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highestiqinfresno's review against another edition
2.0
A disappointing biography of a fascinating literary figure. Yukio Mishima was one of the most transgressive writers of the post-World War II period fusing sex and violence into a scathing critique of modern passivity and ardorlessness.
Unfortunately, Nathan's biography drains the vitality out of Mishima's life and work. This is a classic "pump the breaks" biography whereby a biographer tries to minimize their subject's revolutionary contributions instead emphasizing the continuity between their work and the work of their peers and forebears. Nathan, rightly, wants to avoid making Mishima out to be a martyr for Japanese reactionaries. He presents Mishima's ritual suicide as less a revolutionary act in support of the emperor and traditional Japanese values than the inevitable end for an individual obsessed with the aesthetics of death.
While Nathan's argument is compelling, his biography fails to capture what made Mishima such a compelling figure. Little is made of his personal charisma. Even less on the reception of his work and how it resonated with audiences in Japan and abroad. Instead, you get a weak and cowardly man who is obsessed with honorable death even as he lives the dandyish lifestyle of an acclaimed writer. Nathan's biography ultimately fails to answer the "so what?" question: why does this writer matter?
Nathan's biography is a sober, argumentatively sound examination of a debauched, passionate artist. It's sin is in making Mishima what he never was: boring.
Unfortunately, Nathan's biography drains the vitality out of Mishima's life and work. This is a classic "pump the breaks" biography whereby a biographer tries to minimize their subject's revolutionary contributions instead emphasizing the continuity between their work and the work of their peers and forebears. Nathan, rightly, wants to avoid making Mishima out to be a martyr for Japanese reactionaries. He presents Mishima's ritual suicide as less a revolutionary act in support of the emperor and traditional Japanese values than the inevitable end for an individual obsessed with the aesthetics of death.
While Nathan's argument is compelling, his biography fails to capture what made Mishima such a compelling figure. Little is made of his personal charisma. Even less on the reception of his work and how it resonated with audiences in Japan and abroad. Instead, you get a weak and cowardly man who is obsessed with honorable death even as he lives the dandyish lifestyle of an acclaimed writer. Nathan's biography ultimately fails to answer the "so what?" question: why does this writer matter?
Nathan's biography is a sober, argumentatively sound examination of a debauched, passionate artist. It's sin is in making Mishima what he never was: boring.
lou1sb's review against another edition
4.0
The most interesting parts were the parts about Kyoko's House - of course. I also liked that Nathan doesn't really try to justify Mishima's self-destruction. He analyses it, but in the end it's just presented as an unavoidable tragedy. I also liked the way Nathan avoided any of the assumptions ("Confessions is an autobiography," "Mishima had a boner when he topped himself." etc. etc.) favoured by other biographers.
I'm kind of getting over the whole seppuku shtick.
I'm kind of getting over the whole seppuku shtick.
jetjaguar124's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
4.25
As far as biographies of Mishima go, this one strikes a very solid middle-ground. It is written with better understanding of Japanese and the cultural millieu Mishima lived in than the Henry Scott-Stokes biography, and explores more concisely and in more intelligible fashion the specific ideological eccentricities he developed in his later years, as well as adroitly exploring the roots of these fascinations in Mishima's youth in a way more comprehensible than laid out in Inose's work. While I do believe that Inose's Persona is ultimately the superior product due to its all encompassing nature and unfettered access to documents, interviews, and information that John Nathan didn't seem privy to, if you're looking for an easier read which is less than an 800 page sprawling epic, I'd recommend this look into the man's life.
karna's review against another edition
3.0
This biography is rather good, mainly because the author knew Yukio Mishima.
The whole description of Mishima's childhood and early life is very interesting, but the other part of the book seems a bit rushed.
John Nathan analyzed quicky some of Mishima's books, but not the main ones, and mention barely the plays that Mishima wrote.
J.Nathan seems more interested in Mishima long prepared suicide than his books, as he doesn't even talk about his last tetralogy, considered by many as his masterpiece.
It is, however, a good biography to know the life and works of Yukio Mishima. I'll read another biography soon
The whole description of Mishima's childhood and early life is very interesting, but the other part of the book seems a bit rushed.
John Nathan analyzed quicky some of Mishima's books, but not the main ones, and mention barely the plays that Mishima wrote.
J.Nathan seems more interested in Mishima long prepared suicide than his books, as he doesn't even talk about his last tetralogy, considered by many as his masterpiece.
It is, however, a good biography to know the life and works of Yukio Mishima. I'll read another biography soon
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