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Title: The Decay of the Angel (Sea of Fertility, 4) by Yukio Mishima, Edward Seidensticker, Edward Seidensticke, Erroll McDonald ISBN: 0679722432 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25
Rating: 5
Summary: Please do not "See just the trees, but not the forest"
Comment: "See just the trees, but not the forest" is an old Chinese saying, meaning to comprehend, and thus evaluate, things only from partial angles and views. To assess/critic, even compare any one of the 4 "Sea of Fertility" novels is to do just that. The 4 novels are all part of a grand design in a way very much like 4 movements from a symphony. Yes each novel stands on its own as a great literature accomplishment, but so does each movement of any symphony by Beethoven or Mahler. Now, I am not a write or a literature critic in any shape or form, but I have read the complete "Sea of Fertility" twice before, and am onto "Runaway Horses" for the third time now. Just want to remind every one that, these novels are not meant to be read individually.
Rating: 5
Summary: Stunning ending to a brilliant, important, tetralogy.
Comment: This book is the concluding part to the Sea of Fertility quartet by Mishima--generally considered his magnum opus. As an individual book it is inferior in characterisation, plot strength and beauty of expression than Spring Snow and the third book but better than Runaway Horses (book 2). However the ending is so stunning and original that it leaves one mentally exhausted and yet thrilled. The ending turns the whole story so far (from Book 1) on its head and for that reason I will not disclose it. Suffice it to say that of all the books I have read this has the most unexpected and mind-bending ending. I was left in awe! In conclusion it is a fitting ending to a most brilliant quartet of novels for those readers who want more from their novels than just a story. This quartet deals with the most important ideas of human existence and is very challenging yet what makes it unique is Mishima's magical, poetic, and mesmerising control of language and diction. Engaging, thrilling, difficult, philosophical, beautiful, brilliant.
(The quartet as a whole is 5 stars, this book on its own I would give 4 stars.)
Rating: 4
Summary: Frustratingly Good
Comment: While Spring Snow remains my favourite book in this amazing series, The Decay of the Angel is the most... elusive. Mishima's message decays right along side his characters, and that in itself is a work of great artistry. To introduce us to interesting, well realized characters and to slowly over the course of four books degrade them and pull them out of the realm of literature into a kind of near-tabloid reality is as cunning as it is disturbing. This book has a lot going for it and it has a strong message, but what exactly that message is remains to be seen.
Trivia fact: After mailing the manuscript for this book Mishima led a failed nationalist uprising and comitted ritual seppuku following his failure. (Or maybe just to save himself having to asnwer: "what does this mean?!"
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Title: The Temple of Dawn (The Sea of Fertility, 3) by Yukio Mishima ISBN: 0679722424 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 1990 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Runaway Horses (Sea of Fertility) by Yukio Mishima, Michael Gallagher ISBN: 0679722408 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 1990 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Spring Snow (The Sea of Fertility) by Yukio Mishima ISBN: 0679722416 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 1990 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima, Ivan Morris ISBN: 0679752706 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 1994 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea (Vintage International) by Yukio Mishima, John Nathan ISBN: 0679750150 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 1994 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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