Sun and Steel a
nonfiction work by Yukio Mishima is a difficult work to categorize. I was
compelled to read it in connection with research I am doing related to Paul
Schrader’s film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. Schrader used excerpts from the long essay
(manifesto?) that is a mediation on the fusing of life and art. I think it
provides a lot of insight into the mind and philosophy of Mishima at the end of
his life when he was obsessed with body building, training with his private
army, and contemplating life and death. He talks about the fusion of mind and
body and analyzes several important life experiences that were physical
sensations like running at dawn, parachuting, and flying in a jet fighter. I’m
not sure this book would be interesting or digestible for a novice in the work
of Mishima, but for anyone who has knowledge of his remarkable life and body of
work it is invaluable in the understading of such a complicated artist.
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February 14, 2010
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Posted by: ted | February 15, 2010 at 08:33 AM
Not directly, but it is re-created in Schrader's "Mishima: A History in Four Chapters." Is is worthwhile seeing?
Posted by: MC | February 15, 2010 at 03:23 PM
I kind of enjoyed it. Pretty stylized in a tradition Japanese dramatic art-way. Also -- not for the squeemish. The bonus features on the DVD make it worthwhile.
Posted by: ted | February 16, 2010 at 01:44 AM