One of the outstanding writers of the world'
New York TimesAfter the early death of her philandering husband, Etsuko moves into her father-in-law's house, where she numbly submits to the old man's advances. But soon she finds herself in love with the young servant Saburo. Tormented by his indifference, yet invigorated by her desire, she makes her move, with catastrophic consequences.
Author ProfileYukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he performed. Several films have been made from his novels, including
The Sound of Waves,
Enjo which was based on
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels
Confessions of a Mask and
Thirst for Love and the short story collections
Death in Midsummer and
Acts of Worship.
The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of
The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On 25 November 1970, the day he completed
The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide) at the age of forty-five.
ReviewsJapan's foremost man of letters
