Confessions of a Mask: Yukio Mishima (Penguin Modern Classics)
£9.50
‘There is in this world a kind of desire like stinging pain’
A Japanese teenager is overcome with longing for his male classmate. He imagines his body punctured with arrows, like the body of St Sebastian in the painting that obsesses him. Over and over again, each night in his private fantasies, the objects of his lust are tortured, killed and maimed. But, in the rigid world of imperial wartime Japan there is no place for such transgressive desires. He must wear a false mask and hide his true nature, whatever the cost.
‘A terrific and astringent work of beauty’ The Times Literary Supplement
‘Mishima is lucid in the midst of emotional confusion, funny in the midst of despair’ Christopher Isherwood
‘Never has a “confession” been freer from self-pity’ Sunday Times
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Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin Classics, 1st edition (7 Sept. 2017) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 176 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 024130119X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0241301197 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 1 x 19.8 cm |
by Z. Vincent
A really great book, I had no idea what to expect when I first started reading it; it was like nothing I’d read in English literature before. I’m hoping to study Japanese at University next year, so bought this as some ‘background reading’ for the course. Really different, painfully honest book. The only reason I haven’t rated it 5* is because, like somebody else has mentioned, the print is strange…It doesn’t detract much from the book, but it is a funny size and I know it’s stupid but it could put some people off..It does look like somebody has photocopied the original text (in quite bad quality) and printed it out for this book..
by lexo1941
Like probably many readers, I first came to read Mishima’s work through watching Paul Schrader’s movie about him. The Schrader movie is a complex and beautiful work of art in itself, but my attempts to read Mishima were mostly focused on his enormous tetralogy ‘The Sea of Fertility’, which I gather is not usually regarded as his greatest single work. I put off reading ‘Confessions of a Mask’ because it sounded a bit pretentious, but much to my surprise it turns out to be very good; what some readers take to be Mishima’s ‘coldness’ I regard as his lucidity, and despite his obvious involvement and sympathy with his hero, Mishima (unlike Salinger, another writer on a mission) manages not to give in to the temptation of trying to make the reader worship his main character. There is an unexpected level of dry irony and wit, which is probably one of the reasons why Mishima was so popular in the West in the first place. Come to think of it, this level of irony is present in nearly everything Mishima ever did. Even his suicide was self-consciously farcical; did he really think he could get a suburban Japanese army garrison in 1970 to revolt and seize power in the name of the emperor?
I was surprised that I liked the book because I normally like to read modern fiction in the original, and having no Japanese I was wary of how much of Mishima’s actual or supposed genius would come across in a target language very, very different from the original. But ‘Confessions of a Mask’ is a damn good book in translation.
by Oliver Cromwell
Wonderful book, Mishima was a genius
by Chris A
BEWARE! THIS REVIEW DOES NOT CONCERN THE STORY, THE WRITING OR THE AUTHOR. IT IS ABOUT THE EDITION AND ITS QUALITY AS A PHYSICAL OBJECT.
Now that we got that out of the way, this very edition has persuaded me that I do not want to buy such books again. From now on, it is only hardcover editions for me, even if they cost more and are, quite often, rare to find.
To the specifics now:
The book’s physical dimensions are minimal, it can easily fit in a bag. Its quality, though, is worse than mediocre. The pages are too thin and the material used is obviously the cheapest available. The font is printed without any care whatsoever and in general the book, as a physical object, seems to fit better on a stand at a train station rather than in an extensive library.
by Hibo
This book has become one of my favourite. It had me enticed the whole way through and made me rethink certain situations in my life. Love this would recommend!!
by Jonathan Coller
Kamen no kokuhaku is a claustrophobic account of the experiences of a man unable to come to terms with his own desires and identity. It is a powerful work on the stranglehold that conventionality has on personal growth. Kochan, the novel’s protagonist reflects Mishima’s own troubled personality in this work but this is much more than an autobiographical novel. Kochan’s struggle with his homosexual impulses comes about because of his desire to conform to ‘social norms.’ His failure to accept his own nature has unfortunate consequences not only for his own happiness but that of others, in particular, a friend’s sister. Kochan may present an extreme case, being obsessed with bondage and suicide as he is, but we all wear a mask to some extent in our daily lives. This becomes apparent to us when we are unexpectedly confronted with ‘contradictions’ in our behaviour which varies in different social settings. ‘You are who you pretend to be’, at least to others. One message from this novel is that if you sacrifice your own nature to social conformity the result is self-destructive behaviour and regret. Kochan is an extreme example, but the suppression of personal feelings for social acceptability is a universal theme which this novel evokes in a compelling fashion. This book is nothing short of a masterpiece.
by Joc8lyn
did not buy this for myself however the actual book was fine if u fancy reading it then here is the book idk.
by Rose
Wonderful book. Both about a Japanese young boy and about a universal young one. I deeply appreciated the insightful approach and the way it was conveyed into writing. Excellent quality literature.