llar süren kafa kar???kl??? ve dü?üncelerinin ard?ndan Budizme teslim olmas?n? da i?erdi?i i?in son kitaba g?mülmü? pek ?ok alt anlam ve sembolizm budizmden ve Budizme y?nelik manevi bir aray???n prati?i üzerine bir deneme olan ?afak Tap?na??’ndan k?ken al?yor.
Kitab?n alt metninde; güzelli?e kar??l?k ?ürüyenden al?nan zevk, k?tülü?e kar?? yap?lan k?tülükle birlikte z?tt?yla dengelenen bir mükemmeliyet?ilik tak?nt?s? var. ?lk kitaptan beri hikayesini takip etti?imiz Honda’n?n y?pranm?? sonunu ve ?ürüyü?ünü, kaderindeki ayr??may? aktar?yor. Do?u felsefesinin bu kadar ?ne ??kt??? bir kitapta da bu ayr??man?n - ruh ile bedenin ayr??mas?- ayn? zamanda ahlaki bütünlü?ün ve inanc?n da ayr??mas? olarak g?zlenmesi ka??n?lmaz oluyor. Ancak seri boyunca g?ndermeler ve imgeler daha derine g?mülüyor. ?lk iki kitapta s?yleyeceklerini ?ok a??k bir ?ekilde yüksek sesle ifade etmesine kar??n, seride mistizm artt?k?a g?ndermeler de soyutla??yor. Mi?ima ikinci kitapta kendi sonunun provas?n? yaparken - ve konu daha siyasiyken- bu kitapta intihar?n?n ayr?nt?lar? farkl? sembollere ve varl?klara gizlenmi? durumda. Seppukuyu Isao’da oldu?u gibi bir direkt anlat? yerine Suruga Koyu ve gemiler ili?kisi üzerinden ?a?r??t?r?yor. Anlat?n?n y?nünde b?ylesine keskin bir de?i?im ya?anmas?na kar??n seri boyunca ya?ad???n?z edebi tatmin korunuyor. ?zellikle de altm?? y?l ?nceki hikayenin yeniden yaz?m? ve sizi bütün kafa kar???kl???n?zla ba? ba?a bir sessizli?e hapseden sonuyla ?ok basit ama uzun süre zihninizi me?gul edecek bir kapan?? sunuyor. E?er do?u felsefesinin getirdi?i ?ilecili?e ve inan?lar?na ?ok mesafeli biriyseniz ve ak?p giden h?zl? okuma yapma beklentisindeyseniz size ?ok da uygun bir seri de?ildir. Ancak bu tan?m?n d???ndaysan?z mutlaka okuyun derim. Benim hayat?m?n farkl? bir d?neminde, biraz daha ya? ald?ktan sonra tekrar okumay? ve bu okumamdan farkl? neler bulaca??m? g?rmek istedi?im bir d?rtleme oldu. ?ok sevdim.
“Onlar?, al?n yaz?lar?n?n pe?ine tak?l?p u?maktan al?koyacak, kanatlar?n? kopartacak, g?kyüzüne yükselmelerini engelleyecek, kalabal?k y???nlarla birlikte yürümelerini sa?layacak ?n bilgilerle donatmas? gerekirdi. Dünya, u?may? onaylamaz. Kanatlar, tehlikeli silahlard?r. Kanatlar daha kullan?lmadan bile, ?z y?k?m? ?a??r?rlar.”
E?er Bereket Denizi d?rtlemesini okumak istiyorsan?z, ?ncelikli olarak yazar? tan?man?z? ve de budizme dair biraz fikir sahibi olman?z? tavsiye ederim. ?zellikle de ?afak Tap?na?? ve Mele?in ?ürüyü?ü birbiriyle olduk?a ba?lant?l?. Her ne kadar serinin okunmas? en zor kitab? da olsa, ü?üncü kitab? ger?ekten dikkatinizi vererek okumak bu serinin temelini olu?turuyor. ?ünkü bir noktada Mi?ima’n?n y?llar süren kafa kar???kl??? ve dü?üncelerinin ard?ndan Budizme teslim olmas?n? da i?erdi?i i?in son kitaba g?mülmü? pek ?ok alt anlam ve sembolizm budizmden ve Budizme y?nelik manevi bir aray???n prati?i üzerine bir deneme olan ?afak Tap?na??’ndan k?ken al?yor.
Kitab?n alt metninde; güzelli?e kar??l?k ?ürüyenden al?nan zevk, k?tülü?e kar?? yap?lan k?tülükle birlikte z?tt?yla dengelenen bir mükemmeliyet?ilik tak?nt?s? var. ?lk kitaptan beri hikayesini takip etti?imiz Honda’n?n y?pranm?? sonunu ve ?ürüyü?ünü, kaderindeki ayr??may? aktar?yor. Do?u felsefesinin bu kadar ?ne ??kt??? bir kitapta da bu ayr??man?n - ruh ile bedenin ayr??mas?- ayn? zamanda ahlaki bütünlü?ün ve inanc?n da ayr??mas? olarak g?zlenmesi ka??n?lmaz oluyor. Ancak seri boyunca g?ndermeler ve imgeler daha derine g?mülüyor. ?lk iki kitapta s?yleyeceklerini ?ok a??k bir ?ekilde yüksek sesle ifade etmesine kar??n, seride mistizm artt?k?a g?ndermeler de soyutla??yor. Mi?ima ikinci kitapta kendi sonunun provas?n? yaparken - ve konu daha siyasiyken- bu kitapta intihar?n?n ayr?nt?lar? farkl? sembollere ve varl?klara gizlenmi? durumda. Seppukuyu Isao’da oldu?u gibi bir direkt anlat? yerine Suruga Koyu ve gemiler ili?kisi üzerinden ?a?r??t?r?yor. Anlat?n?n y?nünde b?ylesine keskin bir de?i?im ya?anmas?na kar??n seri boyunca ya?ad???n?z edebi tatmin korunuyor. ?zellikle de altm?? y?l ?nceki hikayenin yeniden yaz?m? ve sizi bütün kafa kar???kl???n?zla ba? ba?a bir sessizli?e hapseden sonuyla ?ok basit ama uzun süre zihninizi me?gul edecek bir kapan?? sunuyor. E?er do?u felsefesinin getirdi?i ?ilecili?e ve inan?lar?na ?ok mesafeli biriyseniz ve ak?p giden h?zl? okuma yapma beklentisindeyseniz size ?ok da uygun bir seri de?ildir. Ancak bu tan?m?n d???ndaysan?z mutlaka okuyun derim. Benim hayat?m?n farkl? bir d?neminde, biraz daha ya? ald?ktan sonra tekrar okumay? ve bu okumamdan farkl? neler bulaca??m? g?rmek istedi?im bir d?rtleme oldu. ?ok sevdim.
“Onlar?, al?n yaz?lar?n?n pe?ine tak?l?p u?maktan al?koyacak, kanatlar?n? kopartacak, g?kyüzüne yükselmelerini engelleyecek, kalabal?k y???nlarla birlikte yürümelerini sa?layacak ?n bilgilerle donatmas? gerekirdi. Dünya, u?may? onaylamaz. Kanatlar, tehlikeli silahlard?r. Kanatlar daha kullan?lmadan bile, ?z y?k?m? ?a??r?rlar.”
May 19, 2023
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?? ???? ??? ????? ???? ? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ???? ? ?????? ?????????? ?????? ??? ? ???? ???? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ????? ????? ????? ?? ?????? ?????.
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July 20, 2022
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October 2, 2024
“??? ??? ?? ?????? ? ???? ???? ????? ????????”
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?? ????? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ????(????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ????? ????? ? ?? ? ?????? ?????????? ???? ??? ????.) ??? ??? ????? ??? ????? ???? ???? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ??????? ? ??? ?????? ?????? ? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ?????..
(??? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??? ???????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ????!)
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????? ???? ????? ???? ?? ????? ???? ???? ????? ????.
???????? ???? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ? ??????? ???? ??? ? ???? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ??? ??????? ??? ???!
???? ?? ????? ?? ?? ???? ????? ?? ??? ???????? ????? ?? ??? ??????? ? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ????!
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??? ??? ???? ??(?????? ?? ??? ????????) ?? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ??????? ???? ????? ??????? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ????!
????? ??? ?????? ? ???? ?????? ?????? ? ??? ???? ??????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?? ?????(? ?? ??? ????) ???? ??? ???? ??? ????????? ?????? ???????? ?.. ?????? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ????? ? ????? ?? ?? ?????? ? ???? ???? ?????? ? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ??? ? ?????? ??????..!
?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ? ???? ?????? ?? ? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ?????? ????? ? ???? ?? ?? ??? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ????..
??? ?????? ???? ??? ???? ? ????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ??? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ???????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ??????
????????? ?? ???? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ?? ????? ????? ????? ????? ? ???? ????? ????? ??? ???!
?? ???? ????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ????? ? ?????????? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ?? ??? ??????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ? ?????? ?? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ????..
?? ????? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ????(????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ????? ????? ? ?? ? ?????? ?????????? ???? ??? ????.) ??? ??? ????? ??? ????? ???? ???? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ??????? ? ??? ?????? ?????? ? ?? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ?????..
(??? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??? ???????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ????!)
August 16, 2022
86th book of 2022.
Well, that's it, The Sea of Fertility tetralogy is done. A strange ending. This book is just slightly boring on the whole too. With the amount of significance Mishima placed in the tetralogy, it's surprising that so much of this book was given to describing boats coming in. Honda never really amounts of much as the central character of the series but I don't think he's meant to, he's our mostly-passive observer throughout. By the end, with Mishima's decision regarding the ending, I did feel letdown; but it is worth reading, simply for Mishima's prose. There's not much you can say about this final book without spoiling what's come before, so I'll leave it there, I guess. More thoughts in my completed review of the whole tetralogy.
Well, that's it, The Sea of Fertility tetralogy is done. A strange ending. This book is just slightly boring on the whole too. With the amount of significance Mishima placed in the tetralogy, it's surprising that so much of this book was given to describing boats coming in. Honda never really amounts of much as the central character of the series but I don't think he's meant to, he's our mostly-passive observer throughout. By the end, with Mishima's decision regarding the ending, I did feel letdown; but it is worth reading, simply for Mishima's prose. There's not much you can say about this final book without spoiling what's come before, so I'll leave it there, I guess. More thoughts in my completed review of the whole tetralogy.
July 11, 2020
A great ending to a great tetralogy , the ending is drilled in my memory like a painting I can see Honda on his cane questioning his life , and Satoko guided by her assistant gazing at the garden ( a place that had no memories as Honda said ) with the sunlight streaming on the trees .
February 8, 2013
Much like listening to Joy Division's "Closer", there's an inescapable feeling of finality when reading the last novel of the quartet that goes beyond simply it being the last novel. If you're at all interested in Mishima or the quartet, you're probably well aware that as soon as Mishima finished the novel, he went out, attempted to stage a coup that failed miserably and then committed a ritual suicide, all of which made perfect sense to him in his worldview but don't seem entirely like the acts of a rational person. Yet we have this. As his death was clearly planned, when reading the final pages of the novel you are definitely reading the last words of a man about to die and who knew that he was about to die. And that knowledge is somewhat haunting.
Not surprisingly the notion of mortality creeps up more than once in the course of the slimmest of the four novels, although the quartet as a whole has been obsessed with the idea of growing older and losing the fire of youth, it seems more poignant here even as Mishima eschews sentimentality almost entirely. We run into Honda again and find the man in his eighties, old enough to realize that the good times are behind him (even though he's quite rich) and prepared to slide into oblivion the same way he has coasted through life, unable or unwilling to leave or make much of an impact. Always at the back of his mind is the notion of reincarnation, embodied by his childhood friend Kiyoaki, who keeps showing up in different guises throughout his life, dying tragically young each time.
This time it seems that his old friend has become an orphan named Toru. Spying those telltale birthmarks, Honda adopts him as a teenager with the intent of watching him grow up and perhaps seeing if he can finally be spared the fate of all the other incarnations and not perish at a young age. Sounds like as good a retirement plan as any, right?
Yet it quickly becomes different. The other incarnations were marked by what Honda perceived as an inner beauty, a fiery passion that was inspiring in the way a bonfire can be. You can stand back and admire it without daring to get too close. Instead Toru seems wayward and petty, not possessed with any grand romance or ideas for Japan, content in casual cruelty and not struck with any arcing ambition. And before long, the old man and the kid are starting to get at each other's throats, with Toru rather fond of seeing the old man die (and nicely inheriting his wealth) while Honda's initial desire to save the youth from what he believes was his fate becomes an insistence on surviving long enough to see him die, so he can have the satisfaction of having lived longer. Meanwhile the world erodes and decays around them both, as Toru's inability to grasp beauty even in the midst of his petty evil makes Honda wonder if he indeed is a reincarnation, or he has perhaps devoted his energy to the wrong course. But his sureness in the rightness of it is what keeps him going, in a sense, the notion of being eternal and lasting beyond what he is, exemplified in the continual reemergence of his old friend.
Its an interesting reversal from the early volumes, a subtle undermining of all that we saw before. Doubts that never existed before begin to linger, the Japan outside Honda slipping further away as we spend more time in his thoughts, even as his thoughts become ossified. Mishima has no love for old age, a disdain that crackles throughout the book but seems to take on a particular focus here. There are moments when the fear of losing the fire of one's youth and settling into senescence practically leaps off the page, a chilling intensity that comes near to desperation. The sensuality that lingered in the pages of "Temple of Dawn" or the raw passion that infused "Runaway Horses" has been replaced here with a crumbling decay that doesn't realize how fragile it has become, a weakly swaggering Honda lost within himself, detached from a Japan that Mishima perceives as already detached from itself, lost in a spiral where the arc is no longer beautiful. The final scenes resonates with a chill that goes past despair, into a cold realization that can only occur when one feels that finally all the layers are stripped away and what remains in undoubtedly the truth.
In the light of this, the ending becomes remarkable, upending everything that both we and Honda have known all along, stripping away the mysticism and philosophy that marked the first volumes and perhaps leaving us with what was there all along, the spaces between words, the spaces that make up words and the voids that comprise ourselves. The blissful continuation of nothing, arrived and achieved. Taken as a whole the volumes of the quartet have done their best to gradually take away the layers we thought existed, setting up a world where we're convinced certain notions are true, against all hope, and by the end reinforcing that our original ideas were true all along. We have no one else, Mishima seems to suggest as the book races toward its and his end, no one else and not even ourselves. Just the universe, maybe, a single point of hard dark light too far away to be touched and unable to be unseen. So what do we have then, when the point is finally grasped? The ending has a suggestion that Mishima may have ultimately taken in its fragile clarity, or his interpretation may have been the only way he could have seen it, having perhaps striven for so long to see what needed to be there, what had to be present. But we negate in our faltering absences, acting without blinking. Thus it becomes. It acts as a mirror that turns us into glass. It becomes better every time I read it. Not truer, but better. It fits where it has to, and in that becomes its own perfection, and maybe worth the effort in ways he was unable to imagine.
Not surprisingly the notion of mortality creeps up more than once in the course of the slimmest of the four novels, although the quartet as a whole has been obsessed with the idea of growing older and losing the fire of youth, it seems more poignant here even as Mishima eschews sentimentality almost entirely. We run into Honda again and find the man in his eighties, old enough to realize that the good times are behind him (even though he's quite rich) and prepared to slide into oblivion the same way he has coasted through life, unable or unwilling to leave or make much of an impact. Always at the back of his mind is the notion of reincarnation, embodied by his childhood friend Kiyoaki, who keeps showing up in different guises throughout his life, dying tragically young each time.
This time it seems that his old friend has become an orphan named Toru. Spying those telltale birthmarks, Honda adopts him as a teenager with the intent of watching him grow up and perhaps seeing if he can finally be spared the fate of all the other incarnations and not perish at a young age. Sounds like as good a retirement plan as any, right?
Yet it quickly becomes different. The other incarnations were marked by what Honda perceived as an inner beauty, a fiery passion that was inspiring in the way a bonfire can be. You can stand back and admire it without daring to get too close. Instead Toru seems wayward and petty, not possessed with any grand romance or ideas for Japan, content in casual cruelty and not struck with any arcing ambition. And before long, the old man and the kid are starting to get at each other's throats, with Toru rather fond of seeing the old man die (and nicely inheriting his wealth) while Honda's initial desire to save the youth from what he believes was his fate becomes an insistence on surviving long enough to see him die, so he can have the satisfaction of having lived longer. Meanwhile the world erodes and decays around them both, as Toru's inability to grasp beauty even in the midst of his petty evil makes Honda wonder if he indeed is a reincarnation, or he has perhaps devoted his energy to the wrong course. But his sureness in the rightness of it is what keeps him going, in a sense, the notion of being eternal and lasting beyond what he is, exemplified in the continual reemergence of his old friend.
Its an interesting reversal from the early volumes, a subtle undermining of all that we saw before. Doubts that never existed before begin to linger, the Japan outside Honda slipping further away as we spend more time in his thoughts, even as his thoughts become ossified. Mishima has no love for old age, a disdain that crackles throughout the book but seems to take on a particular focus here. There are moments when the fear of losing the fire of one's youth and settling into senescence practically leaps off the page, a chilling intensity that comes near to desperation. The sensuality that lingered in the pages of "Temple of Dawn" or the raw passion that infused "Runaway Horses" has been replaced here with a crumbling decay that doesn't realize how fragile it has become, a weakly swaggering Honda lost within himself, detached from a Japan that Mishima perceives as already detached from itself, lost in a spiral where the arc is no longer beautiful. The final scenes resonates with a chill that goes past despair, into a cold realization that can only occur when one feels that finally all the layers are stripped away and what remains in undoubtedly the truth.
In the light of this, the ending becomes remarkable, upending everything that both we and Honda have known all along, stripping away the mysticism and philosophy that marked the first volumes and perhaps leaving us with what was there all along, the spaces between words, the spaces that make up words and the voids that comprise ourselves. The blissful continuation of nothing, arrived and achieved. Taken as a whole the volumes of the quartet have done their best to gradually take away the layers we thought existed, setting up a world where we're convinced certain notions are true, against all hope, and by the end reinforcing that our original ideas were true all along. We have no one else, Mishima seems to suggest as the book races toward its and his end, no one else and not even ourselves. Just the universe, maybe, a single point of hard dark light too far away to be touched and unable to be unseen. So what do we have then, when the point is finally grasped? The ending has a suggestion that Mishima may have ultimately taken in its fragile clarity, or his interpretation may have been the only way he could have seen it, having perhaps striven for so long to see what needed to be there, what had to be present. But we negate in our faltering absences, acting without blinking. Thus it becomes. It acts as a mirror that turns us into glass. It becomes better every time I read it. Not truer, but better. It fits where it has to, and in that becomes its own perfection, and maybe worth the effort in ways he was unable to imagine.
March 1, 2016
Bereket Denizi'nin Sonu...
Son kitap ?zellikle sars?c? sonu ve cevaps?z b?rakt??? baz? ?eyler ile ku?kusuz serinin en ilgin? kitab?. ?nsan? uzun süre dü?ünmeye mahkum ediyor/edecek. Bu kitab? iyi kavramak kesinlikle ü?üncü kitab?n iyi anla??lmas? zorunlulu?unu getiriyor. ?nan?lmaz gizli ba?lant?lar var. Simgesel, i?sel ve mistik... Yava? yava? okuman?z? tavsiye ederim. Mishima kendi imgelerini olu?turmu? bir yazar. Hi?bir genel-ge?ere aff? yok. Hepsini k?kten de?i?tirmi?. Bu serinin bitmesi ile insan en ba??ndan beri sahip olmaya ?abalad???, k?ksel dü?üncelerinin dibine kezzap d?küldü?ünü hissediyor. Ne edin ne yap?n bu seriyi okuyun.
5/5
Son kitap ?zellikle sars?c? sonu ve cevaps?z b?rakt??? baz? ?eyler ile ku?kusuz serinin en ilgin? kitab?. ?nsan? uzun süre dü?ünmeye mahkum ediyor/edecek. Bu kitab? iyi kavramak kesinlikle ü?üncü kitab?n iyi anla??lmas? zorunlulu?unu getiriyor. ?nan?lmaz gizli ba?lant?lar var. Simgesel, i?sel ve mistik... Yava? yava? okuman?z? tavsiye ederim. Mishima kendi imgelerini olu?turmu? bir yazar. Hi?bir genel-ge?ere aff? yok. Hepsini k?kten de?i?tirmi?. Bu serinin bitmesi ile insan en ba??ndan beri sahip olmaya ?abalad???, k?ksel dü?üncelerinin dibine kezzap d?küldü?ünü hissediyor. Ne edin ne yap?n bu seriyi okuyun.
5/5
July 28, 2017
?lk gen?lik y?llar?ndan, ya?l?l??a uzanan bir a?k ve bilgelik yolculu?u.
Do?u ve Bat? felsefesini ?zümseyen, kar??la?t?ran ve ele?tiren inan?lmaz sayfalar.
Her d?rt kitap da insan hayat?n?n farkl? evrelerindeki duygular, dü?ünceler ve beklentiler ile k?tücüllükleri ?arp?c? bir incelikle ve bütünlük i?erisinde anlat?yor. Her cümleyi yeniden ve yeniden okumak istedim.
Japon Kültürünü tan?mak ve Japon Edebiyat?na ad?m atmak i?in en do?ru se?im.
Do?u ve Bat? felsefesini ?zümseyen, kar??la?t?ran ve ele?tiren inan?lmaz sayfalar.
Her d?rt kitap da insan hayat?n?n farkl? evrelerindeki duygular, dü?ünceler ve beklentiler ile k?tücüllükleri ?arp?c? bir incelikle ve bütünlük i?erisinde anlat?yor. Her cümleyi yeniden ve yeniden okumak istedim.
Japon Kültürünü tan?mak ve Japon Edebiyat?na ad?m atmak i?in en do?ru se?im.
April 23, 2024
"Deniz: Ad? olmayan bir deniz, Akdeniz, Japon Denizi; Suruga Koyu tam kar??s?nda uzan?yordu; yo?un, ads?z, mutlak bir karma?a 'deniz' denilen ?eyle yapt??? büyük sava??mdan sonra yakalanm??t? ve kendisine bir ad konulmas?n? kabul etmiyordu."
Bereket Denizi d?rtlemesi, Mele?in ?ürüyü?ü ile bitti. ?yle tuhaf, ?yle karanl?k, ?yle kirli, ?yle ?eytan? bir final ki bu - sahiden ?ürümü? bir ?eylerin yayd??? tekinsizlik sinmi? gibi her k??esine. Bence serinin de en iyi kitab?, bu uzun yolculu?u muazzam bir finalle sonland?r?yor Mi?ima.
D?rt kitapt?r tan?d???m?z Honda art?k seksenine merdiven dayam??. Bundan ?nceki kitaplarda oldu?u gibi, ayn? ruhu ar?yor yeryüzünde ve onun ruh g??ü ile bu defa hangi bedene girdi?ini kovalarken Toru'yu buluyor. Arad??? ki?i o, kovalad??? ruh o bedende - Honda ?ok emin.
Toru hayat?mda okudu?um en unutulmaz karakterlerden biri olacak ?üphesiz. Kendi kendini tan?mlad??? s?zcükle tan?mlayay?m: bir "iblis" sahiden o. Ama nas?l katmanl? bir iblis ve bu nas?l yazmakt?r ya Mi?ima? Okuyup Toru'nun i?indeki sinsi, hesap??, tuhaf karanl?kla tan??t?k?a neredeyse bana dahi zarar verebilirmi? gibi bir huzursuzluk hissettim. Toru k?tü, ama salt k?tü mü? O kadar karma??k ki ruhu, Toru'daki hi?bir ?ey "salt" olamaz san?r?m. Müthi? yaz?lm?? bir karakter, Mi?ima insanlara dair bildi?i her ?eyi dam?t?p Toru'ya ak?tm?? sanki.
Gemiler... "Varolu?un olanca düzenini parampar?a ederek ufukta beliren" gemiler. Bu kitaptaki ?ok gü?lü onlarca imgeden san?r?m akl?mda en ?ok bu gemiler ve kokusuz ?i?ekler kalacak. Mi?ima'n?n kulland??? alegorilerin ne kadar?n? anlayabildim, seride g?rünenin ard?ndakini idrak edebilmek i?in ?zümsemesi ?art olan ü?üncü kitab? ne kadar sindirebildim bilmiyorum ama ald???m kadar? da beni ziyadesiyle tatmin etti. Hayatta insan?n kar??s?na nadiren ona okurlu?unu sorgulatan, kendini yetersiz bir okur gibi hissettiren ve tam da bu yüzden zehirli bir haz veren kitaplar ??k?yor - Bereket Denizi de i?te onlardan biriydi.
?yi ki ?yleydi, iyi ki okudum. Hayal? kadehimi ?ürüyen her ?eye, gemilere, dünyaya geri d?nen ruhlara, karanl??a, ar?l??a ve hi?li?e kald?r?yorum - ?ünkü bu seriden bana kalanlar bunlar oldu. Te?ekkürler Mi?ima.
Bereket Denizi d?rtlemesi, Mele?in ?ürüyü?ü ile bitti. ?yle tuhaf, ?yle karanl?k, ?yle kirli, ?yle ?eytan? bir final ki bu - sahiden ?ürümü? bir ?eylerin yayd??? tekinsizlik sinmi? gibi her k??esine. Bence serinin de en iyi kitab?, bu uzun yolculu?u muazzam bir finalle sonland?r?yor Mi?ima.
D?rt kitapt?r tan?d???m?z Honda art?k seksenine merdiven dayam??. Bundan ?nceki kitaplarda oldu?u gibi, ayn? ruhu ar?yor yeryüzünde ve onun ruh g??ü ile bu defa hangi bedene girdi?ini kovalarken Toru'yu buluyor. Arad??? ki?i o, kovalad??? ruh o bedende - Honda ?ok emin.
Toru hayat?mda okudu?um en unutulmaz karakterlerden biri olacak ?üphesiz. Kendi kendini tan?mlad??? s?zcükle tan?mlayay?m: bir "iblis" sahiden o. Ama nas?l katmanl? bir iblis ve bu nas?l yazmakt?r ya Mi?ima? Okuyup Toru'nun i?indeki sinsi, hesap??, tuhaf karanl?kla tan??t?k?a neredeyse bana dahi zarar verebilirmi? gibi bir huzursuzluk hissettim. Toru k?tü, ama salt k?tü mü? O kadar karma??k ki ruhu, Toru'daki hi?bir ?ey "salt" olamaz san?r?m. Müthi? yaz?lm?? bir karakter, Mi?ima insanlara dair bildi?i her ?eyi dam?t?p Toru'ya ak?tm?? sanki.
Gemiler... "Varolu?un olanca düzenini parampar?a ederek ufukta beliren" gemiler. Bu kitaptaki ?ok gü?lü onlarca imgeden san?r?m akl?mda en ?ok bu gemiler ve kokusuz ?i?ekler kalacak. Mi?ima'n?n kulland??? alegorilerin ne kadar?n? anlayabildim, seride g?rünenin ard?ndakini idrak edebilmek i?in ?zümsemesi ?art olan ü?üncü kitab? ne kadar sindirebildim bilmiyorum ama ald???m kadar? da beni ziyadesiyle tatmin etti. Hayatta insan?n kar??s?na nadiren ona okurlu?unu sorgulatan, kendini yetersiz bir okur gibi hissettiren ve tam da bu yüzden zehirli bir haz veren kitaplar ??k?yor - Bereket Denizi de i?te onlardan biriydi.
?yi ki ?yleydi, iyi ki okudum. Hayal? kadehimi ?ürüyen her ?eye, gemilere, dünyaya geri d?nen ruhlara, karanl??a, ar?l??a ve hi?li?e kald?r?yorum - ?ünkü bu seriden bana kalanlar bunlar oldu. Te?ekkürler Mi?ima.
April 27, 2020
?????? ??? ???????.....????? ??????
?/ ???? ???? ????
?? ??? ????????( ??? ??????- ?????? ???????-???? ?????- ???? ??????) ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??????? ????? ????? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ???? ??? ????????? ??????? ?? ????? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??????? ????? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?????.
?? ????? ?? ???? ????? ????? ?? ??? ???????? ??????? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ????????? ????? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??????? ??? ??????? ????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ??????????? ????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ???????? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???????.
?? ???? ????? ?? ??? ??????? ?????(???? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????????? ???????)? ???? ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ??????? ??? ?????.
????????? ????? ????? ?? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?? ??? ??????? ????????? ?? ????????( ?????? ???????? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ?????? ?????).
?????? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ????? ???????? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ????.
?/ ???? ???? ????
?? ??? ????????( ??? ??????- ?????? ???????-???? ?????- ???? ??????) ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??????? ????? ????? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ???? ??? ????????? ??????? ?? ????? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??????? ????? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ???? ??? ?????.
?? ????? ?? ???? ????? ????? ?? ??? ???????? ??????? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ????????? ????? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??????? ??? ??????? ????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ??????????? ????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ???????? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???????.
?? ???? ????? ?? ??? ??????? ?????(???? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????????? ???????)? ???? ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ????? ??????? ??? ?????.
????????? ????? ????? ?? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?? ??? ??????? ????????? ?? ????????( ?????? ???????? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ?????? ?????).
?????? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ????? ???????? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ????.
June 3, 2023
I'm in disbelief on how much I love this book and the rest of the tetralogy ? I'm rather upset that's it's over :(
September 16, 2016
How can an angel decay? An "angel" in this context is not the haloed, winged messenger of the Christian deity. In Buddhist cosmology, angels are "celestial beings" who live in the sixth realm of rebirth. Those with good karma can be reborn there, and the pleasure and comfort it offers far exceed that of the human world. However, this is not the unqualified paradise it may sound like. No matter how many eons and kalpas may pass, beings cannot stay in the sixth realm. Like the other realms, good and bad, it is part of samsara--the endless cycle of death and rebirth. A perfect being must eventually fall from perfection. Nothing in the world of samsara is permanent, all is subject to change.
Honda, now an old man on the verge of death, is undergoing change. His wife has died. Wealthy, he no longer needs to work. He looks in the mirror and sees the physical signs of decay advancing daily. The one constant in his life is seeking out the reincarnations of Kiyoaki, all of whom have died by the age of twenty. This time around it appears to be in the form of Toru Yasunaga, a sixteen-year old boy working a menial job far below his abilities.
As the story progresses two themes emerge. Decay is one of course, but also uncertainty. Unlike with the past reincarnations, we are not sure by the end of the novel that Toru is really authentic. Honda himself comes to believe he probably isn't, especially since he does not die at twenty. Decay is evident in Honda and the depiction of human aging, but also in the land itself. Honda visits the famous pine tree of Miho, supposedly the place where a divine being once danced, only to find it full of pollution and tourists. Elsewhere he notes the increasing clutter and debris of modernity, in a passage emblematic of Mishima's disdain for Western innovation:
"The Daigo district was a clutter of all the dreary details of new construction, to be seen throughout Japan: raw building materials and blue-tiled roofs, television towers and power lines, Coca-Cola advertisements and drive-in snack bars. Among heaps of rubble below cliffs where wild daisies stabbed at the sky were automobile dumps, blue and yellow and black, piled precariously one on the other, the gaudy colors molten in the sun."
This was Mishima's last work before his suicide, and this story takes on greater significance once you know more about what he was thinking, or rather obsessing over during this point in his life. Mishima was a man who desperately wanted to exist, and exist authentically. Writing was one way of doing this, but paradoxically, so was dying. It is fitting that his final book was about death and dying, and the illusion of life.
As the story draws to a close the narrative takes on almost dream-like qualities. Honda returns to Gesshuji to see Satoko, and tries to relive Kiyoaki's last moments there. He becomes both Honda and Kiyoaki, imagining that his friend is waiting for him at the inn, even has Honda himself makes the excruciating climb toward the temple. Arriving at the gate, he thinks to himself "only an instant had passed." I don't believe Mishima intended this to be poetical. Only a moment really has passed. Time is yet another illusion, a figment we insist upon.
Once admitted inside, he (and we) finally see Satoko again, one of the few characters who is not reintroduced in the earlier books. Although older, she is not decayed. Her presence in the first and last books is like bookends, meant to tell us something important. She tells a baffled Honda that she never knew a Kiyoaki, leading him to doubt that anything in the previous books happened, and that "perhaps then there has been no I."
While this may sound like an existential crisis, ending with what seems like a "it was all a dream" trope conclusion, it becomes more than that when you consider Mishima's intense focus on Buddhist doctrines throughout the Sea of Fertility. Honda's existential doubt is essentially the teaching of "anatman"--the belief that because the "self" cannot be located or identified as anywhere or as anything, it does not really exist. One is simply a collection of "skhandas" or phenomena (flesh, blood, bone, etc.) that comes together for a time, and later, disintegrates. These phenomena are "reborn" again and again, but what is reborn is "not you and not another." Realizing this truth is a step on the path to Enlightenment, because it frees you from attachment. Satoko, having attained this wisdom, is not the wizened, disappointed creature Honda is in his old age. He chased phantoms all his life in a quest for some kind of permanence, only to realize at the end that nothing is permanent.
As the reader, we observed Honda much as Honda observed others, and like him we are shocked by revelation. Was any of this real? Why did we believe it was? Honda was convinced that the reincarnations happened mostly because of factors that appeared airtight as evidence, but on second thought may only have been a coincidence. What, in the end, was his proof? Three moles on the left side of a body? Along for the ride, we accepted this reasoning by the final book only to have our confidence dashed. What does it mean to be reborn? What, for that matter, does it mean to live?
Honda, now an old man on the verge of death, is undergoing change. His wife has died. Wealthy, he no longer needs to work. He looks in the mirror and sees the physical signs of decay advancing daily. The one constant in his life is seeking out the reincarnations of Kiyoaki, all of whom have died by the age of twenty. This time around it appears to be in the form of Toru Yasunaga, a sixteen-year old boy working a menial job far below his abilities.
As the story progresses two themes emerge. Decay is one of course, but also uncertainty. Unlike with the past reincarnations, we are not sure by the end of the novel that Toru is really authentic. Honda himself comes to believe he probably isn't, especially since he does not die at twenty. Decay is evident in Honda and the depiction of human aging, but also in the land itself. Honda visits the famous pine tree of Miho, supposedly the place where a divine being once danced, only to find it full of pollution and tourists. Elsewhere he notes the increasing clutter and debris of modernity, in a passage emblematic of Mishima's disdain for Western innovation:
"The Daigo district was a clutter of all the dreary details of new construction, to be seen throughout Japan: raw building materials and blue-tiled roofs, television towers and power lines, Coca-Cola advertisements and drive-in snack bars. Among heaps of rubble below cliffs where wild daisies stabbed at the sky were automobile dumps, blue and yellow and black, piled precariously one on the other, the gaudy colors molten in the sun."
This was Mishima's last work before his suicide, and this story takes on greater significance once you know more about what he was thinking, or rather obsessing over during this point in his life. Mishima was a man who desperately wanted to exist, and exist authentically. Writing was one way of doing this, but paradoxically, so was dying. It is fitting that his final book was about death and dying, and the illusion of life.
As the story draws to a close the narrative takes on almost dream-like qualities. Honda returns to Gesshuji to see Satoko, and tries to relive Kiyoaki's last moments there. He becomes both Honda and Kiyoaki, imagining that his friend is waiting for him at the inn, even has Honda himself makes the excruciating climb toward the temple. Arriving at the gate, he thinks to himself "only an instant had passed." I don't believe Mishima intended this to be poetical. Only a moment really has passed. Time is yet another illusion, a figment we insist upon.
Once admitted inside, he (and we) finally see Satoko again, one of the few characters who is not reintroduced in the earlier books. Although older, she is not decayed. Her presence in the first and last books is like bookends, meant to tell us something important. She tells a baffled Honda that she never knew a Kiyoaki, leading him to doubt that anything in the previous books happened, and that "perhaps then there has been no I."
While this may sound like an existential crisis, ending with what seems like a "it was all a dream" trope conclusion, it becomes more than that when you consider Mishima's intense focus on Buddhist doctrines throughout the Sea of Fertility. Honda's existential doubt is essentially the teaching of "anatman"--the belief that because the "self" cannot be located or identified as anywhere or as anything, it does not really exist. One is simply a collection of "skhandas" or phenomena (flesh, blood, bone, etc.) that comes together for a time, and later, disintegrates. These phenomena are "reborn" again and again, but what is reborn is "not you and not another." Realizing this truth is a step on the path to Enlightenment, because it frees you from attachment. Satoko, having attained this wisdom, is not the wizened, disappointed creature Honda is in his old age. He chased phantoms all his life in a quest for some kind of permanence, only to realize at the end that nothing is permanent.
As the reader, we observed Honda much as Honda observed others, and like him we are shocked by revelation. Was any of this real? Why did we believe it was? Honda was convinced that the reincarnations happened mostly because of factors that appeared airtight as evidence, but on second thought may only have been a coincidence. What, in the end, was his proof? Three moles on the left side of a body? Along for the ride, we accepted this reasoning by the final book only to have our confidence dashed. What does it mean to be reborn? What, for that matter, does it mean to live?
January 23, 2017
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March 11, 2022
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June 25, 2021
Following on from
Eight Conversations
I read in February, I read another one of 's books on Japan, "Japan Inside the World—from the 16th Century" this week in which he discusses Japan over the last 500 years from various angles with Japanese scholar , and found a fascinating section on Mishima and this tetralogy (my translation):
25 June, 2021
This was a powerful tetralogy, and I would have liked to write something about it, but for now, regarding Japanese classical works and authors, I am also quite happy to just share the thoughts of people like Shiba and Keene!
Keene: Mr. Shiba, you said that Mishima Yukio was searching for something absolute, and I agree with you. Mishima proposed that the Emperor is an infallible being, but he wasn't talking about the Shōwa Emperor or the Meiji Emperor, but the abstract concept of Emperor.
Shiba: Yes.
Keene: Mishima believed that the abstract and absolute Emperor could do no wrong. I think he thought that if that wasn't the case, then there was no meaning at all in the world. If everything was relative, that the Emperor of Japan was comparable to the Queen of England, then he thought that the world was meaningless.
His final tetralogy is called , but that was a form of irony. When you talk about Fertility, it's the state of being rich in harvest, but Mishima's "Sea of Fertility" is talking about the sea on the moon (reviewer note: ). There is no water in that sea, or for that matter, anything at all. It's just a name. I think Mishima looked at the world, and reached the same conclusion. There's nothing in the world, it's nihilistic, but if there is something, then it's the abstract concept of the Emperor. God would also do, but Mishima didn't believe in God, so he wanted to believe in the abstract Emperor's existence.
He wrote the novel, , in which the kamikaze pilots strongly criticise the . If the Emperor is an ordinary human, then they don't know what they're dying for. Mishima thought that if something verging on the absolute wasn't involved, then the heroes' acts were meaningless. Perhaps, in the end, he was unable to believe. And that was the tragedy of Mishima.
Shiba: Mishima Yukio probably used the word 'god' in a special way, and it didn't point to gods like or . Mishima's 'God' was a God with a capital G. As you said, Mr. Keene, Mishima wasn't a Christian, so if he were to search for the absolute elsewhere, it would be the Emperor in front of him. However, this wasn't a specific Emperor, but the absolute Emperor he thought he held in his grasp. If this wasn't the case, then he wouldn't be able to write...perhaps he thought of the Emperor not as an ideology but rather as literature, but I'm not sure. Unless he comes here himself to explain, we won't know for sure, but Mr. Keene, you must understand it well, as a feeling. He must have had an admiration for the 'absolute'.
Keene: He must have.
Shiba: And unfortunately, that's nowhere to be found in Japan.
Keene: It's the same with his . The Temple itself is absolute. Because the Temple exists, the protagonist, Mizoguchi can't be free. Because absolute beauty is always there in front of his eyes, he can't love women either. Mishima had this strong admiration for such absoluteness.
25 June, 2021
This was a powerful tetralogy, and I would have liked to write something about it, but for now, regarding Japanese classical works and authors, I am also quite happy to just share the thoughts of people like Shiba and Keene!
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