Friday, September 17, 2010

Yukio Mishima

The Temple of Dawn surpassingly chilling, subtle & original

 

This is the third book in the "Sea of fertility"  tetralogy by Yukio Mishima, although I found that out after I grabbed the book of the library shelf & ran to check it out, before anyone else got their grubby little mitts on it. The novel is in two parts & in part one, the book's main character "Honda" is in Bangkok working as legal counsel for a drugs company.  Through him we learn a fair bit about Bangkok, for example "Bang" means town & "Kok" means olives, named because it has many olive trees in its vicinity & this became it's name in the Ayutthaya dynasty. Although a few pages later we find out that Bangkok's real name is actually " Krung thep phra mahanakorn amon latanakosin mahintara  shiayutthaya  mafma pop noppala  rachatthani prilom" ( you can imagine how my spell-check loved that ) & that this name is almost impossible to translate, though that doesn't stop them trying, it has something to do with "The capital, a 9 coloured diamond, a large city & it being pleasant". Back to the story, Honda visited a few temples including The Temple of Dawn & the ornate flowery sumptuous architecture made a deep impression on him. He mentions to his guide that he went to school with 2 Siamese princes, the guide (who he dislikes quite vehemently) tries to arrange a reunion but the princes aren't in the country, so he ends up meeting the daughter of one, this daughter (Ying Chan) much to the embarrassment of the family claims to be the reincarnation of a Japanese man & on meeting Honda claims to recognise him, in fact she's the reincarnation of someone from his past (Isao) & demands to go back to Japan with him.

After finishing the case he was working on to the satisfaction of the drug company they offer him a bonus, which he takes in the form of a trip to India in which he visits Benares Manmad& the Ajanta caves,  places closely associated with Buddhism. On returning to Bangkok  he visits the princess, before returning to Japan just as war is declared with the USA. Back in his homeland, Honda spends all the spare time he has studying Buddhist philosophy & the war appears to have little effect on him, he is so immersed in his studies that even the bombings & burned out buildings have little emotional resonance for him.                   The sumptuous ornate Temple of the Dawn

"The true meaning of Yuishiki is that that the whole of the  world manifests itself now in this very instant. Yet this instantaneous world already dies in the same moment And simultaneously a new one appears. The world which appears one moment is transformed in the following and thus continues on. Everything in the entire world is alaya consciousness."

Part two, traces the changes in Honda's obsession, his theories on reincarnation & how they relate to Ying Chan (through Isao) become conflicted with her as an individual, as she has become a beautiful nubile young woman with no recollection of her past belief. This juxtaposition of the philosophy & physicality of his approach to any contact he has with Ying Chan (or his image of her) follows us through the rest of this chapter. We also learn of Honda's voyeuristic tendencies.

The main theme running through this book seems to be how the changing face of Japanese society & its headlong rush into modernity comes into conflict with its spirituality, this with Mishima's hatred of the westernisation of his country, & with it the perceived destruction of traditional Japanese values appears to play a leading role in his writing. 

I've used this analogy before, that books can be like relationships, sometimes you meet someone & you know instantly that you'll be great friends, there's no effort needed, you instantly like everything about that individual. This is not one of those, for a start, there is a whole sections where Honda contemplates on Buddhist text, mythology & history, for example.

 "Buddhism suddenly deteriorated in India sometime after the fourth century of the Christian era. It has been rightly said that Hinduism stifled it in its friendly embrace. Like Christianity and Judaism in Judea and Confucianism and Taoism in China, Buddhism had to be exiled from India for it to become a world religion. It was necessary for India to turn to a more primitive folk religion. Hinduism perfunctorily retained the name Buddha in a far corner of its pantheon, where he was preserved as the ninth of the ten avatars of Vishnu. Vishnu is believed to assume ten transfigurations:......" etc. Buddha, ninth avatar of Vishnu.

Although interesting in it's own right, it slightly trips up the storyline. It may even be because I hadn't read the two preceding books (Spring Snow & Runaway Horses) that I felt this way, & that I felt the book didn't really get into its stride until part two, which is set in Japan & concentrates on Honda & his obsessions. but there was something there, something that made me keep reading, that made me want to work through the hard times & now, although the friendship wasn't instant, I feel that it is strong & this may be the first book I've read by Yukio Mishima, it won't be the last.

Authors works (Yukio Mishima)

Yukio Mishima (Wikipedia)

Buddhism (Buddhanet)

TRANSLATERS

E.Dale Saunders

Cecilia Segawa Seigle

13 comments:

tanabata said...

I'm really disappointed with myself that I still haven't read anything by Mishima, but I'll be reading The Temple of the Golden Pavilion for the Japanese Literature Book Group in November and I'm looking forward to it. I also have Spring Snow on my shelves so plan to hopefully start the tetralogy next year.

@parridhlantern said...

I will, look forward to your write up on it, my next Mishima, will be The sailor who fell from grace with the sea. but that may be a while as my TBR is out distancing me like some overcharged sports car.

Bellezza said...

This paragraph in particular pulled at me:

"The main theme running through this book seems to be how the changing face of Japanese society & its headlong rush into modernity comes into conflict with its spirituality, this with Mishima's hatred of the westernisation of his country, & with it the perceived destruction of traditional Japanese values appears to play a leading role in his writing."

I tend to feel the same way about how I see America changing from its Western roots. Perhaps we love our countries as we knew them, or understood them, best.

I have yet to read Mishima (I know! This from the hostess of the JLC4!!!), but I loved your review. I never knew that about Bangkok, either, being the town of olives.

@parridhlantern said...

Thanks , this was my first Mishima, although I have The Sailor who fell from grace with the sea on my bookpile

Unknown said...

I have the first in the series on my list so did not want to go into real depth in case of spoilers... but I am very interested since you did mention their specific theory of reincarnation and Buddhism. Now I am even more intrigued by the books.

So were the first part of the series hard to get into?
Cheers!

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Shellie, having read several reviews on this tetralolgy, it appears that it is only this one in the series that goes indepth concerning Buddhism. But it's worth the read.

Unknown said...

Did you change your review?

Unknown said...

Read the first two! I read the whole series in 2009, and the first two are the best :)

Anonymous said...

So I got here from your link.

Interesting. Mishima's hatred of modernization manifested itself in The Sound of Waves as well. Both of the antagonists were "tainted" by city life and are less "pure" than their traditional counterparts.

I have heard that this is the one novel in the Sea of Fertility quarter where the religious and philosophical discussions are really dragged out. So Spring Snow (the first one) should still be all right :)

Have you read any other Mishima since The Temple of Dawn?

@parridhlantern said...

Yes, off the top of my head I can think of a couple The Sailor who fell from grace with the sea & Patriotism.

Anonymous said...

What did you think of The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea?

@parridhlantern said...

I Thought it better, but that was comparing like for like & not taking into consideration that this one was part of a whole & not a stand alone work.

@parridhlantern said...
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