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A review by mandalor3960
Forbidden Colors by Yukio Mishima
2.0
"Forbidden Colors" starts with a good premise of an old author assisting a closeted homosexual man in conducting his life. Unfortunately, the story follows a nonlinear direction for the middle, two-hundred pages, with the closeted man sexually engaging with different men with little development in the initial premise. This long intermission hurts the final hundred pages that return the novel to the linearity of the premise. The novel concludes with the lives of everyone around the homosexual man ruined because of his inability to reciprocate love, and the author committing suicide and leaving this indifferent homosexual man with his inheritance.
It might seem unfair to place blame on Yuichi, but Yuichi allows himself to go along with Shunsuke’s plans to hurt others and Yuichi remains unsympathetic when those around him are troubled. At Shunsuke’s suggestion, Yuichi marries Yasuko and leads her into a disappointing marriage. At Shunsuke’s suggestion, he involves himself with the Kyoko and brings her to a frightening end (one that I have found hard to explain what Kyoko endures mentally, since she resumes her frivolous attitude towards life after the event). He disregards the Kaburagis after Mrs. Kaburagi retreats to Tokyo and Mr. Kaburagi endures hardships (though I could care less for Mr. Kaburagi). I do not understand why Yuichi did not involve himself with them, and why Yuichi listened to Shunsuke’s reasoning that it was a ploy. Yuichi continues to be inhospitable to his wife after their daughter is born. Yuichi betrays Minuro to Minuro’s father and crushes Minuro’s dreams that Yuichi would run away with him, and although I find Minuro’s dreams improbable, Yuichi is still a dirtbag, especially after he considers his return of the money of Minuro’s father to be an act of charity, for which he aggrandizes himself. Yuichi, after disregarding Mrs. Kaburagi after her flight, calls her to his home so that she can convince his mother and wife that he has been having an affair with her and that he is not a homosexual. Mrs. Kaburagi gets nothing out of this, although she knew this beforehand, but still this is another event of Yuichi using others.
There are moments when I am sympathetic towards Yuichi. One moment is when his mother and his wife confront him with the anonymous letters declaring Yuichi to be a homosexual and the uncomfortable position that Yuichi is placed in. However, I believe I would feel sympathetic even towards worst enemy, if they were placed in a similar position. The novel also creates this dormant fear of Yuichi’s homosexuality being revealed which may have influenced my sympathy towards him. Apart from this later liking of Yuichi, I initially liked Yuichi as a confused man in the first few chapters, but I do not allow this to extend to the rest of his actions.
I received the impression that Shunsuke uses Yuichi’s beauty as a “Gotcha!” moment to wake up all the individuals who were involved in debauchery and get back at them (save for Yasuko, who is pure of heart. Shunsuke’s hatred of women propelled his push for Yuichi to harm Yasuko). I suppose this fulfills the premise of the novel but in the end, I ironically felt more sympathetic to the characters that had rebuked Shunsuke or lusted over Yuichi.
My favorite characters were Yasuko and Kyoko. Kyoko's innocence towards Shunsuke and Yuichi’s deviancy were of my liking. Her description also enamored me. Yasuko is my favorite of the two. Her purity in remaining by her husbands side, despite the unreciprocated love and everything she endures, is admirable. Every section on how she is mistreated and her thoughts to this are all enjoyable. See page three hundred and seventy seven.
I was ready to give a one star rating to this book after reading the first three hundred pages because of the nonlinear disinteresting path the novel took. Luckily, it returned to the premise and contains good sections on Kyoko, Mrs. Kaburagi, and Yasuko. The novel concludes decently.
Notes
I like Shunsuke’s detailed background as a writer.
Chapter two. Shunsuke’s view on women are interesting, something I lean towards liking because of the context of women in this novel. There are great quotes on spirit and flesh. I am disappointed that Shunsuke wants Yuichi and Yasuko to marry. I was expecting there to be a love triangle between the three of them but this would have been generic.
Bored with Yuichi’s first interactions with Mrs. Kaburagi and the prospects for what the future might hold.
Got bored with the detail in explaining Yuichi’s adventures in Rudon’s.
Loved Yuichi’s interactions with Kyoko. I like Kyoko’s character.
Bored with Yasuko’s pregnancy.
Enjoyed Yuichi and Mr. Kaburagi’s first meeting as gays. Disliked how Yuichi succumbs to Mr. Kaburagi at the end of the chapter.
Chapter seventeen. Thrilled that Kyoko has gone further in her return.
Chapter nineteen. Thrilled that Yuichi loves Mrs. Kaburagi because I pity her, but I have just come to hate Yuichi. Initially, I liked him when he first met Shunsuke but the further Yuichi involved himself in the gay culture, and the further he expressed his liking to hurt women because of his hatred for them, the less I liked him.
Lost it when Shunsuke attributes all emotions to sexual desire. Then when it is associated that Shunsuke’s stirring first encounter with Yuichi was sexually motivated by Shunsuke, that seemed improbable.
Yasuko giving birth changed Yuichi into a sympathetic character, and brought humanity into him. This made me like him slightly, which was annoying.
By the three hundreds [pages] I was seeing this story swirl without purpose.
The shift with Minoru’s point of view brought back my excitement that had been dormant sine Kyoko was humiliated by Shunsuke and Yuichi.
“Forbidden Love” has a better story than “Thirst for Love” but “Thirst for Love” runs a tight, concise ship. This book [“Forbidden Love”] felt free flowing and the Kaburagis, Kyoko, and MInuro felt pointless. Felt like Mishima ends off Minuro quickly and too conveniently.
Yasuko puts up with it all and disregards the letters. Yet Yuichi, when confronted with his accepting wife, feels that his pride is hurt because of this, and decides to do revenge on her somehow. What a douche.
I want to like Yuichi for being torn deciding if he loves women or not, and then pronouncing to Yasuko that he loves her. But he’s unlikable.
Page three hundred and fifty talks about youth and death.
He betrays MInuro and then feels good about doing charity. All Yuichi does is break people (reminds me of Daisy in “The Great Gatsby”). No one is ever happy or serene but him. He uses Mrs. Kaburagi.
My favorite character is Yasuko. See page three hundred and seventy seven. So serene and does not lash out at her husband. She is content with the initial unreciprocated love.
August 22, 2019
Update
On July 24, 2019, I wrote this on my phone: "I just looked at the cover of the book and was filled with a five star rating emotion of nostalgia. The story is unique and the ending is heartbreaking. If only Yuichi wasn't so ulikeable". This note does not raise the book's rating to three stars but it does remind me of Mishima's prowess in creating memorable characters and scenarios. I am filled with feelings of longing for this book at times, which would be an indicator of a three, four, or five star-rated book. Unfortunately, I am reminded of how this book is simply a two star-rated book to me; the focus on Yuichi, a character I did not like, and the Count, who's romance with Yuichi took up much of the plot, and I did not care for him. The rating of this book is closer to 2.5 stars, a book with many sections that I enjoyed, but brought down by others I did not enjoy. I would not consider rereading, yet those sections I enjoyed tempt me to reread.
January 26, 2020
Update
I have changed the rating color from yellow with a grey outline to green without a grey outline. Everything in the review and subsequent update lends to a green colored rating. I am also not sure why I put a grey outline originally (which was probably because this book was so lengthy, that I did not trust my notes, though now I find them extensive enough).
It might seem unfair to place blame on Yuichi, but Yuichi allows himself to go along with Shunsuke’s plans to hurt others and Yuichi remains unsympathetic when those around him are troubled. At Shunsuke’s suggestion, Yuichi marries Yasuko and leads her into a disappointing marriage. At Shunsuke’s suggestion, he involves himself with the Kyoko and brings her to a frightening end (one that I have found hard to explain what Kyoko endures mentally, since she resumes her frivolous attitude towards life after the event). He disregards the Kaburagis after Mrs. Kaburagi retreats to Tokyo and Mr. Kaburagi endures hardships (though I could care less for Mr. Kaburagi). I do not understand why Yuichi did not involve himself with them, and why Yuichi listened to Shunsuke’s reasoning that it was a ploy. Yuichi continues to be inhospitable to his wife after their daughter is born. Yuichi betrays Minuro to Minuro’s father and crushes Minuro’s dreams that Yuichi would run away with him, and although I find Minuro’s dreams improbable, Yuichi is still a dirtbag, especially after he considers his return of the money of Minuro’s father to be an act of charity, for which he aggrandizes himself. Yuichi, after disregarding Mrs. Kaburagi after her flight, calls her to his home so that she can convince his mother and wife that he has been having an affair with her and that he is not a homosexual. Mrs. Kaburagi gets nothing out of this, although she knew this beforehand, but still this is another event of Yuichi using others.
There are moments when I am sympathetic towards Yuichi. One moment is when his mother and his wife confront him with the anonymous letters declaring Yuichi to be a homosexual and the uncomfortable position that Yuichi is placed in. However, I believe I would feel sympathetic even towards worst enemy, if they were placed in a similar position. The novel also creates this dormant fear of Yuichi’s homosexuality being revealed which may have influenced my sympathy towards him. Apart from this later liking of Yuichi, I initially liked Yuichi as a confused man in the first few chapters, but I do not allow this to extend to the rest of his actions.
I received the impression that Shunsuke uses Yuichi’s beauty as a “Gotcha!” moment to wake up all the individuals who were involved in debauchery and get back at them (save for Yasuko, who is pure of heart. Shunsuke’s hatred of women propelled his push for Yuichi to harm Yasuko). I suppose this fulfills the premise of the novel but in the end, I ironically felt more sympathetic to the characters that had rebuked Shunsuke or lusted over Yuichi.
My favorite characters were Yasuko and Kyoko. Kyoko's innocence towards Shunsuke and Yuichi’s deviancy were of my liking. Her description also enamored me. Yasuko is my favorite of the two. Her purity in remaining by her husbands side, despite the unreciprocated love and everything she endures, is admirable. Every section on how she is mistreated and her thoughts to this are all enjoyable. See page three hundred and seventy seven.
I was ready to give a one star rating to this book after reading the first three hundred pages because of the nonlinear disinteresting path the novel took. Luckily, it returned to the premise and contains good sections on Kyoko, Mrs. Kaburagi, and Yasuko. The novel concludes decently.
Notes
I like Shunsuke’s detailed background as a writer.
Chapter two. Shunsuke’s view on women are interesting, something I lean towards liking because of the context of women in this novel. There are great quotes on spirit and flesh. I am disappointed that Shunsuke wants Yuichi and Yasuko to marry. I was expecting there to be a love triangle between the three of them but this would have been generic.
Bored with Yuichi’s first interactions with Mrs. Kaburagi and the prospects for what the future might hold.
Got bored with the detail in explaining Yuichi’s adventures in Rudon’s.
Loved Yuichi’s interactions with Kyoko. I like Kyoko’s character.
Bored with Yasuko’s pregnancy.
Enjoyed Yuichi and Mr. Kaburagi’s first meeting as gays. Disliked how Yuichi succumbs to Mr. Kaburagi at the end of the chapter.
Chapter seventeen. Thrilled that Kyoko has gone further in her return.
Chapter nineteen. Thrilled that Yuichi loves Mrs. Kaburagi because I pity her, but I have just come to hate Yuichi. Initially, I liked him when he first met Shunsuke but the further Yuichi involved himself in the gay culture, and the further he expressed his liking to hurt women because of his hatred for them, the less I liked him.
Lost it when Shunsuke attributes all emotions to sexual desire. Then when it is associated that Shunsuke’s stirring first encounter with Yuichi was sexually motivated by Shunsuke, that seemed improbable.
Yasuko giving birth changed Yuichi into a sympathetic character, and brought humanity into him. This made me like him slightly, which was annoying.
By the three hundreds [pages] I was seeing this story swirl without purpose.
The shift with Minoru’s point of view brought back my excitement that had been dormant sine Kyoko was humiliated by Shunsuke and Yuichi.
“Forbidden Love” has a better story than “Thirst for Love” but “Thirst for Love” runs a tight, concise ship. This book [“Forbidden Love”] felt free flowing and the Kaburagis, Kyoko, and MInuro felt pointless. Felt like Mishima ends off Minuro quickly and too conveniently.
Yasuko puts up with it all and disregards the letters. Yet Yuichi, when confronted with his accepting wife, feels that his pride is hurt because of this, and decides to do revenge on her somehow. What a douche.
I want to like Yuichi for being torn deciding if he loves women or not, and then pronouncing to Yasuko that he loves her. But he’s unlikable.
Page three hundred and fifty talks about youth and death.
He betrays MInuro and then feels good about doing charity. All Yuichi does is break people (reminds me of Daisy in “The Great Gatsby”). No one is ever happy or serene but him. He uses Mrs. Kaburagi.
My favorite character is Yasuko. See page three hundred and seventy seven. So serene and does not lash out at her husband. She is content with the initial unreciprocated love.
August 22, 2019
Update
On July 24, 2019, I wrote this on my phone: "I just looked at the cover of the book and was filled with a five star rating emotion of nostalgia. The story is unique and the ending is heartbreaking. If only Yuichi wasn't so ulikeable". This note does not raise the book's rating to three stars but it does remind me of Mishima's prowess in creating memorable characters and scenarios. I am filled with feelings of longing for this book at times, which would be an indicator of a three, four, or five star-rated book. Unfortunately, I am reminded of how this book is simply a two star-rated book to me; the focus on Yuichi, a character I did not like, and the Count, who's romance with Yuichi took up much of the plot, and I did not care for him. The rating of this book is closer to 2.5 stars, a book with many sections that I enjoyed, but brought down by others I did not enjoy. I would not consider rereading, yet those sections I enjoyed tempt me to reread.
January 26, 2020
Update
I have changed the rating color from yellow with a grey outline to green without a grey outline. Everything in the review and subsequent update lends to a green colored rating. I am also not sure why I put a grey outline originally (which was probably because this book was so lengthy, that I did not trust my notes, though now I find them extensive enough).