Death in Midsummer and Other Stories is the second book and the first storybook I read from Mishima. I had written about The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea in the past weeks. I was fascinated by Mishima from the very first book I’ve read. This admiration turned into fanaticism after Death in Midsummer and Other Stories. Generally, I prefer to read novels and, I don’t even think of reading stories. Of course, I read them from time to time, but as I said, I am not into them. More precisely, I was not, before. Yukio Mishima made me a story-loving person.
All the stories are so impressive that they nail you down to your couch. I couldn’t start the other immediately when one was over. Human beings are bizarre creatures. It is much more surprising to read this in the stories of a highly-skilled writer. He is an author who carefully thinks every little detail and knows how to grab the reader. I am afraid to talk about the subjects of the stories. Because I believe that it is essential for every reader to experience them. I can even go a little further and state that it is not everyone’s right to read this author. If you feel ready, read his books. Oh, whatever! Read him even if you don’t feel ready as well. Enjoy!
Death in Midsummer and Other Stories
Nine of Yukio Mishima’s finest stories were selected by Mishima himself for translation in this book; they represent his extraordinary ability to depict a wide variety of human beings in moments of significance. Often his characters are sophisticated modern Japanese who turn out to be not so liberated from the past as they had thought.
Yukio Mishima
Kimitake Hiraoka, known also under the pen name Yukio Mishima, was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, film director, nationalist, and founder of the Tatenokai. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
