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The Temple of the Golden Pavilion | 
| Author: Yukio Mishima
Creator: Ivan Morris
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $2.97
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Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 340785
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0679752706
Dewey Decimal Number: 895.635
EAN: 9780679752707
ASIN: 0679752706
Publication Date: October 4, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Standard used condition.
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Product Description
Because of the boyhood trauma of seeing his mother make love to another man in the presence of his dying father, Mizoguchi becomes a hopeless stutterer. Taunted by his schoolmates, he feels utterly alone until he becomes an acolyte at a famous temple in Kyoto. He quickly becomes obsessed with the beauty of the temple. Even when tempted by a friend into exploring the geisha district, he cannot escape its image. In the novel's soaring climax, he tries desperately to free himself from his fixation.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 Brilliant, Fascinating Psychological Exploration September 22, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Complex and controversial author Yukio Mishima delves into the mindset of a disturbed teenager in arguably his most renown novel. The novel is based loosely on a real incident and told from the perspective of one of the least sympathetic protagonists I've ever encountered in a novel. Mishima knew what it was like to be different and isolated as a boy. Mishima's first person imaginings of the inner mind and emotions of the disturbed protagonist are so realistic and clear, I couldn't help but wonder where Mishima ended and his fictional protagonist began. Almost as if Mishima sympathizes with the boy and realizes himself as being capable of similar obsessions. The result is a disturbing and fascinating psychological fictional autobiography.
Mishima writes beautifully, even brilliantly at times. He has the knack for the well-turned phrase than eludes authors who are less imaginative or less willing to express themselves without restraint. His descriptive abilities as to events, settings and emotions are among the best I've ever read. Again and again he vividly describes complex emotions and evocative settings. The result is a narrative that reads much more easily than it's thoughtfulness and emotional insight would normally allow. The excellent writing and vivid details leaven the profundity.
Mishima's writing is a wonderful discovery. Until recently, I had only seen movies by or about him. Since reading this, I've only read one other work by him (The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea) and found it was well written but undermined by the far-fetched plot. I'd like to read the tetralogy, Confessions of a Mask, After the Banquet and probably some other works. Having read so little of Mishima, I can only surmise this work is as good a starting point as any in Mishima's work.
A golden novel July 17, 2007
Yukio Mishima was to receive the Nobel Prize for literature the year he committed suicide. I feel he was one of the best writers of the 20th century and with over 40 stories, novels and plays its a wonder he isn't more known in the western world. "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" follows Mizoguchi, a poor, working monk stationed in Kyoto. Through his life he has come to see beauty in very few things, though he becomes enthralled at the site of the Golden temple. Being a boy, his father told him of it and so he built it in his mind as something amazing, something divine.
I won't tell much of the story (you'll read the novel if you really want to know), but this novel is similar to many of Mishima's -- it deals with a character trapped between his culture and a forbidden taboo (this time it's arson and suicide, sometimes it's only a woman). Mishima's philosophy and introspection comes in to play in Mizoguchi's mind, and at times one feels like he or she is reading a philosophical text.
And it is indeed hard to see what Mishima thought through all of this. Is Japan a violent, narcissistic country, caught up in it's own masochistic culture and suffocating its youth? Or is he saying that real human beings are not born, but bred?
This is a novel, but is based on the actual burning of the temple in 1950 by a monk (though his name was not Mizoguchi). The historical connections have a part to play in post-war Japan, of course, but what's really worth experiences is Mishima's passion and his incredible gift to create extremely visual and visceral scenes that seem to vibrate poetically in the readers mind. This is one of the ten best novels I have ever read and should stand as a testament to anyone who doubts Mishima's brilliance.
 Deliberately, carefully constructed, but somehow inadequate. December 31, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion is possibly Mishima's most famous novel. Strangely, it's also one of his least distinctive. It is very heavily influenced by Dostoevsky, much more than any other book Mishima wrote. Mishima even seems to imitate Dostoevsky's style at times. Even the names of the characters, even though they're Japanese, somehow seem to echo with the names of Verhovensky, Karamazov and Raskolnikov. Maybe it's just the number of syllables. Dostoevsky is also present in the book's way of ascribing great psychological significance to minor details, stating its main themes through philosophical disputes between characters, and constructing those characters to symbolize the different sides in those disputes. The destruction of the Golden Temple in Kyoto, like the murder of the elder Karamazov, is a philosophical problem more than a crime.
The book's protagonist Mizoguchi is a stutterer, and he is also tempted by evil thoughts. Such things cannot be independent in a book of this sort. The protagonist is evil because he is a stutterer. His stutter alienates him from society, and turns him to evil thoughts. His outer ugliness causes his inner ugliness, which in turn seems to increase his outer ugliness all the more. Mishima dwells on the speech impediment beyond all measure, until it becomes a symbol.
In a book of this sort, every action taken by the protagonist must be symbolic of something. He is given to internal monologue. Even his ostensibly irrational acts are laboriously pored over. Thus, when an American soldier orders him to abuse a prostitute, his compliance is not merely an act of violence or cowardice. It is also a symbol, a highly stylized way of expressing his alienation and demonstrating his love of evil. And his refusal to confess to his actions is nothing less than "experimenting with the single problem: 'Is evil possible?'" (88)
The book's antagonist Kashiwagi works along the same lines. He is also ugly and deformed, and this also must necessarily be a symbol of his inner evil. When he takes any action, it's not to achieve the ostensible end of the action, but to make a philosophical point. For instance, he does not go the geisha district because he desires physical pleasure. His hedonism is intellectualized by the author into a deliberate philosophical statement. He does certain things because he is nihilistic and cruel, but his nihilism and his cruelty are the products of a conscious intellectual decision on his part. After he commits his evil acts, he is always happy to sit down and explain his motives in great detail, like Dostoevsky's Smerdyakov.
And the good guy, Tsurukawa, is likewise not just a good guy and an optimist, but a symbol. His purpose is to "take [Mizoguchi's] feelings in his hand, turn them round and transmit them to the outside world" (57). Like every other action taken by anyone in the book, this has a philosophical consequence, namely that "there was no discrepancy between the very finest feeling in the world and the very worst; that their effect was the same; that no visible difference existed between murderous intent and feelings of deep compassion" (57).
Do real people ever think or act like this? I don't know. Maybe. But there's something unsatisfying about it. This way of writing can create dramatic intensity, as in the case of Dostoevsky. This novel, too, creates a feeling of impending doom which hangs over the setting from beginning to end. But it also feels glib. Actions which are supposed to be irrational suddenly become pre-meditated, carefully explained, constructed, and justified. A poorly educated, stuttering country boy has the eloquence of a learned philosopher in his inner monologues. And his stutter, his lowly origins, and his ugly appearance are also of great intellectual significance. They strengthen his philosophical arguments even as they are not entirely consistent with the very fact that he is articulating them. Is he a character in a novel, or an abstraction? Mishima's evil is very stylized.
To find a refutation to this way of writing, we might look at Mishima's own later works. In The Decay Of The Angel, Mishima's last novel, there is a narcissistic character much like Mizoguchi who feels compelled to intellectualize his every action. Like Mizoguchi, he is drawn to evil, and he records his evil thoughts in painstaking detail. But in that novel, he meets a very ignominious end. His self-awareness is revealed to be a shallow kind of self-delusion. His idea of evil is unfavourably compared to the genuinely irrational actions of Kiyoaki Matsugae, the protagonist of Mishima's greatest novel Spring Snow.
We might also look at Mishima's own life, which ended with a spectacularly irrational act known as the Mishima Incident. Strangely enough, Mishima did absolutely nothing to explain or justify this act. His last novel, which he completed on the day of the Incident, reveals nothing about it. Mishima, unlike Kashiwagi, was not inclined to exhibitionistically describe his own motives. Doesn't that mean that the character of Kashiwagi is somehow inadequate for his intended purpose? Is it his extremely stylized, self-aware philosophizing that makes him inadequate?
But if that's the case, then this book begins to look weak. It is so stylized that, if one removes the intellectual arguments, there really isn't much left. In fact, it really is kind of weak. Its saving grace is in the few truly irrational moments. The best of these occurs at the end of the second chapter, when Mizoguchi and Tsurukawa observe a parting ceremony between a military officer and a woman. Mishima was very good at coming up with such striking, sensuous images. The scene is extremely short, presented without any justification whatsoever. Mizoguchi is so transfixed by the sight that he forgoes his usual commentary about rejecting the world and so forth. The description is beautifully concise. Would that the whole book were like that.
Literature that rightfully make us proud to be Japanese May 25, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
If ever criticized, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima is chided most frequently for some of its seemingly mundane, superfluous and repetitive details and paragraphs. Many give up, or decide not to read it at all, since the text appears heavy and unmanageable from the very first page. However, after analyzing the book and enduring challenges, one should come to realize the book's deeper meanings.
Mishima's writing is filled with archetypes and symbols that reoccur throughout the novel which may seem repetitive, but are utterly paramount and necessary to encourage deeper thought within the reader. After studying a chapter or two, one can make connections using these archetypes as a guide to interpret the book. For example, the seasons and the weather reflect the state of mind of the protagonist, Mizoguchi. Descriptive words such as "brilliant" and "bright" are premonitions of future events. Other distinctly repeated archetypes include colors, water and fire (they are repeated for the sake of emphasis), which help the reader to stay intact with the extraordinary world that Mishima creates.
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is famous for mind-boggling its readers. A way one can come to terms with the frequent juxtapositions in the book is by researching a little about the author's background. Then, one will realize that Mishima incorporated his own philosophies and experiences in the character of Mizoguchi (which resulted in an active voice in its narrations: almost as if Mishima was talking to you personally). This may explain why the book seems abstract yet realistic, absurd yet understandable. Some characteristics of Mizoguchi we can relate with--others are puzzling and enigmatic.
It is striking to think that the main happenings of the novel actually happened--a stuttering young monk did in fact set fire to the golden temple after becoming obsessed with its beauty, as cited in the introduction of the book. The plot is simple, and its synopsis can be predicted through reading the introduction and the blurb. Mishima focuses acutely on the insight of the distressed monk's mind, even forcing the reader to unexpectedly sympathize with the mentally "different" protagonist. This may be the reason why some readers find Mishima's book hard to understand, or not fruitful. A reader cannot expect to obtain anything productive out of this book simply from the plot alone. Its true value can be attained through reading the book proactively, with care.
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion has become internationally accepted, possibly because of its universal philosophical messages, unique writing style, and also precisely for its absurdness. It is an esoteric piece of writing. It is loved by individuals (intellectuals) who are able to enjoy and appreciate quality writing while carefully deciphering its many conundrums; but it is dismissed by those... seeking a lighter read.
For more in-depth information and analysis, please visit:
http://goldenpavi.exblog.jp
Beauty and Obsession February 10, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Yukio Mishima was perhaps one of the more colourful individuals in Japanese literature, and one whose works have had enduring popularity. For this reason alone, his "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" is worth reading, even if it is not your normal taste in books.
Using events in 1950, when the Golden Temple was deliberately torched, as a very basic foundation to his book, Mishima writes of Mizoguchi, a stuttering young man who becomes obsessed with the Golden Temple and beauty as a general concept. Seeing himself in world that he feels separated from, Mizoguchi is influenced by many characters through the story.
The book is intensely reflective and told in the first person, which gives this reflective and speculative element a deeper punch. The internal journey of Mizoguchi is the mainstay of the book, and this also focuses on Mishima's own concerns.
This novel is very deep, and can get pretty heavy at times, though this is sometimes counter-balanced by moments of true humour and tension, though rarely.
"The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" is not everyone's cup of tea, so I would suggest giving it some thought before reading it. However, for something different and quite deep, it is a good book to provoke thought, and also introduce one to the thought of Yukio Mishima, himself a troubled and unusual man.
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