It irritates me how little i got it and how little i did get resonated with me. Am I retarded?
>>25300590>a novel of the homicidal hysteria that lies latent in the japanese characterLol, using blatant racism to advertise a foreigner's novel is certainly not something you would see today.
did u see the movie mishima a life in four acts or whatever? it's hella good has that 80s stylishness but sort of timeless liek twin peaks, i watched it at work one day cuz we have this weird offbrand streaming shit for academics that has artsy shit and documentaries. i should watch more movies at work. if they're not going to pay me above the median income for america, the least i can do is watch art house shit on the clock. fuckers.
>and then the sailor on the boat...Zzzzzz
>>25300597That is how Mishima himself described Japanese people
Pic-related.
>>25300590you're not retarded but you are missing out
>>25300708Why would I read another man's opinion on what I could, although not without some hardship, read myself? If you read anything by literature critics, in the case of OP, before you yourself understand the book mentioned, then you are a next-level cuck.
>>25300751>Why would I read another man's opinion on what I could, although not without some hardship, read myself? Because it's obvious you're a low IQ pseud with nothing interesting to say about anything. >although not without some hardship Lol, fag.
>>25300597>blatant racismIt's not.
>>25300590~90iq here, I didn't get it either>suffer and accomplish nothing while being a sailor>go live on land for a bit and become a father>proceed to get murdered by a group of underaged reddit atheists who are wrong about everything as punishment for you no longer being a sailor>when you are murdered and dissected by said retards you have reobtained your glory you had a sailor, all is right in the worldWhat did Mishima mean by this?
>>25300814The sailor had naive romantic notions of life at sea and gives up on them to pursue a mundane and materialistic life with the boy's mother (e.g. he helps he run her foreign clothing store). The boy murdering him restores the romanticism he gave up on but it's ironic (i.e. being brutally murdered is more romantic than selling foreign clothes but it's also a lot different than adventurous exploits at sea).
>>25300602It's a very good movie, but I really, really don't think it captures Mishima at all. The Runaways Horses in particular goes against all the nuance of the book.
>>25300590Mishima is more of a painter or a poet than a typical novelist. He paints images of ironic beauty. His books can absolutely be analyzed as literature and are quite rich, but that's secondary. They are primarily about beauty, and almost always about the beauty of the ideal gets obliterated by material reality right at the moment it starts becoming aware of its impossibility. Mishima didn't want to die like the Greek hero, but like a young fox still not well versed in cunning. That passage from Mask gives away his whole project.
>>25300590>>25300814I think this >>25300861 is basically it. In order to understand the book, and Mishimas work, you need to understand Mishima. His work is a bit overrated on account of his interesting personality and life. He committed seppuku in a failed coup, that was never going to succeed, and he knew it. Imagine if Nietzsche wrote all his books and then fell for the first girl that gave him a time of day, just to turn around and start praising egalitarianism and universal love. It would be a betrayal of his ideals, and all for some base materialistic end. He would deserve death. At least according to the kids in the novel. But also, partly probably in Mishima's mind as well.
>>25300814>all is right in the worldIt's not and that's the point.
>>25300590Yes, you are likely 'retarded.' Though, I can't tell you what it is you're missing out on without you providing any of your actual views on the text.>>25300814>suffer and accomplish nothing while being a sailorThe point is the pursuit of greatness. That is where Ryuji (Mishima) sees the pinnacle of manliness. To stop that pursuit is to 'die' as a man. Everything that comes after is (justifiably) caused by this fall from grace. It's literally in the title man.>when you are murdered and dissected by said retards you have reobtained your glory you had a sailor, all is right in the worldThis didn't happen. Try reading it again with your brain turned on.
>>25300979>>25300711I did like the book and Mishima's style, but all the stuff about glory is lost on me at a personal level. That may be where my issue of resonance with the novel may be.
>>25300922>His work is a bit overrated on account of his interesting personality and lifeOpposite.
>>25300597>>a novel of the homicidal hysteria that lies latent in the japanese characterMishima would approve.>>25300751You know you can engage with art, form your own opinion and then explore other's opinions, right?Or do other people's opinions highjack your brain, making it impossible for you to have your own thoughts?
>>25300814Not using spoiler tags really needs to become a bannable offense show some common fucking courtesy you swine
>>25302159>spoiler tagsPlotfag detected.
>>25300590I will simplify it for youThe sailor = JapanThe wife = United States and the west/ CapitalismThe child = Japanese right wingers of the new Japan post-war eraThe sailor (Japan) was strong, virile and respected by everyone when he lived life how he chose to, sailing the seas from port to port and filling up prostitutes but then dumping them. The sailor has given up his masculinity however, in exchange for the sex offered by the wife (United States) as well as her luxury clothing shops. The material goods she offers the sailor are beautiful but without any spiritual significance and were he to accept and become her house husband he would lose everything that made him independent and powerful. Now the son (Mishima and the right wingers) see all this going on and their solution is to kill the sailor instead of allowing this kowtowing to western democracy and ideals to go on which can be viewed from the lens of his later failed revolution as saying “I’d rather destroy this country and see it fall in a failed right wing revolution than continue allowing it to go on like this.”I really hope that could clear up the novella for you.
Beauty is something that burns the hand when you touch it.
>>25303351What a retardedly reductive reading.
