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Anonymous
2016-05-15 16:47:40 Post No. 8040925
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Anonymous
2016-05-15 16:47:40
Post No. 8040925
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Prior to reading Yukio Mishima’s Confessions of a Mask, I had high expectations for both Mishima and the novel itself. After reading the novel though his style of writing and the content of the novel ended up disappointing me. I’m a believer that in whatever piece of work there are aspects that are likeable and therefore, it’s very hard to give a book just one star but in comparison to what I’ve read in the past, Yukio Mishima’s Confession of Mask confused me and annoyed me in many ways. I seem to be in the minority by giving this novel just one star and seem to ask myself if I’ve missed something that others have noticed. In writing this review though I’m impelled to write about why I found this book to be disappointing.
Although this book was to be about a young gay adolescent I didn’t associate this book with homosexuality as much as I did with sadism. In getting to know Kochan, the protagonist, and his sadistic and at times cannibalistic sexual desires I was confused as to why anyone would have such desires.
Besides this fact, I also found many other characteristics about him that confused and bothered me. In order for a character to be liked or at the very least be sympathized with, I believe, they have to be relatable in some aspect and Kochan didn’t really have any qualities that resonated with me.
If this book has accomplished something it is leaving me with a mound of questions that include: Why did Kochan try to prove to himself that he could fall in love with a girl when he knew that he wasn’t sexually attracted to women? Why did he think he might have loved Sonoko when it could have just merely been an emotion that comes with being close to a friend? Why did he feel like the victim once he broke it off with Sonoko? Why did he go and try to have sex with a prostitute when he wasn’t sexually attracted to women?
I honestly feel that if you know who you are that there isn’t a need to try to be someone else. Even if you are trying to hide behind a mask of propriety there are various ways in which one can still hide behind a mask of propriety while still being true to oneself to a degree.
Overall, although this read was quite disappointing it hasn’t deterred me from reading some of Mishima’s other works in the future.
