The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:3rd May '01
Should be back in stock very soon
Because of the boyhood trauma of seeing his mother make love to another man in the presence of his dying father, Mizoguchi becomes a hopeless stutterer. Taunted by his schoolmates, he feels utterly alone untill he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto, where he develops an all-consuming obsession with the temple's beauty.
This is Mishima's novel about the pressure of living an idealised life. It tells a fictionalised account of real events - the lonely acolyte who destroyed a famous Kyoto temple.
Mizoguchi grows up a lonely boy in a poor family, a hopeless and frustrated stutterer. Only tales of the beauty of a famous temple in Kyoto, told by his dying father, sustain him. Taunted by his schoolmates, he eventually escapes to become an acolyte at the temple. But there, witness to acts of callous violence and terrified by the bombing of the war, Mizoguchi develops an all-consuming obsession with the temple's preservation - until the beauty of the place itself starts to feel like his deadliest enemy.
This powerful story of sacrifice and unattainable ideals brings together Mishima's preoccupations with violence, desire, religion and national history to dazzling effect.
'One of the outstanding writers of the world' New York Times
A dark vision...a beautiful, disturbing novel * Los Angeles Times *
Mishima writes with a fury that seldom flags * Glasgow Herald *
Glitters with images of beauty and destruction, cruelty and sacrifice, dedication and betrayal * The Times *
An amazing literary feat * Chicago Tribune *
I adore Mishima's prose and vivid descriptions. They pull me out of my daily reality * Harpers Bazaar *
ISBN: 9780099285670
Dimensions: 197mm x 128mm x 16mm
Weight: 185g
256 pages