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Title: Confessions of a Mask (New Directions Paperbook) by Yukio Mishima ISBN: 0-8112-0118-X Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation Pub. Date: 01 June, 1958 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.18 (17 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good starting point into the world of Mishima
Comment: Reading other reviews of Confessions of a Mask, I see that many readers are looking at it from a perspective of "gay literature" and seem disappointed that Mishima is not really a supporter of the cause. But from my perspective, as someone interested in Mishima as a giant in Japanese literature, Confessions of a Mask is a great introduction into the literary world of Mishima Yukio.
Without giving away too much, the main forces that propel the protagonist in this semi-autobiographical work, are a secret lust for masculine beauty and an attempt at heterosexual "normalcy" attempted mainly through a painfully flawed try at loving a sister of his friend. Other reviewers have commented that the second half of the story flags a bit, but for me, the frustration and concealed emotion that is tangible in the conversations between the protagonist and Sonoko is both convincing and intriguing.
However, I would agree that the first half of the book is probably more interesting. Mishima's work is less about homosexuality (with the emphasis on sex) and more about an almost reverent approach toward masculine virtue and beauty. These ideas and the struggle within the protagonist start to flag as the war draws to and end and he becomes involved with Sonoko.
I have yet to read many of Mishima's works, but the two main things that appeal to me are his staunch commitment to an ideal or perfection of some sort, and also the amazing penmanship that his stories exhibit. As with most Japanese literature, this sort of subtle detail is lost in translation, so I encourage all who have the ability and time to read the originals!
Although I have a feeling this book will be hard-pressed to please everyone, as it is a bit too extreme for the mainstream reader but perhaps not strong enough for the alternative audience, for me at least it seems like a great insight into the mind and the works of Mishima. No study of modern Japanese literature would be complete without a look at Mishima, and although Confessions of a Mask may not be his greatest work, it is unquestionably an excellent starting point.
Rating: 4
Summary: Fascinating inner journey
Comment: Mishima's sadomasochistic homosexuality asserted itself early. While still a tiny child he responded instantly to certain kinds of masculine beauty and found a mysterious fascination in images and narratives of heroic men being tortured and, ideally, killed. The supreme example was a picture of the martyred St. Sebastian, bound and riddled with arrows, which the child Mishima experienced as the world's heaviest turn-on. Naive as he was, the young author still knew somehow that his interests were unusual and disgraceful, so he kept them secret. The story of his early inner life, with its crushes and fantasies, takes up the first half or so of the book and is fascinating.
But then, during young manhood, Mishima tries to become "normal" and fall in love with a girl. Though he likes her very much, he isn't attracted to her physically. The story of this doomed relationship takes up the second half of the book. Being more or less devoid of incident, and (obviously) lacking in erotic passion, it's much less interesting than the foregoing chapters.
Confessions of a Mask ends disappointingly but the earlier section of the book gives a candid, moving, and memorable account of a child's confused and troubled emerging sexuality.
Rating: 2
Summary: Explaining the sexual ambiguity
Comment: Yukio Mishima's Confessions of a Mask takes the 20th position among 100 Gay Literature fiction. However, after reading the book, I would say it cannot be truly catergorised as a gay literature. The book starts with the same-sex desire towards the classmates and some strangers of the narrator. In chapter three (the longest chapter in the whole book), he suddenly fell in love with a sister of his classmate, called Sonoko. At this point, a heterosexual desire is developing. The narrator tries his very best to distinguish the passion of love from the lust of sex. It is very clear that the narrator's relationship with Sonoko is purely platonic, and later in the book, the narrator tries to lose his virginity by calling a prostitute. Yet, this casual sex encounter proves to fail. The whole story continues towards the last chapter, in which the narrator meets Sonoko on several occasion even though the female has been married to a man.
As a reader, especially a reader reading this book as gay literature, I am very disappointed in the way that book should be better categorised as a heterosexual literature in which the narrator has a defect in sexuality. The same-sex desire of the narrator is purely based on sex, and the physical attraction of male's bodies. What is superior to this is the undying love between Sonoko and the narrator. The author uses over half of the book, clumsily, telling the readers where the heterosexual love goes, and in fact, it goes to no end. The heterosexual plot is the only part which tells the story continuously. The description on same-sex desire, in the first part of the book, is fragmented and the gay narrative lacks coherence and therefore also lacks unity in convincing me that this is a gay fiction.
The narrator cherishes the male's bodies and also does not want to let go his passion of Sonoko, but at the same time, it is obvious that he is sexually incompetent in copulation with a female. Should he be seen as a homosexual or heterosexual? The book does not really tell. Maybe he is a bisexual. However, if this book is read as an autobiographical work of Yukio Mishima, then this argument is defeated, as it is clear that Mishima is a homosexual, though he was married and had two children in his lifetime. What perplexes me apart from the sexuality of the narrator is the matter of the queer propaganda. Should the narrator be regarded as a traitor of homosexuality or heterosexuality? Is this book about a gay man who has a heterosexual tendency or about a straight man who has a hidden homosexual interest? Is the author celebrating gay love or heterosexual relationship? After reading the book, there are still lots of questions unanswered.
If you have time and intend to read truly gay fiction, go for the first 19 books before picking up Confessions of a Mask.
For further reading, I would recommend the following secondary source:
Mark Lily, Gay Men's Literature in the Twentieth Century. 1993. New York University Press. Washington Square, New York. Chapter 5, pp. 127-143.
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Title: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima ISBN: 0679752706 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 October, 1994 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Spring Snow (The Sea of Fertility) by Yukio Mishima ISBN: 0679722416 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Decay of the Angel (Sea of Fertility, 4) by Yukio Mishima, Edward Seidensticker ISBN: 0679722432 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Runaway Horses (Sea of Fertility) by Yukio Mishima, Michael Gallagher ISBN: 0679722408 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 April, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima by Henry Scott-Stokes, Henry Scott Stokes ISBN: 0815410743 Publisher: Cooper Square Publishers Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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