Anyway, I've started this:
Star, by Yukio Mishima. So far so good. A brilliant novella that is not considered one of his major works by any means, but still it's filled with excellent, thought provoking writing. Inspired by the author's second career as a film actor.
Loved it. I've now read three Mishima books and all were fantastic reads, though
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, my first, was definitely the hardest pill to swallow. This was an easy and quick read but it was by no means a simplistic book; there are several layers to it. Beautiful writing, and I felt compelled to share this passage, when the narrator is on a film set, filming a scene, and he reflects thus:
The piercing fidelity of the landscape must have meant that I was watching from the gates of death. What I saw was as comprehensive as a memory, poor and wretched as a memory, as quiet, as fluorescent...
As I walked along, it became impossible to deny that these empty streets would eventually open onto sprawling tracks where trains came rushing in and out of town, extending naturally to a grand city, and a harbor, and beyond the sea to other countries with their own cities and harbors.
I'm a real sucker for this kind of writing. My only complaint is that this material could have easily been expanded into a full length novel. There were several fascinating characters introduced who could have been explored in much further depth, such as the aging actor, former young heartthrob, who appears only in the novel's final pages. But I'll take what I can get. Strongly recommended.
