Scan barcode
laurennn's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book did take me two reads to complete. The beginning half of this book is slow, pastoral & reflective, depicting the day to day life of a dysfunctional family in rural Japan. For this reason when I first read the book, I was rather disengaged and fell out of reading it. Two weeks ago I picked the book back up to finish and I'd previously stopped reading on the beginning of the day of the festival (the part of the book where the tempo begins to speed up) upon the second reading I really enjoyed it. To me, the book felt like two different books, transitioned between by the events of the festival. I can understand why this choice was made (but personally I find difficulty in books that begin like that when I'm unsure if the payoff will be worth it). I found Mishima's writing beautiful & poetic, and enjoyed the range of characters with their flaws and own motives. This book is not a romance, it is not about 'love'. It is about what happens when troubled, somewhat emotionally repressive people put all hopeful energy into desire and lust for another, who does not return those feelings. I would recommend this book to those who like dark reflective literature, morally questionable main characters and themes of unrequited love, obsession and madness.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, and Self harm
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
More...