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Thirst for Love
In Thirst for Love, Japan's greatest modern writer created a portrait of sexual torment and corrosive jealousy that is as delicately nuanced as Madame Bovary and as remorseless as Justine. Yukio Mishima's protagonist is Etsuko, whose philandering husband has died horribly from typhoid. The young widow moves into the household of her father-in-law, where she numbly submits to the old man's advances.
But soon Etsuko falls in love with the young servant, Saburo. Tormented by his indifference yet invigorated by her anguish, she makes one last, catastrophic bid for his attention. Stunningly acute in its perceptions, excruciating in its psychological suspense, Thirst for Love is a triumph of eroticism, terror, and compassion.
But soon Etsuko falls in love with the young servant, Saburo. Tormented by his indifference yet invigorated by her anguish, she makes one last, catastrophic bid for his attention. Stunningly acute in its perceptions, excruciating in its psychological suspense, Thirst for Love is a triumph of eroticism, terror, and compassion.
200 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 1950
About the author
Yukio Mishima
422 books7,588 followersYukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫) was born in Tokyo in 1925. He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University’s School of Jurisprudence in 1947. His first published book, The Forest in Full Bloom, appeared in 1944 and he established himself as a major author with Confessions of a Mask (1949). From then until his death he continued to publish novels, short stories, and plays each year. His crowning achievement, the Sea of Fertility tetralogy—which contains the novels Spring Snow (1969), Runaway Horses (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971)—is considered one of the definitive works of twentieth-century Japanese fiction. In 1970, at the age of forty-five and the day after completing the last novel in the Fertility series, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide)—a spectacular death that attracted worldwide attention.
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December 28, 2019
İşte geldi, Japon edebiyatının şahı!
Mişima ile ilgili çok önemli bir şeyi en başta, altını çizerek belirtmem gerekiyor: Bir Mişima eseri (ne olursa olsun) ihtiva ettiği kurmaca yapının güzelliğini taşıyor olduğu gibi aslında çok daha büyük bir resmin de tamamlayıcı parçası olma özelliğindedir. Hikâyelerin özelinde edebi yapı çok farklı şekillerde tartışılabilir ama hiçbir şey Mişima’nın benzersiz düşünme şekline tanık olmak ve özgün/özgür fikirlerinin özüne yaklaşma fırsatı bulmaktan daha güzel ve önemli olamaz. Bu yüzden ben her eserini tamamlayıcı bir parça olarak ele almayı tercih ediyorum.
Mişima ‘Aşka Susamış’ı Fransız yazar François Mauriac’ın 1925’te yayımladığı ‘Aşk Çölü’ isimli eserini okuduktan sonra; ondan esinlenerek yazmış. Mauriac, ülkemizde İlkyaz Yayınevi tarafından basılan bu romanında bir baba ve oğlun aynı kadına duydukları saplantılı aşkı konu alarak, arzunun karışık doğası ve ahlakın öznel yapısını anlatmayı çalışmış. Bu romandan etkilenen Mişima aynı zamanda ‘Aşk Çölü’ndeki reçete metaforuna ‘Aşka Susamış’ın bir yerinde apaçık bir şekilde yer vererek Mauriac’a saygı duruşunda da bulunmuş.
Peki ‘Aşka Susamış’ ne anlatıyor diye sorarsanız, konusu kısaca şöyle: Kocasını tifodan kaybeden kıskanç ve aldatılmış Etsuko, kayınpederinin davetine icabetten ölmüş kocasının ailesinin evine taşınır. Burada eşini seneler evvel kaybetmiş olan kayınpederi, ölen kocasının kardeşleri ve onların eşleriyle yaşamaya başlayan Etsuko, bir süre sonra kayınpederinin metresi olur. Otomatik ve çok sıradanmışçasına gelinlikten metresliğe geçen Etsuko aslında evde yardımcı olarak çalışan genç Saburo’ya karşı şiddetini kontrol edemediği bazı hisler beslemeye başlamıştır. Arzu, kıskançlık, şefkat gibi çok güçlü duyguların içini doldurduğu bir aşk hali içerisindedir. Saburo sınıfsal durumunun alçaklığına rağmen Etsuko’nun zayıf karnına dönüşür. Üstelik Etsuko’nun çok karmaşık zihinsel devinimlerine karşıt Saburo hayatı dürtüsel bir şekilde yaşama geriliğine(!) sahiptir. Tüm bu karmaşık insan ilişkileri ağı, Etsuko’nun olayları çok ilginç ve tartışmalı bir sona taşıması adına özenli ve alışılmadık bir yazarlık yeteneğiyle örülmüş.
Mişima 1944 senesinden itibaren aktif olarak yazıyor. İlk yıllarda kısa romanlar, hikâyeler ve oyunlar kaleme alıyor. Bu eserleri Türkçede okuyamadığımız gibi henüz İngilizceye de çevrilmediklerinden sadece Japonca isimlerinden haberdarız. Ancak yazarın otobiyografik anlatısı ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’ 1949 senesinde yayımlanınca çok dikkat çekiyor ve Mişima yazarlığının beşinci senesinde onuncu eseriyle bir başyapıta imza atarak, üne kazanıyor. (Bu romanın İngilizcedeki yolculuğu ise 9 sene sonra 1958’de çevrilmesiyle başlayacak. Fakat bundan önce 1954’te yazacağı ‘Dalgaların Sesi’ çevrilmiş olacak.) ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’ndan sonra Mişima iki hikâye ve bir oyun daha kaleme aldıktan sonra ‘Aşka Susamış’ı 1950’de yayımlıyor. ‘Aşka Susamış’, ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’ndan sonra Japonya’da ilgi gören ikinci eseri oluyor. (Bu romanın İngilizcedeki yolculuğu, çevrilen onuncu Mişima romanı olarak ancak 1969’da yolculuğuna başlıyor.) Bir süre sonra ‘Aşka Susamış’ Mişima’nın sonradan yayımladığı eserlerinin de etkisiyle geriye dönülüp okunan bir roman haline geliyor. Böylelikle çıktığı dönemkinden daha büyük sükseyi seneler sonra yapıyor. 1966’da Koreyoshi Kurahara ‘Ai no Kawaki’ isimli, kitapla aynı adlı bir film uyarlamasına imza atarak hikâyeyi sinemaya taşıyor. Bu filmin sansasyonel etkisi de kitabın içeriğinin ayrıca tartışılmasına sebep oluyor.
‘Aşka Susamış’ın İngilizceye çevrildiği 1969’dan sonra eser hakkında söylenenlere baktığımızda bir şaşkınlık olduğunu görüyoruz. Batılı eleştirmenler Etsuko karakterini nereye oturtacaklarını bilemiyorlar. Sık sık D.H.Lawrence adının geçiriyorlar. Fakat Lawrence’ın eserlerindeki Viktoryen ahlaka karşı şiddetli karşı koyuş ve özgür aşk lokalinde Mişima’yı konuşmak çok eksik bir analizin ortaya çıkmasına sebep oluyor. Zira Mişima özgür aşkın ötesinde ölümle kurduğu kanlı ilişki sebebiyle Batailleci bir yaklaşımla değerlendirilmeye başlanıyor. Fakat Bataille bu senelerde okunması sağlıklı bulunan yazarlardan biri değil. Çoğu eseri o dönem yasaklı. Felsefi tarafı kabul edilmiyor, ciddiye alınmıyor. Bataille’nin üzerindeki sansür ölümünden seneler sonra Foulcault tarafından kaldırılacak, ama daha oraya var. Haliyle Mişima’nın anlaşılma konusunda sıkıntılar yaşattığını görüyoruz. Kimse ‘Aşka Susamış’ın kadın karakteri Etsuko’yu anlamıyor.
Buradan sonrası kitabı okumuş okurlar içindir. Spoiler içerir.
Mişima’nın çevirilerde görüldüğü üzere dille ilişkisi her daim anlattığı konunun gerisindedir. Onu özel yapan şey nasıl anlattığı değil, anlattığı şeyin özüdür. Bütün romanlarında klasik bir dil kullanımı vardır. (Belki Japoncasında durum farklıdır, bilmiyorum.) Mişima’nın görmezden gelinemeyecek ‘garip’ hayatı, eserlerini tamamen ona bağlı kılmıştır. O yüzden yine onun düşünsel tarafından beslenmek en doğrusudur. ‘Aşka Susamış’ kronolojik olmayan bir kurguya sahip: Etsuko’nun zihninde geriye doğru yolculuklar, temasal atlamalar ve karakterlerin anlatımında yaşanan üçüncü tekil geçişler karmaşık sayılamayacak bir örgüye aitken; görkemli trajik sona hak ettiği ortamı sağlama amacıyla kaleme alınmış gibi tınlıyor. Mişima’nın yarattığı Etsuko tam olarak yazarın zihinsel girdabının bir ürünüyken geri kalan karakterler son derece basittir. Saburo karşısında Etsuko’nun içine düştüğü varsayımlar ve hiddet bunu çok güzel göstermektedir. Haliyle Mişima her karakteri ayrı düşünme gayesini ortadan kaldırarak tüm dikkatin Etsuko’ya verilmesini sağlamıştır. Diğer yandan sonradan diğer eserlerinde de görebileceğimiz kabul edilemez duygular bu eserde cömertçe kendilerine yer bulmuştur: Onu aldattığı için kocasının ölümünü istemesi, kocası tifo olmasına rağmen onu öpmekten korkmaması, kayınpederiyle içinde olduğu anormal seksüel ilişki, küçük çocuğu karıncaları öldürürken görmesi üzerine ona duyduğu sempati, dini tören sırasında Saburo’ya sapladığı tırnakların ve kanın onda yarattığı haz, Miyo ile Saburo’nun arasında olmasını beklediği şehvetli aşkın onda yaratacağına inandığı acıya olan istenci, en sonda kendini teslim etmemesi ve öldürme güdüsüne tutunması... Bunlar zor anlaşılır duygular. Ah Mişima, benzersizsin. Bu pek tanık olmadığımız karakter özellikleriyle yapısalcı bir kurmacanın derdine değil, tamamen Mişima’nın ayrıksı yazının derdine tanık oluyoruz.
Mişima konuşmalarında da bir konunun sürekli altını çizerdi: Japon insanının dünya tarafından algılanamayacak iki özelliği aynı potada eritmesi onun için inanılmaz çekici bir kaynaktı: Zarafet ve vahşet. Bu ikisi arasında organik bir bağ olduğunu düşünen Mişima, bunu toplumsal örneklerle açıkladığı gibi romanlarında her daim karakterinin projeksiyonunda göstermiştir. Etsuko da tüm Mişima karakterleri gibi son derece zarif ama vahşete yatkınlığı olan birisidir. Mişima’nın eserlerinde bu ikilik farklı yüzlerde ortaya çıkar. ‘Denizi Yitiren Denizci’de Noburo’da, ‘Şölenden Sonra’da bir başka kadın karakter Kazu’da; ‘Patriotism’ de kocasının intihar eylemine yardımcı kadında görünür. ‘Bir Maskenin İtrirafları’nda yazarın ergenliğinde bu benzersiz düşüncenin meydana çıkma gerçekliği izlenir. Kusursuz zarafet beraberinde sadece ölümün tamamlayabileceği ruhani bir durumu oluşturmaktadır, bu farklı şekillerde ele alınır. Bu yüzden ‘Aşka Susamış’ın sınıfsal okumasını gereksiz buluyorum. Çünkü Mişima hiçbir zaman ekonomik sınıflara önem vermemiştir. Onun için önemli askeri bağlılığa olan Tokugavacı bir özlemin getirdiği ayrıştırmalardır. O yüzden burada da ölümü hak ettiğine inandığı törensel bir yapının içine yerleştirir. Şölen sırasında kusursuz bedenleriyle, senkron halinde ibadet eden; sıradan kusursuzluk hak ettiğini alacaktır; vahşi ve zarif olandan. ‘Altın Köşk Tapınağı’nı yok eden sıradan akıl Mizoguchi gelir akıllara, yok eden olarak. Yok edilen ise kusursuz ve zarif olan tapınaktan başkası değildir. Burada ise yok eden konumunda Etsuko vardır. Fakat Etsuko tüm bağlamıyla aşka susamıştır. Onun var olmasını sağlayan ana etken tek başına aşktır. Âşık olunan öznenin yok edilmesi ise o saplantılı durumu sonlandıracaktır. Annesinin aşığını öldüren Noburo, tapınağı yok eden Mizoguchi, evliliğini mahveden Kazu, aşığını öldüren Etsuko… Her romanda farklı bir şekilde tekrar eden törensel bir öldürme sekansı bir amaca hizmet etmektedir yani.
Dönüp dolaşıp Mişima’nın kendisine varıyoruz. Psikanalitik okumanın sonuç vermediği tüm bu anlatılarda bir tutarlılık net bir şekilde görülmesine rağmen, anlaşılması oldukça güçtür. Belki bunun için Mişima’nın ‘Hagakure Samurayın Yolu Ölümdür’ isimli Mişima kitabını okumak lazım. Bu metin de ‘Patriotism’ de kurmacayla ortaya koyduğu o ilahi tören anlayışının zeminini besleyen entelektüel düşünceler okunur. Son derece kültürlü olan Mişima ilk gençliğinden itibaren istikrarla güçlendirdiği düşüncelerinden bir şey kaybetmemiş; aksine onların sağlamasını yapmayı başarmıştır. Bu yüzden Kazu gibi Etsuko da sadece bir roman karakteri olmakla kalmaz; aslında Mişima’nın askerlerinden birisidir. Bu nedenle aptal eden cinayeti kanla kutsanmış ve ilkeye hizmet etmiştir.
Daha çok şey yazılır. Bereket Denizi Dörtlemesine girilerek yukarıda kısaca bahsettiğim şeyler damar damar derinleştirilebilir. Fakat gr’in bir yazı sınırı var. Ali Volkan Erdemir’e değinmeden geçmeyeyim. ‘Altın Köşk Tapınağı’nda da muhteşem bir çeviriye imza atmıştı. Burada da aynısına imza atmış. Keşke Murakami çevirmeyi bırakıp, tüm Mişima’ları çevirse. Muhtacız aslında buna.
Henüz Mişima okumamış okur, senin de bir yerlerde olduğunu biliyorum. Ne duruyorsun? Hemen git ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’, ‘Denizi Yitiren Denizci’ ve ‘Aşka Susamış’ı al ve okumaya başla. Okuyanlar zaten devamını getirecektir. Herkese tavsiye ederim.
İyi okumalar.
Mişima ile ilgili çok önemli bir şeyi en başta, altını çizerek belirtmem gerekiyor: Bir Mişima eseri (ne olursa olsun) ihtiva ettiği kurmaca yapının güzelliğini taşıyor olduğu gibi aslında çok daha büyük bir resmin de tamamlayıcı parçası olma özelliğindedir. Hikâyelerin özelinde edebi yapı çok farklı şekillerde tartışılabilir ama hiçbir şey Mişima’nın benzersiz düşünme şekline tanık olmak ve özgün/özgür fikirlerinin özüne yaklaşma fırsatı bulmaktan daha güzel ve önemli olamaz. Bu yüzden ben her eserini tamamlayıcı bir parça olarak ele almayı tercih ediyorum.
Mişima ‘Aşka Susamış’ı Fransız yazar François Mauriac’ın 1925’te yayımladığı ‘Aşk Çölü’ isimli eserini okuduktan sonra; ondan esinlenerek yazmış. Mauriac, ülkemizde İlkyaz Yayınevi tarafından basılan bu romanında bir baba ve oğlun aynı kadına duydukları saplantılı aşkı konu alarak, arzunun karışık doğası ve ahlakın öznel yapısını anlatmayı çalışmış. Bu romandan etkilenen Mişima aynı zamanda ‘Aşk Çölü’ndeki reçete metaforuna ‘Aşka Susamış’ın bir yerinde apaçık bir şekilde yer vererek Mauriac’a saygı duruşunda da bulunmuş.
Peki ‘Aşka Susamış’ ne anlatıyor diye sorarsanız, konusu kısaca şöyle: Kocasını tifodan kaybeden kıskanç ve aldatılmış Etsuko, kayınpederinin davetine icabetten ölmüş kocasının ailesinin evine taşınır. Burada eşini seneler evvel kaybetmiş olan kayınpederi, ölen kocasının kardeşleri ve onların eşleriyle yaşamaya başlayan Etsuko, bir süre sonra kayınpederinin metresi olur. Otomatik ve çok sıradanmışçasına gelinlikten metresliğe geçen Etsuko aslında evde yardımcı olarak çalışan genç Saburo’ya karşı şiddetini kontrol edemediği bazı hisler beslemeye başlamıştır. Arzu, kıskançlık, şefkat gibi çok güçlü duyguların içini doldurduğu bir aşk hali içerisindedir. Saburo sınıfsal durumunun alçaklığına rağmen Etsuko’nun zayıf karnına dönüşür. Üstelik Etsuko’nun çok karmaşık zihinsel devinimlerine karşıt Saburo hayatı dürtüsel bir şekilde yaşama geriliğine(!) sahiptir. Tüm bu karmaşık insan ilişkileri ağı, Etsuko’nun olayları çok ilginç ve tartışmalı bir sona taşıması adına özenli ve alışılmadık bir yazarlık yeteneğiyle örülmüş.
Mişima 1944 senesinden itibaren aktif olarak yazıyor. İlk yıllarda kısa romanlar, hikâyeler ve oyunlar kaleme alıyor. Bu eserleri Türkçede okuyamadığımız gibi henüz İngilizceye de çevrilmediklerinden sadece Japonca isimlerinden haberdarız. Ancak yazarın otobiyografik anlatısı ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’ 1949 senesinde yayımlanınca çok dikkat çekiyor ve Mişima yazarlığının beşinci senesinde onuncu eseriyle bir başyapıta imza atarak, üne kazanıyor. (Bu romanın İngilizcedeki yolculuğu ise 9 sene sonra 1958’de çevrilmesiyle başlayacak. Fakat bundan önce 1954’te yazacağı ‘Dalgaların Sesi’ çevrilmiş olacak.) ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’ndan sonra Mişima iki hikâye ve bir oyun daha kaleme aldıktan sonra ‘Aşka Susamış’ı 1950’de yayımlıyor. ‘Aşka Susamış’, ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’ndan sonra Japonya’da ilgi gören ikinci eseri oluyor. (Bu romanın İngilizcedeki yolculuğu, çevrilen onuncu Mişima romanı olarak ancak 1969’da yolculuğuna başlıyor.) Bir süre sonra ‘Aşka Susamış’ Mişima’nın sonradan yayımladığı eserlerinin de etkisiyle geriye dönülüp okunan bir roman haline geliyor. Böylelikle çıktığı dönemkinden daha büyük sükseyi seneler sonra yapıyor. 1966’da Koreyoshi Kurahara ‘Ai no Kawaki’ isimli, kitapla aynı adlı bir film uyarlamasına imza atarak hikâyeyi sinemaya taşıyor. Bu filmin sansasyonel etkisi de kitabın içeriğinin ayrıca tartışılmasına sebep oluyor.
‘Aşka Susamış’ın İngilizceye çevrildiği 1969’dan sonra eser hakkında söylenenlere baktığımızda bir şaşkınlık olduğunu görüyoruz. Batılı eleştirmenler Etsuko karakterini nereye oturtacaklarını bilemiyorlar. Sık sık D.H.Lawrence adının geçiriyorlar. Fakat Lawrence’ın eserlerindeki Viktoryen ahlaka karşı şiddetli karşı koyuş ve özgür aşk lokalinde Mişima’yı konuşmak çok eksik bir analizin ortaya çıkmasına sebep oluyor. Zira Mişima özgür aşkın ötesinde ölümle kurduğu kanlı ilişki sebebiyle Batailleci bir yaklaşımla değerlendirilmeye başlanıyor. Fakat Bataille bu senelerde okunması sağlıklı bulunan yazarlardan biri değil. Çoğu eseri o dönem yasaklı. Felsefi tarafı kabul edilmiyor, ciddiye alınmıyor. Bataille’nin üzerindeki sansür ölümünden seneler sonra Foulcault tarafından kaldırılacak, ama daha oraya var. Haliyle Mişima’nın anlaşılma konusunda sıkıntılar yaşattığını görüyoruz. Kimse ‘Aşka Susamış’ın kadın karakteri Etsuko’yu anlamıyor.
Buradan sonrası kitabı okumuş okurlar içindir. Spoiler içerir.
Mişima’nın çevirilerde görüldüğü üzere dille ilişkisi her daim anlattığı konunun gerisindedir. Onu özel yapan şey nasıl anlattığı değil, anlattığı şeyin özüdür. Bütün romanlarında klasik bir dil kullanımı vardır. (Belki Japoncasında durum farklıdır, bilmiyorum.) Mişima’nın görmezden gelinemeyecek ‘garip’ hayatı, eserlerini tamamen ona bağlı kılmıştır. O yüzden yine onun düşünsel tarafından beslenmek en doğrusudur. ‘Aşka Susamış’ kronolojik olmayan bir kurguya sahip: Etsuko’nun zihninde geriye doğru yolculuklar, temasal atlamalar ve karakterlerin anlatımında yaşanan üçüncü tekil geçişler karmaşık sayılamayacak bir örgüye aitken; görkemli trajik sona hak ettiği ortamı sağlama amacıyla kaleme alınmış gibi tınlıyor. Mişima’nın yarattığı Etsuko tam olarak yazarın zihinsel girdabının bir ürünüyken geri kalan karakterler son derece basittir. Saburo karşısında Etsuko’nun içine düştüğü varsayımlar ve hiddet bunu çok güzel göstermektedir. Haliyle Mişima her karakteri ayrı düşünme gayesini ortadan kaldırarak tüm dikkatin Etsuko’ya verilmesini sağlamıştır. Diğer yandan sonradan diğer eserlerinde de görebileceğimiz kabul edilemez duygular bu eserde cömertçe kendilerine yer bulmuştur: Onu aldattığı için kocasının ölümünü istemesi, kocası tifo olmasına rağmen onu öpmekten korkmaması, kayınpederiyle içinde olduğu anormal seksüel ilişki, küçük çocuğu karıncaları öldürürken görmesi üzerine ona duyduğu sempati, dini tören sırasında Saburo’ya sapladığı tırnakların ve kanın onda yarattığı haz, Miyo ile Saburo’nun arasında olmasını beklediği şehvetli aşkın onda yaratacağına inandığı acıya olan istenci, en sonda kendini teslim etmemesi ve öldürme güdüsüne tutunması... Bunlar zor anlaşılır duygular. Ah Mişima, benzersizsin. Bu pek tanık olmadığımız karakter özellikleriyle yapısalcı bir kurmacanın derdine değil, tamamen Mişima’nın ayrıksı yazının derdine tanık oluyoruz.
Mişima konuşmalarında da bir konunun sürekli altını çizerdi: Japon insanının dünya tarafından algılanamayacak iki özelliği aynı potada eritmesi onun için inanılmaz çekici bir kaynaktı: Zarafet ve vahşet. Bu ikisi arasında organik bir bağ olduğunu düşünen Mişima, bunu toplumsal örneklerle açıkladığı gibi romanlarında her daim karakterinin projeksiyonunda göstermiştir. Etsuko da tüm Mişima karakterleri gibi son derece zarif ama vahşete yatkınlığı olan birisidir. Mişima’nın eserlerinde bu ikilik farklı yüzlerde ortaya çıkar. ‘Denizi Yitiren Denizci’de Noburo’da, ‘Şölenden Sonra’da bir başka kadın karakter Kazu’da; ‘Patriotism’ de kocasının intihar eylemine yardımcı kadında görünür. ‘Bir Maskenin İtrirafları’nda yazarın ergenliğinde bu benzersiz düşüncenin meydana çıkma gerçekliği izlenir. Kusursuz zarafet beraberinde sadece ölümün tamamlayabileceği ruhani bir durumu oluşturmaktadır, bu farklı şekillerde ele alınır. Bu yüzden ‘Aşka Susamış’ın sınıfsal okumasını gereksiz buluyorum. Çünkü Mişima hiçbir zaman ekonomik sınıflara önem vermemiştir. Onun için önemli askeri bağlılığa olan Tokugavacı bir özlemin getirdiği ayrıştırmalardır. O yüzden burada da ölümü hak ettiğine inandığı törensel bir yapının içine yerleştirir. Şölen sırasında kusursuz bedenleriyle, senkron halinde ibadet eden; sıradan kusursuzluk hak ettiğini alacaktır; vahşi ve zarif olandan. ‘Altın Köşk Tapınağı’nı yok eden sıradan akıl Mizoguchi gelir akıllara, yok eden olarak. Yok edilen ise kusursuz ve zarif olan tapınaktan başkası değildir. Burada ise yok eden konumunda Etsuko vardır. Fakat Etsuko tüm bağlamıyla aşka susamıştır. Onun var olmasını sağlayan ana etken tek başına aşktır. Âşık olunan öznenin yok edilmesi ise o saplantılı durumu sonlandıracaktır. Annesinin aşığını öldüren Noburo, tapınağı yok eden Mizoguchi, evliliğini mahveden Kazu, aşığını öldüren Etsuko… Her romanda farklı bir şekilde tekrar eden törensel bir öldürme sekansı bir amaca hizmet etmektedir yani.
Dönüp dolaşıp Mişima’nın kendisine varıyoruz. Psikanalitik okumanın sonuç vermediği tüm bu anlatılarda bir tutarlılık net bir şekilde görülmesine rağmen, anlaşılması oldukça güçtür. Belki bunun için Mişima’nın ‘Hagakure Samurayın Yolu Ölümdür’ isimli Mişima kitabını okumak lazım. Bu metin de ‘Patriotism’ de kurmacayla ortaya koyduğu o ilahi tören anlayışının zeminini besleyen entelektüel düşünceler okunur. Son derece kültürlü olan Mişima ilk gençliğinden itibaren istikrarla güçlendirdiği düşüncelerinden bir şey kaybetmemiş; aksine onların sağlamasını yapmayı başarmıştır. Bu yüzden Kazu gibi Etsuko da sadece bir roman karakteri olmakla kalmaz; aslında Mişima’nın askerlerinden birisidir. Bu nedenle aptal eden cinayeti kanla kutsanmış ve ilkeye hizmet etmiştir.
Daha çok şey yazılır. Bereket Denizi Dörtlemesine girilerek yukarıda kısaca bahsettiğim şeyler damar damar derinleştirilebilir. Fakat gr’in bir yazı sınırı var. Ali Volkan Erdemir’e değinmeden geçmeyeyim. ‘Altın Köşk Tapınağı’nda da muhteşem bir çeviriye imza atmıştı. Burada da aynısına imza atmış. Keşke Murakami çevirmeyi bırakıp, tüm Mişima’ları çevirse. Muhtacız aslında buna.
Henüz Mişima okumamış okur, senin de bir yerlerde olduğunu biliyorum. Ne duruyorsun? Hemen git ‘Bir Maskenin İtirafları’, ‘Denizi Yitiren Denizci’ ve ‘Aşka Susamış’ı al ve okumaya başla. Okuyanlar zaten devamını getirecektir. Herkese tavsiye ederim.
İyi okumalar.
July 26, 2016
A pair of woollen socks! The solitary blue- brown image lingered in my pathetic thoughts, weeks after I had closed down the book. Verses had angrily left me, words refused to find a refuge within my wits and leisurely Mishima’s manuscript had melted into an obscure viscosity leaving behind only the recurring images of a mystified Etsuko and the pair of socks. For weeks I lived with that graphic, gaudily enhancing as the night darkened with every passing hour. How could a harmless pair of socks from Hankyu departmental store bring reckless audacity, such tenderness and then knit a violent despair? Could the diabolical nature of the socks stir up with the slightest tap of human emotions? Were those socks diabolical as the humans tend to become?
“What had given this courage? The thunder? The two pair of socks she had just purchased?”
Symbolism seizes the pivotal core plunging and deciphering a limitless world beyond human mediocrity. Given Mishima’s palpable affinity towards the art of Noh , the evident usage of significant cryptograms of socks, typhoid, the lion mask , the hospital ward and the mattock among the others , spells every intricate nuances of a capricious face veiled behind a stoic Noh mask. Mishima’s astute narration on the premise of a reluctant heart and cataclysmic love flows into a theatrical Noh prism where the ghosts of the past erect skeletons in the present imprisoning the desires of a heart in a ruthless world.
“In the moment a captive lion steps out of his cage, he possesses a wider worlds than the lion who has known only the worlds. While he was in captivity, there were only two worlds to him- the world of the cage and the world outside the cage. Now he is free. He roars. He attacks people, eats them. He is not satisfied for there is no third world that is neither the world of the cage nor the world outside the cage.”
A captured heart alien to the world of benevolent love; its reception caged behind the daunting fetters of loneliness and alienation. The burdened heart roars for emancipation from seclusion. The longing to love, the autonomy to love consumed in powerlessness to love. The heart perplexed in a world of duplicity and social repression succumbs to lunacy of obsession and vengeance for it does not know the sincerity of love , as there is no ‘third world’ beyond the emptiness of love, apart from death. Etsuko in her passivity, through her fatal love becomes a destructive yet pitiable figure hampered by her own quest against rising trepidations over her covetousness and its subsequent demise. Mishima elucidates on Etsuko’s temperament by articulating, “she found in the emptiness of her hopes the purest of meanings”
A widow of a philanderer husband resides with her lascivious father-in-law in the grimy countryside. Yakichi Sugimoto’s conflicted household was a laborious abode of repulsive absurdities. The prejudices of Chieko and Kensuske floated among the wooden interiors of the household, conjectures of biased moralities hovering over the Sugimoto’s budding illicit associations with Etsuko mirrored through Etsuko’s orphaned existence, her gratification for such dire circumstances vocalized through anaesthetizing her thoughts. Etsuko’s infatuation for Saburo resurrected the primitive naivety previously misplaced in a frigid matrimony. The abundance of love and the intensity of a genuine sexual pleasure derived from the uttered enthusiasm for Saburo fetched a reprieving life-force. Even so, the reception for deliverance was cremated by feverish ravings of covetousness and shadows of Etsuko’s disaffections and guilt.
“A feeling of liberation should contain a bracing feeling of negation, in which liberation itself is not agitated.”
The protracted abandonment wallowing in the niggling emptiness dominated Estuko’s overwhelming arrogance enslaving her to the creativity of unquenchable passion and the eventual annihilation. The freedom to experience the power of her sexuality cowed to the socially repressive environment tightening Etsuko inescapability from the ongoing tussle of implausible passion v/s the banality of social mores and life as a whole. The tantalizing sight of a half-naked Saburo during the dance at the Autumn Festival of the Hachiman Shrine fiercely clashed her morality into vehemence of her sexuality. Mishima highlights the quintessence of a woman’s sexuality in a communally despotic culture and the acerbic reconstruction of its perversion of a toxic love. ‘Thirst’ develops into a symbolic gesticulation, hunger for implacable desires. Love becomes the timeless nectar guzzled ravenously by a vacant parched heart, incurable, suffocating the vagueness of pain and pleasure.
“ The word 'love' had no proper place.”
Etsuko was the fated romantic hero in a world where love was misplaced behind the countless agonies, fatigued by the dilemmas of egotistical hunger trapped between the insatiable nature of vengeance and obsession. ; the authentic self polluted by grotesque incongruity. Is love diabolical then? Anger, sorrow, fear, joy; each flourishing sentiment has its eminence on the arousing empathetic dais. Love, however clandestinely incarnates itself baffling the psychosomatic rationalities. The solitary heartfelt emotion coquettishly fleets teasing the human psyche with aspiring gentleness to reincarnate into diversified oblique sentimentalities. Love had metamorphosed into a dreadful entity for Etsuko , love had no proper place then , only proper death.
The pair of socks is surely not diabolical after all. For not only did they bring back free flowing verses, but the hued woollen marvels also kept my feet warm while I typed the above words.
** [ the photographic illustrations are taken from the 1967 movie adaptation of the novel. ‘Ai no Kawaki’starring the lovely Ruriko Asako ]**
October 11, 2023
Thirst for Love, one of Yukio Mishima’s early novels, is a compelling exploration of the destructive nature of possessive/obsessive love. Published shortly after Confessions of a Mask, the novel centres on Etsuko, a young widow who finds herself entangled in emotionally complex relationships while living with her late husband’s family.
Etsuko is a multifaceted character, embodying another of Mishima’s “masks.” She is caught in a tension between societal norms and her turbulent emotions—jealousy, romantic fantasies, and the inability to express or act upon them. This internal struggle manifests itself in suicidal ideations: “Her desire was close to that of the person who drowns himself; he does not necessarily covet death so much as what comes after the drowning—something different from what he had before, at the least a different world” (Kindle Loc. 1565). Etsuko can be seen as a literary descendant of Madame Bovary, particularly in her complex relationship with forbidden love, beauty and death, a theme that Mishima will revisit throughout his career. Lady Chatterley also comes to mind.
Mishima’s prose is a blend of elegance and incisiveness. He captures the emotional states of his characters through flashes of insight that function almost like aphorisms. These are interspersed with superb descriptions (Tsukimi Festival in chap. 3), and poetic yet introspective passages that create a pervasive atmosphere of brooding melancholy and foreshadow the impending tragedy. The novel’s nuanced portrayal of Etsuko, coupled with its violent conclusion, left a lasting impact on me.
Etsuko is a multifaceted character, embodying another of Mishima’s “masks.” She is caught in a tension between societal norms and her turbulent emotions—jealousy, romantic fantasies, and the inability to express or act upon them. This internal struggle manifests itself in suicidal ideations: “Her desire was close to that of the person who drowns himself; he does not necessarily covet death so much as what comes after the drowning—something different from what he had before, at the least a different world” (Kindle Loc. 1565). Etsuko can be seen as a literary descendant of Madame Bovary, particularly in her complex relationship with forbidden love, beauty and death, a theme that Mishima will revisit throughout his career. Lady Chatterley also comes to mind.
Mishima’s prose is a blend of elegance and incisiveness. He captures the emotional states of his characters through flashes of insight that function almost like aphorisms. These are interspersed with superb descriptions (Tsukimi Festival in chap. 3), and poetic yet introspective passages that create a pervasive atmosphere of brooding melancholy and foreshadow the impending tragedy. The novel’s nuanced portrayal of Etsuko, coupled with its violent conclusion, left a lasting impact on me.
July 13, 2021
A short and intriguing little novel, “Thirst for Love” is my fourth novel by Yukio Mishima, and while it’s probably the one I liked the least, it is a complex and dramatic tale like only he could write. And let's face it, I don't think Mishima had it in him to write a bad book...
The recently widowed Etsuko has moved into her father-in-law’s household in the country of post-war Japan. Her marriage was loveless, and her husband cheated on her constantly, and she is starved for the affection and passion he denied her. She gives in to her father-in-law’s advances, more out of apathy than anything else; she is so miserable that she simply can’t be bothered to care. That is, until she becomes violently infatuated with a young farmhand named Saburo. The young man does not return her feelings, and the situation will soon escalate into tragedy, as such things are wont to do.
Mishima knew more than a little about obsession and sexual repression, and found the right words with which to weave those things into very human stories. Etsuko loses herself in this obsessive “love” for Saburo, wishing that he would make up for the pain and humiliation both her husband and her father-in-law have inflicted on her. But of course, it doesn’t work like that. Saburo is young, unattached and with no plans to settle – he doesn’t even think about love as where it is the only thing on Etsuko’s mind. The more she grasps for him, the more elusive he becomes.
Mishima wrote a lot of unsympathetic characters, and he usually makes them very interesting, but here, I just found the characters unpleasant and a little dry. Perhaps the story is a bit too short to give them room to develop, but they felt less real to me than in other works by Mishima, and it might be why I didn’t enjoy this novel quite as much as “The Temple of the Golden Pavilion” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) or “Spring Snow” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). But his prose, even translated, is so beautiful that it can redeem even common characters and rather pathetic family drama.
An interesting reflexion on unrequited love and obsessive passion by someone who knew too well what he was talking about.
The recently widowed Etsuko has moved into her father-in-law’s household in the country of post-war Japan. Her marriage was loveless, and her husband cheated on her constantly, and she is starved for the affection and passion he denied her. She gives in to her father-in-law’s advances, more out of apathy than anything else; she is so miserable that she simply can’t be bothered to care. That is, until she becomes violently infatuated with a young farmhand named Saburo. The young man does not return her feelings, and the situation will soon escalate into tragedy, as such things are wont to do.
Mishima knew more than a little about obsession and sexual repression, and found the right words with which to weave those things into very human stories. Etsuko loses herself in this obsessive “love” for Saburo, wishing that he would make up for the pain and humiliation both her husband and her father-in-law have inflicted on her. But of course, it doesn’t work like that. Saburo is young, unattached and with no plans to settle – he doesn’t even think about love as where it is the only thing on Etsuko’s mind. The more she grasps for him, the more elusive he becomes.
Mishima wrote a lot of unsympathetic characters, and he usually makes them very interesting, but here, I just found the characters unpleasant and a little dry. Perhaps the story is a bit too short to give them room to develop, but they felt less real to me than in other works by Mishima, and it might be why I didn’t enjoy this novel quite as much as “The Temple of the Golden Pavilion” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) or “Spring Snow” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). But his prose, even translated, is so beautiful that it can redeem even common characters and rather pathetic family drama.
An interesting reflexion on unrequited love and obsessive passion by someone who knew too well what he was talking about.
May 4, 2011
Really odd coincidence in a way that I picked up this novel last night. I was so stunned by it that I wrote a review straight away. I wasn't going to type it up till later but then I got so annoyed by reading the retarded reviews on Amazon I decided to do it now, while coffeed up. People are such stupid pods, just because they actually read books doesn't seem to make them sensitive or intelligent. Most of them completely missed the subtleties...maybe because most of the reviewers on Amazon are male for some reason. Most reviewers generally are I suppose. Women are trained not to value their own opinions, and men are trained to value theirs too much.
"Beggars show you their wounds to make you sorry for them. They're horrible. Madam is like some kind of proud beggar."
Mishima is a very unusual man in many ways but most of all in his ability to create impressive female characters. It's hard to think of any other male author who can do this. I suppose it's a result of being locked in a room with his grandmother for most of his childhood. She apparently was a fearful and possibly quite insane matriarch, who did not allow him any freedom except in her vast library. No wonder he is also a master of creating oppressive and dysfunctional atmospheres, such as the one that permeates this novel.
Etsuko is not just impressive, but quite complex and frightening, and her psychosis is clearly explicable and understandable, which makes her disturbingly easy to identify with. Her madness is really just an extreme version of the very common romantic delusion that turns love into a kind of twisted spiritual quest to heal one's wounds by inflicting pain on others. Her obsession is almost like vampirism, though that is a crude analogy, this idea of an unquenchable hunger is reflected in the title. It makes you think about the energy dynamics involved in the urge to "own" a lover. And about extreme possessiveness as a kind of mania to control and take over a person, psychically as much as sexually. And also of course as a symptom of the rank betrayal which Etsuko experienced in her marriage. The way Mishima portrays her is in fact very sympathetic. He clearly admires her intensity and her sensitivity.
She is a sophisticated and intelligent woman, who after her disasterous marriage to a philanderer ends in his gruesome death from Typhoid, moves to the country to live on his fathers farm. She and the father have a strange intimate relationship, which at first seems like abuse, but is soon revealed as quite mutually beneficial. She doesn't enjoy his physical attentions but it gives her a power in the household and over him. The old man is in awe of her, and very jealous when she forms an obsession for a young farm labourer. She in turn is furiously jealous of the young mans relationship with one of the maids. In fact jealousy is her vice, her addiction, which might be why she chose to marry the philanderer in the first place.
The younger man himself is without any sentiment. He doesn't understand the concept of Love at all, or even guess that he is beloved, though it is so obvious to everyone else. He is a perfect symbol of youthful callousness. The whole situation is doomed to disaster. From his perspective she is crazy. In fact from any perspective...to fall in love so obsessively is a form of insanity, but even more so when the object is such a vacant and simple character. It's almost as if it is his very blankness, the shining young ignorant emptiness of him that she is so engrossed with. I suppose the blank screen is always best suited for projection.
The whole point of the exercise seems to be to cause herself the maximum possible pain, but the situation also says a lot about class, and about the reality of the hierarchical system. There can be no meaningful communication between them, and that is what she fails to comprehend. This total incomprehension somehow translates into obsession, I think because truly understanding someone makes it impossible to maintain such delusions. Even at the end when the penny finally drops there can be no physical connection between them. She does not want his lust but rather his Love, which of course does not exist, and this fine distinction I think is what makes this novel far more interesting and thought provoking than others with a similar theme.
As usual Mr Mishima has made my head explode. Nice to know someone out there can still do that.
"Beggars show you their wounds to make you sorry for them. They're horrible. Madam is like some kind of proud beggar."
Mishima is a very unusual man in many ways but most of all in his ability to create impressive female characters. It's hard to think of any other male author who can do this. I suppose it's a result of being locked in a room with his grandmother for most of his childhood. She apparently was a fearful and possibly quite insane matriarch, who did not allow him any freedom except in her vast library. No wonder he is also a master of creating oppressive and dysfunctional atmospheres, such as the one that permeates this novel.
Etsuko is not just impressive, but quite complex and frightening, and her psychosis is clearly explicable and understandable, which makes her disturbingly easy to identify with. Her madness is really just an extreme version of the very common romantic delusion that turns love into a kind of twisted spiritual quest to heal one's wounds by inflicting pain on others. Her obsession is almost like vampirism, though that is a crude analogy, this idea of an unquenchable hunger is reflected in the title. It makes you think about the energy dynamics involved in the urge to "own" a lover. And about extreme possessiveness as a kind of mania to control and take over a person, psychically as much as sexually. And also of course as a symptom of the rank betrayal which Etsuko experienced in her marriage. The way Mishima portrays her is in fact very sympathetic. He clearly admires her intensity and her sensitivity.
She is a sophisticated and intelligent woman, who after her disasterous marriage to a philanderer ends in his gruesome death from Typhoid, moves to the country to live on his fathers farm. She and the father have a strange intimate relationship, which at first seems like abuse, but is soon revealed as quite mutually beneficial. She doesn't enjoy his physical attentions but it gives her a power in the household and over him. The old man is in awe of her, and very jealous when she forms an obsession for a young farm labourer. She in turn is furiously jealous of the young mans relationship with one of the maids. In fact jealousy is her vice, her addiction, which might be why she chose to marry the philanderer in the first place.
The younger man himself is without any sentiment. He doesn't understand the concept of Love at all, or even guess that he is beloved, though it is so obvious to everyone else. He is a perfect symbol of youthful callousness. The whole situation is doomed to disaster. From his perspective she is crazy. In fact from any perspective...to fall in love so obsessively is a form of insanity, but even more so when the object is such a vacant and simple character. It's almost as if it is his very blankness, the shining young ignorant emptiness of him that she is so engrossed with. I suppose the blank screen is always best suited for projection.
The whole point of the exercise seems to be to cause herself the maximum possible pain, but the situation also says a lot about class, and about the reality of the hierarchical system. There can be no meaningful communication between them, and that is what she fails to comprehend. This total incomprehension somehow translates into obsession, I think because truly understanding someone makes it impossible to maintain such delusions. Even at the end when the penny finally drops there can be no physical connection between them. She does not want his lust but rather his Love, which of course does not exist, and this fine distinction I think is what makes this novel far more interesting and thought provoking than others with a similar theme.
As usual Mr Mishima has made my head explode. Nice to know someone out there can still do that.
September 19, 2016
What is it that prompts us to love? Is it something we have no say in, helplessly falling to its schemes unaware of its happening or is it something we push ourselves into like a drug we so insanely search for. Is it truly a person that is the object of our affection and insanity or is it merely an independent feeling we cultivate in us and then attach to the person most convenient?
Thirst for Love is a shattering depiction of self-depravity. Etsuko is a broken woman beyond repair, hunted by the scars left by her torturous husband. No, her name is not the battered wife. Her wounds run deeper; in the recesses of her persona her scabs and sores rot and give off a stench. She is a human being whole on the outside, but inside she is filled with fissures and rents. These cracks invisible to the eye, but readily felt, is infinitely more pronounced than the superficial kind remedied with ointment. Etsuko was subjected to an intense psychological torment that imbedded in her soul was the unwavering belief that she was unwanted, unneeded, and unloved. And so as a way to cope, at the center of her being, wrapped by all she held dear, she cultivated an intense jealousy she worshipped.
However the hands of fate interfere with her life and her philandering tormentor of a husband acquires a grave illness. Oh how she reveled in his pain and misery! Oh how she celebrated his every call for help by mentioning her name! And in his dying moments, she was the model wife, not out of love or affection, but out of insane happiness rooted in her knowledge that her jealousy and suffering was bound to flourish stronger than she had known. And so when he was gone, her devil snuffed, she moved in with her husband’s family never more broken, but in her brokenness dwelled her strength. The shattered woman then finds herself in a game of emotional cat-and-mouse. Her proud father-in-law, Yakichi, took her as his own and greedily immersed in her womanhood. Her damaged heart endured, but she finds relief in the eyes of their innocent manservant Saburo. And so she is entangled in a web that tests not their capacity to love, but their ability to endure hurting. Etsuko revels in her pain, in her jealousy. She enjoys the stifling danger of the precarious status quo that at any moment can snap and destroy them all. But then the pangs of love slowly overtake her jealousy and she starts to ache for a resolution that can only bring them all to ruin.
We all have a need to be loved, this beautiful oasis we all long for and worship. But will we really die without this paradise, this love from another? This longing, is it so vital to our survival? Can we not draw water from our own wells to feed our thirst? Here is a woman who never knew that her own thirst could be quenched by the spring inside her. Her brokenness left her blind to the pool in her that would have given her life. This pool that reflects, that teaches us accepting who we are and learning to love ourselves is the first step towards the oasis. That to be loved by another, we must first see that there is something to be loved inside of us, and even without it, we can realize that the water of our wells, our appreciation if not love for the self, is more than enough to sustain us. This function was lost to Etsuko, maybe broken by her suffering, and it proved to be her bane.
Thirst for love is the story of a woman who only asked that she be loved but was denied. A broken woman, already shattered to pieces, yet is crushed by her own need for salvation. It is thoroughly haunting, nevertheless in her hopeless struggle flashes of intense beauty overwhelmed, the kind of melancholy beauty that only lingers in the tragic, a kind of beauty that grabs the heart and never lets go. The image of a drowning woman comes to mind. She rebels against her fate and strives for the surface with all her might, but the more she fights, the more she sinks into oblivion.
Thirst for Love is a shattering depiction of self-depravity. Etsuko is a broken woman beyond repair, hunted by the scars left by her torturous husband. No, her name is not the battered wife. Her wounds run deeper; in the recesses of her persona her scabs and sores rot and give off a stench. She is a human being whole on the outside, but inside she is filled with fissures and rents. These cracks invisible to the eye, but readily felt, is infinitely more pronounced than the superficial kind remedied with ointment. Etsuko was subjected to an intense psychological torment that imbedded in her soul was the unwavering belief that she was unwanted, unneeded, and unloved. And so as a way to cope, at the center of her being, wrapped by all she held dear, she cultivated an intense jealousy she worshipped.
However the hands of fate interfere with her life and her philandering tormentor of a husband acquires a grave illness. Oh how she reveled in his pain and misery! Oh how she celebrated his every call for help by mentioning her name! And in his dying moments, she was the model wife, not out of love or affection, but out of insane happiness rooted in her knowledge that her jealousy and suffering was bound to flourish stronger than she had known. And so when he was gone, her devil snuffed, she moved in with her husband’s family never more broken, but in her brokenness dwelled her strength. The shattered woman then finds herself in a game of emotional cat-and-mouse. Her proud father-in-law, Yakichi, took her as his own and greedily immersed in her womanhood. Her damaged heart endured, but she finds relief in the eyes of their innocent manservant Saburo. And so she is entangled in a web that tests not their capacity to love, but their ability to endure hurting. Etsuko revels in her pain, in her jealousy. She enjoys the stifling danger of the precarious status quo that at any moment can snap and destroy them all. But then the pangs of love slowly overtake her jealousy and she starts to ache for a resolution that can only bring them all to ruin.
We all have a need to be loved, this beautiful oasis we all long for and worship. But will we really die without this paradise, this love from another? This longing, is it so vital to our survival? Can we not draw water from our own wells to feed our thirst? Here is a woman who never knew that her own thirst could be quenched by the spring inside her. Her brokenness left her blind to the pool in her that would have given her life. This pool that reflects, that teaches us accepting who we are and learning to love ourselves is the first step towards the oasis. That to be loved by another, we must first see that there is something to be loved inside of us, and even without it, we can realize that the water of our wells, our appreciation if not love for the self, is more than enough to sustain us. This function was lost to Etsuko, maybe broken by her suffering, and it proved to be her bane.
Thirst for love is the story of a woman who only asked that she be loved but was denied. A broken woman, already shattered to pieces, yet is crushed by her own need for salvation. It is thoroughly haunting, nevertheless in her hopeless struggle flashes of intense beauty overwhelmed, the kind of melancholy beauty that only lingers in the tragic, a kind of beauty that grabs the heart and never lets go. The image of a drowning woman comes to mind. She rebels against her fate and strives for the surface with all her might, but the more she fights, the more she sinks into oblivion.
January 11, 2020
İnsan ruhunun derinliklerini bu kadar incelikle anlatmak.. Etsuko yu anlamak zor oldu. Ama bi kere anladıktan sonra.. hala sürüyor kafamda mukayeseler tespitler çıkarımlar.. bir kitabın en kıymetli yanı bu gibi geliyor bana; insanda bitmeyen bir aydınlatma yaşatması.
January 19, 2020
İnsanın dibinde kalmış tortuyu çalkalamayı iyi biliyor Mişima. İnsanın karanlık tarafındaki hislerin, ikilemlerin, dürtülerin nasıl açığa çıkacağını gayet iyi biliyor ve bunu biz insanlara romanlarıyla bir güzel hatırlatıyor.
Her zamanki gibi çarpıcı bir Mişima romanıydı.
Tavsiye ediyorum.
Her zamanki gibi çarpıcı bir Mişima romanıydı.
Tavsiye ediyorum.
October 31, 2023
Этот роман - не о любви, а о недолюбленности и о желании, неутолимой острой жажде любви, которую эта недолюбленность порождает. Ее муж ей изменял и испытывал извращенное удовольствие от ее ревности. Ее чувства также были довольно извращенными, это что-то из разряда садо-мазо, которые довольно сложно понять. Потеряв мужа, умершего от тифа, Эцуко переезжает в дом свекра, с которым у нее начинаются сексуальные отношения. Нет, любви здесь нет, а есть сплав по течению, покорность судьбе, пассивность, но это кажущееся состояние. Внутри нее тлеет огонь, жажда, которую нужно непременно утолить. Встретив молодого садовника Сабуро, в Эцуко разгорается страсть. Образовываются множественные любовные треугольники, которые образуют нераспутываемый узел. Она пытается завладеть Сабуро, как хищник, исподволь готовясь к прыжку. Это и сцена на празднике, где она в толпе игроков царапает его спину, и подаренные носочки. Она требует увольнения забеременевшей от Сабуро служанки. Она добивается своего, шаг за шагом. А огонь все тлеет. Наконец, она встречается с ним, казалось бы, все – цель достигнута. Но она не может испить любовь, и это не любовь и, возможно, даже не страсть – это душевная боль, та боль, которая сводит людей с ума. Она отворачивает свое лицо, отвергает его ласки, она кричит. На ее крик прибегает Якити с мотыгой. Она хватает мотыгу и убивает Сабуро. Вопрос – почему она это делает? Она отвечает: «Потому что он мучил меня. Никто не смеет мучить меня». Да, это страшная женщина, за кажущейся слабостью скрывается сильная личность, во что бы то ни стало добивающаяся своего. Смыв кровь с рук, она ложится рядом с дрожащим Якити и погружается в умиротворенный сон. Усталость, растянувшаяся на годы, несоизмеримая с только что совершенным преступлением, накопленная усталость явилась платой за этот безвинный сон. Мисима умеет найти в самых потаенных уголках души подавленные состояния и чувства, вынести их на божий свет, увидеть при дневном свете. Это очень мастерски умелая работа.
September 29, 2021
Πρώτη επαφή με Mishima, στέφθηκε με απόλυτη επιτυχία!!
4,5 αστέρια
4,5 αστέρια
December 26, 2019
“Eylemlerimiz,duygularımıza kıyasla,ne kadar da çabuk unutulur”
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Etsuko eşini kaybetti,tifodan. Zorlu bir süreçti, belki hastalık değildi onu yoran, başka bir şey vardı yitirdiğini hissettiği.. Eşinin ailesinin evine yerleştiğinde bunu anladı. Etsuko aşık oldu ve bir girdabın içinde buldu kendini.. Kaybedeceği bir şey kalmayınca neler yapmaz ki insan?
Zalimleşir, aptallaşır, kendisiyle süregiden savaşının zaferini duyumsar kanında. Etsuko korkmuyor.
Onun hayatı, hayatının bittiğini düşündükleri anda başlıyor.. Kelebek kozasından çıkıyor.
.
Mişima benim için çok özel. Anlattığı, büyük olaylar değil, aksine küçücük bir olayı, sade bir kişiyi göz kamaştırıcı hale getirmesinde onun alametifarikası. Her eserinde daha da vurulduğum nokta örneğin: erkek bedenini betimlerken kalemindeki akışı/heyecanı.. Bunu hissedebiliyorsunuz.. (bilhassa Bereket Denizi serisinde)
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Aşka Susamış’ta kadın karakterlerin işlenişi, bana Tanizaki’yi anımsattı. Aile içindeki hassas dengeler, yasak tutkular ve gözü karalık detaylarında..
.
Ali Volkan Erdemir çevirisini okumak,her eserde olduğu gibi, çok keyifli. Yabani durmayan, ilk okuyuşta dahi sahiplenebileceğiniz bir dil..
.
Kapak fotoğrafı ise zihnimdeki Etsuko’ya çok yakın.. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’ye ait~
.
Etsuko eşini kaybetti,tifodan. Zorlu bir süreçti, belki hastalık değildi onu yoran, başka bir şey vardı yitirdiğini hissettiği.. Eşinin ailesinin evine yerleştiğinde bunu anladı. Etsuko aşık oldu ve bir girdabın içinde buldu kendini.. Kaybedeceği bir şey kalmayınca neler yapmaz ki insan?
Zalimleşir, aptallaşır, kendisiyle süregiden savaşının zaferini duyumsar kanında. Etsuko korkmuyor.
Onun hayatı, hayatının bittiğini düşündükleri anda başlıyor.. Kelebek kozasından çıkıyor.
.
Mişima benim için çok özel. Anlattığı, büyük olaylar değil, aksine küçücük bir olayı, sade bir kişiyi göz kamaştırıcı hale getirmesinde onun alametifarikası. Her eserinde daha da vurulduğum nokta örneğin: erkek bedenini betimlerken kalemindeki akışı/heyecanı.. Bunu hissedebiliyorsunuz.. (bilhassa Bereket Denizi serisinde)
.
Aşka Susamış’ta kadın karakterlerin işlenişi, bana Tanizaki’yi anımsattı. Aile içindeki hassas dengeler, yasak tutkular ve gözü karalık detaylarında..
.
Ali Volkan Erdemir çevirisini okumak,her eserde olduğu gibi, çok keyifli. Yabani durmayan, ilk okuyuşta dahi sahiplenebileceğiniz bir dil..
.
Kapak fotoğrafı ise zihnimdeki Etsuko’ya çok yakın.. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’ye ait~
February 13, 2021
İyi misin? Teknen batmak üzere. Hala mı yardım çağırmıyorsun? Ruhunun gemisini fazlasıyla istismar ettin, kendini sığınacağın limandan yine kendin yoksun bıraktın. Artık kendi gücünle denizde yüzmek zorundasın. Önündeki tek şey ise ölüm. Buna razı mısın?
//
Raftan elinize düşünmeden öylesine aldığınız kitabın kapağını büyük bir beğeniyle kapatıyorsunuz ya? İşte dünyayı kurtarırsa bu kitaplar kurtarır anca. Yoksa beklentiyle okuyup koşarak uzaklaştıklarımızla hayat sanmıyorum ama başarılar.
//
Raftan elinize düşünmeden öylesine aldığınız kitabın kapağını büyük bir beğeniyle kapatıyorsunuz ya? İşte dünyayı kurtarırsa bu kitaplar kurtarır anca. Yoksa beklentiyle okuyup koşarak uzaklaştıklarımızla hayat sanmıyorum ama başarılar.
May 30, 2023
Ce carte! Ce personaj principal negativ are Mishima!
Asa cum ne-a obisnuit, autorul este neindurator cu simturile si mintea cititorului. Proza lui te rascoleste, te raneste, te alina, te bantuie si te paraseste, luand cu ea tot ce aveai in tine si umplandu-te cu lucruri straine la care nu te asteptai nicicand. In mod cert dupa ce termini cartile lui esti trezit, constient.
Cel mai mult imi place ca Mishima imbina stilul traditional japonez cu psihanaliza occidentala dand nastere unor personaje unice si complexe cu o foarte buna cunoastere psihologica.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea, Etsuko Sugimoto este o vaduva care traieste in casa socrului ei alaturi de cumnatul, cumnata si copiii lor. Socrul ocupandu-se cu cultivarea pamantului are ca ajutoare mai multi gradinari, printre care si tanarul Saburo. Etsuko se indragosteste de acesta si desi incearca sa-si ascunda sentimentele, toti isi dau seama de ceea ce simte, inclusiv socrul ei cu care avea deja o relatie, tainuita si ea.
Lucrurile se complica pentru Etsuko atunci cand Saburo o lasa insarcinata pe servitoarea ei si se ridica intrebarea ce ar trebui sa faca in aceasta situatie? Atunci iese la iveala caracterul ei ucigator, ros de gelozie, innecat in furie si cruzime. Si asa cum bine stim 'iadul nu are atata furie precum o femeie starnita'. Ea va face totul sa saboteze tanara pereche, pandindu-i la culesul de fructe, nelasandu-i sa se imbaieze impreuna, facand diverse daruri barbatului si alungand-o pe servitoare din casa.
Desi initial putem sa o compatimim pe protagonista pentru felul in care fusese tratata de catre defunctul ei sot care o insela si o chinuia, curand ni se dezvaluie adevarata ei fata prin modul in care isi doreste cu ardoare ca el sa moara atunci cand se imbolnaveste de tifos. Ingrijindu-l constiincios ca o sotie iubitoare este devorata de dispret si gelozie inauntrul ei si ar fi capabila si de crima: "Cu mana dreapta ii sprijineam capul si varsam lacrimi pe obrazul lui. Dar cu mana stanga am vrut de nenumarate ori sa-i smulg masca de oxigen."
Torturandu-se cu aerul apasator si sordid al spitalului de boli infectioase devine dependenta de aceasta autoflagelare si dupa moartea sotului ei alege sa locuiasca in casa socrului, un fel de temnita pentru ea, doar ca sa simta din nou molima, durerea si izul mortii.
Etsuko este un personaj complex care ne arata cat de mult te poti lasa devorat de gelozie si sete de iubire, mai ales ca se indragosteste de Saburo, un tanar taran simplu care nu stie nimic despre iubire si pentru care nu conteaza sentimentele de niciun fel. Pentru el lucrurile sunt simple, te impreunezi cu o persoana, te insori, faci copil si muncesti pamantul.
Finalul este tumultuos si neasteptat, in concordanta cu pornirea si furia ei, nimicind tot ce-i sta in cale, facand din Etsuko o antieroina memorabila, plina de caracter si care acapareaza tot romanul, facand ca celelalte personaje sa paleasca in jurul ei. Ea este intunericul care straluceste, fiind totodata sursa de "lumina" a romanului.
Ca incheiere atasez mai multe citate care vin sa sprijine aceasta personalitate furtunoasa a eroinei si din care putem sa tragem cateva invataminte:
"Suferinta indelungata te prosteste. Dar cei prostiti de suferinta nu se mai indoiesc de fericire atunci cand au parte de ea."
"Etsuko a chicotit. Ce minte putea sa aiba acest barbat, care nu se abtinea sa-i turuie incontinuu la ureche, de parca era incontinent. Exact asta avea, "incontinenta cerebrala." Se scapa pe el in modul cel mai jalnic."
"Uneori, barfa urmeaza o directie mai dreapta decat adevarul, iar adevarul e mai mincinos decat barfa."
"O infocare mai mare de atat nu poate exista, deoarece singurul lucru care poate macina infocarea este chiar speranta."
"Bucuria marunta de a fi nerusinat... Bucuria de a fi plin de dispret, de a zambi rautacios in sinea ta... Daca pe lume exista oameni nascuti doar cu scopul acesta, inseamna ca lui Dumnezeu ii place sa faca lucruri in zadar."
"Aici domnea fericirea - hrana care se descompune cel mai repede - in starea cea mai putrezita, necomestibila."
"Viata - aceasta mare nesfarsita, incarcata de fel si fel de resturi plutitoare, capricioasa, violenta si totusi de un albastru vesnic limpede."
Asa cum ne-a obisnuit, autorul este neindurator cu simturile si mintea cititorului. Proza lui te rascoleste, te raneste, te alina, te bantuie si te paraseste, luand cu ea tot ce aveai in tine si umplandu-te cu lucruri straine la care nu te asteptai nicicand. In mod cert dupa ce termini cartile lui esti trezit, constient.
Cel mai mult imi place ca Mishima imbina stilul traditional japonez cu psihanaliza occidentala dand nastere unor personaje unice si complexe cu o foarte buna cunoastere psihologica.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea, Etsuko Sugimoto este o vaduva care traieste in casa socrului ei alaturi de cumnatul, cumnata si copiii lor. Socrul ocupandu-se cu cultivarea pamantului are ca ajutoare mai multi gradinari, printre care si tanarul Saburo. Etsuko se indragosteste de acesta si desi incearca sa-si ascunda sentimentele, toti isi dau seama de ceea ce simte, inclusiv socrul ei cu care avea deja o relatie, tainuita si ea.
Lucrurile se complica pentru Etsuko atunci cand Saburo o lasa insarcinata pe servitoarea ei si se ridica intrebarea ce ar trebui sa faca in aceasta situatie? Atunci iese la iveala caracterul ei ucigator, ros de gelozie, innecat in furie si cruzime. Si asa cum bine stim 'iadul nu are atata furie precum o femeie starnita'. Ea va face totul sa saboteze tanara pereche, pandindu-i la culesul de fructe, nelasandu-i sa se imbaieze impreuna, facand diverse daruri barbatului si alungand-o pe servitoare din casa.
Desi initial putem sa o compatimim pe protagonista pentru felul in care fusese tratata de catre defunctul ei sot care o insela si o chinuia, curand ni se dezvaluie adevarata ei fata prin modul in care isi doreste cu ardoare ca el sa moara atunci cand se imbolnaveste de tifos. Ingrijindu-l constiincios ca o sotie iubitoare este devorata de dispret si gelozie inauntrul ei si ar fi capabila si de crima: "Cu mana dreapta ii sprijineam capul si varsam lacrimi pe obrazul lui. Dar cu mana stanga am vrut de nenumarate ori sa-i smulg masca de oxigen."
Torturandu-se cu aerul apasator si sordid al spitalului de boli infectioase devine dependenta de aceasta autoflagelare si dupa moartea sotului ei alege sa locuiasca in casa socrului, un fel de temnita pentru ea, doar ca sa simta din nou molima, durerea si izul mortii.
Etsuko este un personaj complex care ne arata cat de mult te poti lasa devorat de gelozie si sete de iubire, mai ales ca se indragosteste de Saburo, un tanar taran simplu care nu stie nimic despre iubire si pentru care nu conteaza sentimentele de niciun fel. Pentru el lucrurile sunt simple, te impreunezi cu o persoana, te insori, faci copil si muncesti pamantul.
Finalul este tumultuos si neasteptat, in concordanta cu pornirea si furia ei, nimicind tot ce-i sta in cale, facand din Etsuko o antieroina memorabila, plina de caracter si care acapareaza tot romanul, facand ca celelalte personaje sa paleasca in jurul ei. Ea este intunericul care straluceste, fiind totodata sursa de "lumina" a romanului.
Ca incheiere atasez mai multe citate care vin sa sprijine aceasta personalitate furtunoasa a eroinei si din care putem sa tragem cateva invataminte:
"Suferinta indelungata te prosteste. Dar cei prostiti de suferinta nu se mai indoiesc de fericire atunci cand au parte de ea."
"Etsuko a chicotit. Ce minte putea sa aiba acest barbat, care nu se abtinea sa-i turuie incontinuu la ureche, de parca era incontinent. Exact asta avea, "incontinenta cerebrala." Se scapa pe el in modul cel mai jalnic."
"Uneori, barfa urmeaza o directie mai dreapta decat adevarul, iar adevarul e mai mincinos decat barfa."
"O infocare mai mare de atat nu poate exista, deoarece singurul lucru care poate macina infocarea este chiar speranta."
"Bucuria marunta de a fi nerusinat... Bucuria de a fi plin de dispret, de a zambi rautacios in sinea ta... Daca pe lume exista oameni nascuti doar cu scopul acesta, inseamna ca lui Dumnezeu ii place sa faca lucruri in zadar."
"Aici domnea fericirea - hrana care se descompune cel mai repede - in starea cea mai putrezita, necomestibila."
"Viata - aceasta mare nesfarsita, incarcata de fel si fel de resturi plutitoare, capricioasa, violenta si totusi de un albastru vesnic limpede."
September 1, 2020
Çeviri harika olmuş, kültür farklılığına dayalı yabancılaşmayı bu kitapta bir an bile yaşamıyorsunuz. Kişiler ve mekanlar hep gözünüzün önünde sanki.
Mişima'ya özgü arıza karakterleri katman katman anlatma bu eserde de var, "Hiç anlamıyorum bu kadını... Bunu neden yapıyorsun?..." diye diye okurken, en sonunda ah be diyorsun. Benim hep huzurumu kaçıran bir yazar ama diyeceksiniz ki Mişima bulmuş mu ki huzuru sana da bir dal uzatsın!
Olsun yine de bu ruh halimi sevmiyorum, dört yıldız olmasının sebebi tamamen duygusal sebepten :)
Mişima'ya özgü arıza karakterleri katman katman anlatma bu eserde de var, "Hiç anlamıyorum bu kadını... Bunu neden yapıyorsun?..." diye diye okurken, en sonunda ah be diyorsun. Benim hep huzurumu kaçıran bir yazar ama diyeceksiniz ki Mişima bulmuş mu ki huzuru sana da bir dal uzatsın!
Olsun yine de bu ruh halimi sevmiyorum, dört yıldız olmasının sebebi tamamen duygusal sebepten :)
April 13, 2019
Thirst for Love is a powerful psychological narrative and, sadly, a technically flawed book. The choices and overall execution by the author destroy what could have been a haunting, memorable antihero. To start off with, Mishima’s omniscient point of view in this book makes no sense. The focus shifts constantly between the narrator and Etsuko—the protagonist—with occasional random shifts to other characters that really does not add any substance.
Then there are the triple-layered Etsuko narratives, by which I mean the narrator is following Etsuko, then we are in Etsuko’s point of view, and then we are suddenly in Etsuko’s head reading her thoughts… but none of this sub-layering serves the story. What Mishima is doing here is clumsy. The narrator is an annoying commentator. Etsuko's thoughts are often nothing more than existential reflections that seem to be a window for the author to make us think deeper rather than believe what Etsuko would be feeling without all these imposed thought interjections. The only valid voice, the necessary POV is that of Etsuko. Etsuko is suffering—she has an intense crush, she has an intense hatred, she has intense jealousy—these are raw emotions full of destructive energy, they are not moments of existential crises and reflection, they are moments of action.
The weakness in this structure is Mishima’s fear that the reader will not understand Etsuko’s plight without being spoon fed every logical nuance that leads to her action or inaction. But by his unfounded anxiety, Mishima has ended up practically telling me everything, and with so little shown, there is no room for emotional resonance. Handled differently, I would have felt pain and desolation and frustration on behalf of Etsuko, instead of a boring indifference to her suffering.
It is really strange that the most unusual thread is not explored, much less developed, i.e. Etsuko being a widow is now her father-in-law’s mistress. Instead, her infatuation with Saburo, a younger, handsome man is the focus. Emotionally, there is no reason why she should not fall for Saburo. Yet I am to take for granted her current situation with her father-in-law, and somehow feel her pain for the somewhat unattainable Saburo. Is it normal in the culture that the widow of the son become the father-in-law’s mistress? And what about the pregnant Miyo who we never know anything of anymore?
Then there are the plethora of metaphors throughout the book. It sometimes read like an author imposing a quota on himself to produce as many metaphors as possible, and this detracted from the more needed sense of emotional urgency. Some of the metaphors work and really capture the essence of the moment:
But others fall flat or are cringe-worthy:
…Ouch!
With all that aside, the greatest affront in this novel is the climax. It came across as completely ridiculous and unbelievable. I do not wish to give it away for anyone who may want to read the book, although I would say there are better books out there, but it was so sudden and unexpected that it read like a cheap device to enthrall rather than to instigate an emotional chord. With a rushed denouement that does not even round up the story appropriately, I was left jarred and irritated at such a clumsy book.
Then there are the triple-layered Etsuko narratives, by which I mean the narrator is following Etsuko, then we are in Etsuko’s point of view, and then we are suddenly in Etsuko’s head reading her thoughts… but none of this sub-layering serves the story. What Mishima is doing here is clumsy. The narrator is an annoying commentator. Etsuko's thoughts are often nothing more than existential reflections that seem to be a window for the author to make us think deeper rather than believe what Etsuko would be feeling without all these imposed thought interjections. The only valid voice, the necessary POV is that of Etsuko. Etsuko is suffering—she has an intense crush, she has an intense hatred, she has intense jealousy—these are raw emotions full of destructive energy, they are not moments of existential crises and reflection, they are moments of action.
Then she went on in the same way: “At that rate, when you got back here and Miyo wasn’t here, it worked out perfectly, didn’t it?”
Her words were half thought, half spoken. She had difficulty distinguishing between soliloquy that kept insistently repeating itself in her mind and the soliloquy that she uttered.
In dreams, seedlings mature instantly into fruit-bearing trees, and small birds become winged horses. So in Etsuko’s trance, outlandish hopes waxed into shape of hopes capable of immediate realization.
What if I am the one Saburo has loved? I will have to be bold and try to find out. I must not even think that what I anticipate will not come true. If my hopes come true, I shall be happy. It’s that simple.
Thus Etsuko pondered. Hopes for whose fruition one does not fear, however, are hopes so much as, in the last analysis, a species of desperation.
“All right; but, then, who in the world do you love? Etsuko asked.
The weakness in this structure is Mishima’s fear that the reader will not understand Etsuko’s plight without being spoon fed every logical nuance that leads to her action or inaction. But by his unfounded anxiety, Mishima has ended up practically telling me everything, and with so little shown, there is no room for emotional resonance. Handled differently, I would have felt pain and desolation and frustration on behalf of Etsuko, instead of a boring indifference to her suffering.
It is really strange that the most unusual thread is not explored, much less developed, i.e. Etsuko being a widow is now her father-in-law’s mistress. Instead, her infatuation with Saburo, a younger, handsome man is the focus. Emotionally, there is no reason why she should not fall for Saburo. Yet I am to take for granted her current situation with her father-in-law, and somehow feel her pain for the somewhat unattainable Saburo. Is it normal in the culture that the widow of the son become the father-in-law’s mistress? And what about the pregnant Miyo who we never know anything of anymore?
Then there are the plethora of metaphors throughout the book. It sometimes read like an author imposing a quota on himself to produce as many metaphors as possible, and this detracted from the more needed sense of emotional urgency. Some of the metaphors work and really capture the essence of the moment:
Like an author who thinks himself a genius because his books don’t sell, he felt that his not being asked to lecture anywhere was evidence that the world was not ready for his message.
But others fall flat or are cringe-worthy:
The two sofas and eleven chairs in the drawing room, long untouched by human hand, were very much like girls worn out with waiting.
…Ouch!
With all that aside, the greatest affront in this novel is the climax. It came across as completely ridiculous and unbelievable. I do not wish to give it away for anyone who may want to read the book, although I would say there are better books out there, but it was so sudden and unexpected that it read like a cheap device to enthrall rather than to instigate an emotional chord. With a rushed denouement that does not even round up the story appropriately, I was left jarred and irritated at such a clumsy book.
September 25, 2021
Η νεαρή Ετσούκο χάνει τον σύζυγο της. Δέχεται την πρόταση του πεθερού της και μετακομίζει στο κτήμα της οικογένειας όπου ζουν όλα τα μέλη της οικογένειας.
Η αφήγηση γίνεται με αναδρομές στο παρελθόν που παρεμβάλλονται στο παρόν.
Ο Μίσιμα μέσα από την ιστορία της Ετσούκο μας μιλά για τον έρωτα, τη ζήλια, τα ανθρώπινα συναισθήματα και τα όρια που ξεπερνά όποιος χάνει τον έλεγχο και την ψυχή του.
Ο τίτλος θεωρώ αναφέρεται γενικά στον έρωτα, είτε της Ετσούκο, είτε των σχέσεων του συζύγου της, είτε του πεθερού προς την ίδια, είτε του Σάμπουρο με τη Μιγιό, είτε των υπολοίπων ζευγαριών της οικογένειας.
Όλες οι μορφές του έρωτα. Τί θεωρεί ο καθένας έρωτα και πόσο συγχέεται με την αγάπη. Άλλο ο σαρκικός έρωτας, το ορμέμφυτο, άλλο το συναίσθημα. Πως το βιώνει ο κάθε άνθρωπος, τι προσδοκίες έχει, πως το εκφράζει.
Η Ετσούκο δεν αγαπάει, πλάθει στο μυαλό της μια ιστορία κινούμενη από την ανάγκη να ερωτευτεί, να νιώσει, αλλά ο φόβος της προδοσίας, που δεν αντέχει ο εγωισμός της, βάζει εμπόδια στην ανάγκη αυτή.
Για μένα η Ετσούκο είναι μια στωική, ψύχραιμη, ψυχρή, πανέξυπνη γυναίκα που υπομένει καταστάσεις, και προσπαθεί να επιβληθεί στα συναισθήματα της. Να βρει τρόπο να χαλιναγωγήσει τις επιθυμίες της για να μην αφήσει περιθώριο να την προδώσουν.
Δεν μένω καθόλου στις απώλειες της Ετσούκο. Δε νομίζω ότι επηρεάστηκε από το θάνατο της μητέρας της όταν ήταν παιδί, ούτε και του συζύγου της. Περισσότερο θεωρώ ότι σημαδεύτηκε από την απόρριψη και την αδιαφορία του συζύγου και τη ζήλια που της καλλιεργούσε.
Είναι μια πολύ έξυπνη γυναίκα που αναζητεί τη συναισθηματική ένταση. Δεν την βρίσκω αθώα. Κρύβει την πραγματικότητα ακόμα και στο ημερολόγιο της, είδε την αδυναμία του πεθερού σε αυτήν και το εκμεταλλεύτηκε για να εδραιώσει μια καλή θέση στην ιεραρχία της οικογένειας.
Έχει αυτή περίεργη αντίληψη για τον έρωτα. Είναι εκδικητική, χαιρέκακη.
Όσα βίωσε από τον σύζυγο που την απατούσε και αυτή πονούσε τα περνάει στο επόμενο αντικείμενο του έρωτα της.
Καταβάλει κάθε προσπάθεια ώστε να προκαλέσει πόνο στον εαυτό της πριν προλάβει να της τον προκαλέσει το πρόσωπο που την ενδιαφέρει.
Θέλοντας να μην πληγωθεί και προδοθεί, προτιμά να πάρει εκδίκηση με τρόπο καταστροφικό.
Η αφήγηση γίνεται με αναδρομές στο παρελθόν που παρεμβάλλονται στο παρόν.
Ο Μίσιμα μέσα από την ιστορία της Ετσούκο μας μιλά για τον έρωτα, τη ζήλια, τα ανθρώπινα συναισθήματα και τα όρια που ξεπερνά όποιος χάνει τον έλεγχο και την ψυχή του.
Ο τίτλος θεωρώ αναφέρεται γενικά στον έρωτα, είτε της Ετσούκο, είτε των σχέσεων του συζύγου της, είτε του πεθερού προς την ίδια, είτε του Σάμπουρο με τη Μιγιό, είτε των υπολοίπων ζευγαριών της οικογένειας.
Όλες οι μορφές του έρωτα. Τί θεωρεί ο καθένας έρωτα και πόσο συγχέεται με την αγάπη. Άλλο ο σαρκικός έρωτας, το ορμέμφυτο, άλλο το συναίσθημα. Πως το βιώνει ο κάθε άνθρωπος, τι προσδοκίες έχει, πως το εκφράζει.
Η Ετσούκο δεν αγαπάει, πλάθει στο μυαλό της μια ιστορία κινούμενη από την ανάγκη να ερωτευτεί, να νιώσει, αλλά ο φόβος της προδοσίας, που δεν αντέχει ο εγωισμός της, βάζει εμπόδια στην ανάγκη αυτή.
Για μένα η Ετσούκο είναι μια στωική, ψύχραιμη, ψυχρή, πανέξυπνη γυναίκα που υπομένει καταστάσεις, και προσπαθεί να επιβληθεί στα συναισθήματα της. Να βρει τρόπο να χαλιναγωγήσει τις επιθυμίες της για να μην αφήσει περιθώριο να την προδώσουν.
Δεν μένω καθόλου στις απώλειες της Ετσούκο. Δε νομίζω ότι επηρεάστηκε από το θάνατο της μητέρας της όταν ήταν παιδί, ούτε και του συζύγου της. Περισσότερο θεωρώ ότι σημαδεύτηκε από την απόρριψη και την αδιαφορία του συζύγου και τη ζήλια που της καλλιεργούσε.
Είναι μια πολύ έξυπνη γυναίκα που αναζητεί τη συναισθηματική ένταση. Δεν την βρίσκω αθώα. Κρύβει την πραγματικότητα ακόμα και στο ημερολόγιο της, είδε την αδυναμία του πεθερού σε αυτήν και το εκμεταλλεύτηκε για να εδραιώσει μια καλή θέση στην ιεραρχία της οικογένειας.
Έχει αυτή περίεργη αντίληψη για τον έρωτα. Είναι εκδικητική, χαιρέκακη.
Όσα βίωσε από τον σύζυγο που την απατούσε και αυτή πονούσε τα περνάει στο επόμενο αντικείμενο του έρωτα της.
Καταβάλει κάθε προσπάθεια ώστε να προκαλέσει πόνο στον εαυτό της πριν προλάβει να της τον προκαλέσει το πρόσωπο που την ενδιαφέρει.
Θέλοντας να μην πληγωθεί και προδοθεί, προτιμά να πάρει εκδίκηση με τρόπο καταστροφικό.
February 18, 2024
Vì yêu mà buồn thì lòng buồn biết bao :(
Tôi thấy không có thứ gì hủy diệt khủng khiếp cho bằng tình yêu, như một lời nguyền vậy. Ngày hôm trước, đó có thể vẫn là một người bình thường. Tới ngày hôm sau, cả vũ trụ đã thu về một người đó. Do đó mà mọi thứ, cả tốt và xấu, đều bị khuếch đại lên tới không biết bao nhiêu lần. Một khi đứng cận bên những thứ bị khuếch đại đó, thì làm sao thấy được đúng sai, toàn cảnh nữa.
Thật vậy, trong già nửa cuốn sách, tôi cơ bản là uể oải với các nhân vật đáng ghét và có phần nhàm chán bởi cũng như Etsuko, tôi tưởng một vài dấu hiệu rất nhỏ như nụ cười của Saburo, là biểu hiện rõ ràng của tình yêu, và như thế, một câu chuyện không có gì đặc biệt. Đêm qua, đang lúc mơ màng đọc cho xong, tin Miyo có thai làm tôi chết điếng. Thương hại thay cho Etsuko. Những tê liệt, xung huyết sau đó, ông Mishima này đàn ông cốt đàn bà nên viết đúng lắm, hợp lòng lắm. Nhưng sang tới hôm nay, khi đọc về con người Saburo thì đúng là phải cười rú lên vì sự vô nghĩa của cuộc đời này. Trời ơi, dành hết tâm can cho một hòn đá, và tệ hơn, một con vật hoang dã. Đoạn kết vừa lòng lắm. Chính tôi có khi cũng khao khát cầm dao mà đâm chết crush, móc cho sạch tim gan m���t não xem trong đó là thứ gì mà khốn nạn đến thế. Too much love will kill you là như vậy.
Trong truyện Etsuko dùng liệu pháp khổ dâm (nghĩa bóng thôi, tức là càng khổ càng thích) để kìm nén nỗi lòng. Xem ra không thành công lắm. Mừng trong lòng vậy chứ cũng không nên làm theo cô này. Có một vài liệu pháp khác xin được giới thiệu. Đầu tiên là như ông già Yakichi, tức là coi tình yêu như gãi ghẻ, tức là còn yêu là còn cảm xúc con người, cũng đáng. Sau nữa thì tình yêu cũng là một dạng năng lượng và là năng lượng vô cùng lớn. Coi nó như kiếp nạn, chuyển hóa năng lượng đó để phá vỡ bức tường vô tri mà kiến tánh thì tốt lắm. Còn không thì, đổ nó vào nghệ thuật. Nhưng trước hết, ngay trong cơn điên cuồng đó, cần hiểu rằng có lẽ nó chỉ là một hiểu lầm, hoặc một lỗi nhỏ, chỉ là tình yêu đã khuếch đại nó lên thành cái bóng ma khổng lồ, và do đó, cố gắng mà hạ hỏa bằng một số hoạt động chân tay lành mạnh (workout, làm vườn, tập đàn, lập private account mà vào chửi cho hả =)))))
Nói chung là trong mấy cuốn đã đọc của Mishima thì thấy cuốn này hay nhất. Không lẽ lại mua tiếp để đọc ;)) Về bản dịch thì thành thật là nhiều chỗ tôi đọc đi đọc lại vẫn không hiểu tác giả muốn nói gì. Không hiểu do mình ngu hay bản dịch tối.
Tôi thấy không có thứ gì hủy diệt khủng khiếp cho bằng tình yêu, như một lời nguyền vậy. Ngày hôm trước, đó có thể vẫn là một người bình thường. Tới ngày hôm sau, cả vũ trụ đã thu về một người đó. Do đó mà mọi thứ, cả tốt và xấu, đều bị khuếch đại lên tới không biết bao nhiêu lần. Một khi đứng cận bên những thứ bị khuếch đại đó, thì làm sao thấy được đúng sai, toàn cảnh nữa.
Thật vậy, trong già nửa cuốn sách, tôi cơ bản là uể oải với các nhân vật đáng ghét và có phần nhàm chán bởi cũng như Etsuko, tôi tưởng một vài dấu hiệu rất nhỏ như nụ cười của Saburo, là biểu hiện rõ ràng của tình yêu, và như thế, một câu chuyện không có gì đặc biệt. Đêm qua, đang lúc mơ màng đọc cho xong, tin Miyo có thai làm tôi chết điếng. Thương hại thay cho Etsuko. Những tê liệt, xung huyết sau đó, ông Mishima này đàn ông cốt đàn bà nên viết đúng lắm, hợp lòng lắm. Nhưng sang tới hôm nay, khi đọc về con người Saburo thì đúng là phải cười rú lên vì sự vô nghĩa của cuộc đời này. Trời ơi, dành hết tâm can cho một hòn đá, và tệ hơn, một con vật hoang dã. Đoạn kết vừa lòng lắm. Chính tôi có khi cũng khao khát cầm dao mà đâm chết crush, móc cho sạch tim gan m���t não xem trong đó là thứ gì mà khốn nạn đến thế. Too much love will kill you là như vậy.
Trong truyện Etsuko dùng liệu pháp khổ dâm (nghĩa bóng thôi, tức là càng khổ càng thích) để kìm nén nỗi lòng. Xem ra không thành công lắm. Mừng trong lòng vậy chứ cũng không nên làm theo cô này. Có một vài liệu pháp khác xin được giới thiệu. Đầu tiên là như ông già Yakichi, tức là coi tình yêu như gãi ghẻ, tức là còn yêu là còn cảm xúc con người, cũng đáng. Sau nữa thì tình yêu cũng là một dạng năng lượng và là năng lượng vô cùng lớn. Coi nó như kiếp nạn, chuyển hóa năng lượng đó để phá vỡ bức tường vô tri mà kiến tánh thì tốt lắm. Còn không thì, đổ nó vào nghệ thuật. Nhưng trước hết, ngay trong cơn điên cuồng đó, cần hiểu rằng có lẽ nó chỉ là một hiểu lầm, hoặc một lỗi nhỏ, chỉ là tình yêu đã khuếch đại nó lên thành cái bóng ma khổng lồ, và do đó, cố gắng mà hạ hỏa bằng một số hoạt động chân tay lành mạnh (workout, làm vườn, tập đàn, lập private account mà vào chửi cho hả =)))))
Nói chung là trong mấy cuốn đã đọc của Mishima thì thấy cuốn này hay nhất. Không lẽ lại mua tiếp để đọc ;)) Về bản dịch thì thành thật là nhiều chỗ tôi đọc đi đọc lại vẫn không hiểu tác giả muốn nói gì. Không hiểu do mình ngu hay bản dịch tối.
January 1, 2020
Bu kitapta, diğer kitaplarından farklı bir Mişima hissettim. Diğer kitaplarında, tartışmak istediği ahlaki ve felsefi sorunları olay örgüsü içinde vurgulamaya çalışırken, bu anlatımında birçok bölümde daha çok doğrudan ifade etmeyi tercih etmiş.
Etsuko, Mişima’nın diğer eserlerinde de karşılaştığımız yıkıcı tutkuya/inanca sahip karakterler gibi marjinal. Karakterin hissettiği kıskançlık, acı ve haz arasındaki bağ, belirsiz olası olumsuz sonuçlarına rağmen, ayrılmaz niteliğe bürünmüş, sonuç; mutlak mukadderat.
Bu tür karakterleri Mişima’nın anlatımı eşsiz.
“...Sessizlik belirli bir süreden fazla sürdüğünde, kendine yeni bir anlam yüklenir. ...’, sf; 130
Etsuko, Mişima’nın diğer eserlerinde de karşılaştığımız yıkıcı tutkuya/inanca sahip karakterler gibi marjinal. Karakterin hissettiği kıskançlık, acı ve haz arasındaki bağ, belirsiz olası olumsuz sonuçlarına rağmen, ayrılmaz niteliğe bürünmüş, sonuç; mutlak mukadderat.
Bu tür karakterleri Mişima’nın anlatımı eşsiz.
“...Sessizlik belirli bir süreden fazla sürdüğünde, kendine yeni bir anlam yüklenir. ...’, sf; 130
November 19, 2021
Yine can yayınlarının arka kapakta mübalağayı abarttığı bir kitap daha. Sebebi, saplantı sarsıntı şiddet şehvet VAR DA, bunları OKUMUYORUZ. Tuhaflık ve sapkınlık da göremedim ben. Hatrı sayılır asya (dediysem de çin-japonya-kore) sineması ehlivukufu olarak biliyorum hangi sularda yüzebileceğimizi / boğulabileceğimizi. Edebiyatına yeni adım attım. Çok heyejanlandım, izlediğim kadar okumak da istedim. Olmadı. Olsun. Olur elbet. (Ol bayatlatması) Yakışıklım Mishima'dan umudum var. Herifin hayatı da çok enteresan. Malzememiz var gibi.
"Kensuke ve karısının, tüm sıkıcı insanlarda olduğu gibi, hastalığa eşdeğer bir cana yakınlıkları vardı. Dedikoducu ve saldırgan bir cana yakınlık: Taşra insanlarına özgü bu iki özellik, onlar farkında bile olmadan, Kensuke'yle karısına işlemişti bile. Diğer bir değişle, eleştiri ve öğüt verme denilen üst sınıf kamuflajına."
Ama kitap şahane. Romanın bir tanımı olsa bu olurdu. Betimlemeler, tahliller, kurgu inşaası, yan karakterlerin gücü,,, kasmadan, çaba kokmadan, hashalis bir kitap. (Hashalis diye bir kelime yok, ben birleştirdim. öbür türlü istediğim gibi pekiştiremiyorum anlamı sanki. felan.) Kasım edit: şöyle bir not almışım telefona 'Roller, iktidarlar, düzenler, sınıflar, görevler.... Kitabın sakin atmosferi inanılmaz geriyor insanı....' Edit bitti.
"Benim için yaşamın zorluğu beni koruyan zırhımdan başka bir şey değildir."
bu kitabın şöyle bir anısı var, balkonda okurken bıraktım orda, rüzgardan açılmış kitap, üç beş gün güneş altında kaldı sayfalar. sonra bir gün fırtına çıktı, kitap baştan aşağı ıslandı. başlık sayfası çok güzel gözüküyor.
August 11, 2022
Although a big fan of Mishima, I had not read this one before. Came to my attention through a Criterion Collection dvd, The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara. Apparently, this warped director and this strange novel were a delirious match. I then read the novel, and Mishima's version is even more twisted that the movie version. I suppose, with a moment’s reflection, one should have predicted that.
In this book, a daughter-in-law lives with her absent husband’s family, and she develops an obsession for a young labourer. Layers of metaphor, class boundaries, deceit, and unspeakable behaviour. The gift of a pair of socks, a bit too luxurious for the labourer (and therefore suspicious) is a big plot point.
This short novel, together with The Sound of Waves, are Mishima’s most accessible and straightforward works.
I always wonder, when reading authors like Mishima when they write about sexually repressed females and their male objects of obsession, if really perhaps he wants to be writing about something else. Oh well, I guess he couldn't write Confessions of a Mask over and over again.
In this book, a daughter-in-law lives with her absent husband’s family, and she develops an obsession for a young labourer. Layers of metaphor, class boundaries, deceit, and unspeakable behaviour. The gift of a pair of socks, a bit too luxurious for the labourer (and therefore suspicious) is a big plot point.
This short novel, together with The Sound of Waves, are Mishima’s most accessible and straightforward works.
I always wonder, when reading authors like Mishima when they write about sexually repressed females and their male objects of obsession, if really perhaps he wants to be writing about something else. Oh well, I guess he couldn't write Confessions of a Mask over and over again.
May 7, 2011
I wasn't really feeling this until the scene at the shrine festival, where something cracks and the story falls into place as Saburo mans up and gets sexy. Before then, vague Etsuko appears to be lusting after a pre-pubescent half-wit.
I thought Etsuko came through the story rather well, considering everything that happens to her. I assume she's the defence's star witness when Mishima is accused of misogyny? When Saburo said "I love you" to avoid an awkward conversation, I thought "the dumb cow's going to fall for it!" but she was ahead of me and read the situation the best.
Yakichi, however, is further proof that Mishima just hates old people.
Although the Sugimoto family have land and staff, there's something strangely suburban about the location and attitudes. The women are always cooking or washing-up and we hear about the order in which they take their baths. It feels like the first Mishima I've read set in the commuter belt. I liked Kensuke and Chieko and their commentary on their suburban nightmare.
Things I learnt from this book:
a) There's a fruit called "pomelo".
b) The Takarazuka all-female musical theatre company is named after the Hankyu-Takarazuka railway line.
"Yakichi said 'Why were you in his room?'
'I went to look for his diary'
Yakichi's mouth moved indistinctly. He said nothing more."
"'Sometimes jiltings run in series – like miscarriages. Her nervous system has just got into the habit of it, I suppose, and when she falls in love it has to end in a miscarriage.'"
"People who only wear ready-made clothes are apt to doubt the very existence of tailors."
"The magnitude of pain leads people to believe in the indestructability of the body."
"'But why, why, did you kill him?'
'He was making me suffer, that's why.'
'But it wasn't his fault.'
'Not his fault? That's not so. He got what he deserved for hurting me. Nobody has the right to cause me pain. Nobody can get away with that.'
'Who says they can't?'
'I say so. And what I say, no one can change.'
'You’re a terrifying woman.'"
I thought Etsuko came through the story rather well, considering everything that happens to her. I assume she's the defence's star witness when Mishima is accused of misogyny? When Saburo said "I love you" to avoid an awkward conversation, I thought "the dumb cow's going to fall for it!" but she was ahead of me and read the situation the best.
Yakichi, however, is further proof that Mishima just hates old people.
Although the Sugimoto family have land and staff, there's something strangely suburban about the location and attitudes. The women are always cooking or washing-up and we hear about the order in which they take their baths. It feels like the first Mishima I've read set in the commuter belt. I liked Kensuke and Chieko and their commentary on their suburban nightmare.
Things I learnt from this book:
a) There's a fruit called "pomelo".
b) The Takarazuka all-female musical theatre company is named after the Hankyu-Takarazuka railway line.
"Yakichi said 'Why were you in his room?'
'I went to look for his diary'
Yakichi's mouth moved indistinctly. He said nothing more."
"'Sometimes jiltings run in series – like miscarriages. Her nervous system has just got into the habit of it, I suppose, and when she falls in love it has to end in a miscarriage.'"
"People who only wear ready-made clothes are apt to doubt the very existence of tailors."
"The magnitude of pain leads people to believe in the indestructability of the body."
"'But why, why, did you kill him?'
'He was making me suffer, that's why.'
'But it wasn't his fault.'
'Not his fault? That's not so. He got what he deserved for hurting me. Nobody has the right to cause me pain. Nobody can get away with that.'
'Who says they can't?'
'I say so. And what I say, no one can change.'
'You’re a terrifying woman.'"
June 5, 2018
Mishima followed up
Confessions of a Mask
with a book that was purposefully completely different. From the first-person coming of age tale of a young queer man to a third-person story of a woman who is lusted after by her dead husband's father. It's a departure in every sense.
This book is far too conventional for Mishima. It doesn't seem to include any of his trademarks and any trace of the Mishima we know and adore seems to be missing here. The novel itself is fine. The story trundles along and there are admirable parts (especially the ending) but not much else. It's a shame.
This book is far too conventional for Mishima. It doesn't seem to include any of his trademarks and any trace of the Mishima we know and adore seems to be missing here. The novel itself is fine. The story trundles along and there are admirable parts (especially the ending) but not much else. It's a shame.
October 22, 2022
They say you have to try something three times to determine if you like it or not and after my third attempt at the Japanese novella I have determined I do not. Maybe I have chosen badly but the three I read all deal with the same subject. Unhappy marriages that are suffered in silence with the interference of extended family. Granted this is more or less the plot of many works of literature but the Japanese style is devoid of passion (maybe not devoid but unexpressed at least) and so I found it too detached to invest in. Etsuko’s infatuation with the young servant has no glowing embers and is expressed through the medium of socks (not a typo) which we see her buying as a gift for him. This could be where it lost me in all honesty as I hate socks with a loathing verging on phobic. I need women threatening to throw themselves off buildings, the renting of clothes not a umm and ahh in the market place about whether to go for the brown or blue pair.
The one thing I will say I thought was good about it was the irony of Etsuko’s young infatuee viewing her as a woman bordering a decade older than himself in the same way she views her father-in-law – as slightly ridiculous for having any sexual urges at all and not someone he can consider in a romantic way.
Not a terrible book but one that you’re not going to regret not having read.
The one thing I will say I thought was good about it was the irony of Etsuko’s young infatuee viewing her as a woman bordering a decade older than himself in the same way she views her father-in-law – as slightly ridiculous for having any sexual urges at all and not someone he can consider in a romantic way.
Not a terrible book but one that you’re not going to regret not having read.
January 21, 2020
Kocası tifodan ölünce genç yaşında dul kalan Etsuko'nun hayattaki belki tek tesellisi kayın pederinin hizmetçisi Saburo'ya olan aşkı. Fakat bu aşk bir süre sonra saplantılı bir hal almaya başlıyor. Tam da bu esnada kitap, elimizde bayağı bir aşk romanı olmaktan insanın içindeki ücra köşelerine saklanmış karanlığı ortaya çıkaran Mişima eserine evriliyor.
October 1, 2022
This book is filled with ferocious emotion. Mishima sees language as a color palette, sees how words sculpt and blend into a clear image of affect and dread, and every one of his pictures, however subdued or simple, comes through with an emotional clarity and sincerity that floored me more than once.
February 24, 2021
Pe cât de relativ bulversantă a fost de-a lungul ei pe atât de neașteptat a fost finalul care a venit ca o săgeată de absolut nicăieri și te-a nimerit fix.
„Abia când se dezbracă îți dai seama cât de fragilă e individualitatea oamenilor. Așa vezi că ar fi suficiente doar patru feluri de gândire: gândire de om gras, gândire de om slab, gândire de lungan și gândire de bondoc. Și fețele toate au doar doi ochi și câte un nas și-o gură. Nu e nimeni cu un singur ochi. Chiar și chipul cu cele mai particulare trăsături nu servește decât să simbolizeze diferența dintre el și altul.”
„Dragostea nu înseamnă decât un simbol care iubește alt simbol. Iubirea carnală înseamnă anonimitate care iubește anonimitatea. O împerechere unisexuată între haos și haos, impersonal și impersonal. Fără masculinitate sau feminitate.”
„Pentru el, termenul acesta făcea parte dintr-un vocabular îndepărtat, luxos, făcut pe comandă. Avea în el ceva care prisosea, ceva forțat și care nu era cu nimic grabnic. În relația zorită care îi lega pe el și pe Miyo, o relație nu neapărat menită să dureze o veșnicie, în care doi magneți se atrag doar pentru că au intrat unul în raza celuilalt, dar care încetează să se mai atragă imediat ce ies în afara ei, cuvântul iubire nu-și avea nicidecum locul.”
„Suferința îndelungată te prostește. Dar cei prostiți de suferință nu se mai îndoiesc de fericire atunci când au parte de ea.”
Read
January 24, 2022
Η πρώτη μου επαφή με Μίσιμα.
Μου άρεσε η γραφή του; Ναι.
Μου άρεσε η ιστορία; Όχι.
Παρόλο που ήταν όμορφη η γραφή, η ροή της υπόθεσης προχωρούσε αργά. Το δε τέλος ήταν το κερασάκι στην τούρτα της απογοήτευσης.
Το βρήκα απότομο, χωρίς αιτιολογία, και παράλογο. Ένιωσα ότι ήταν ένα τρικ του συγγραφέα για να προκαλέσει έντονα συναισθήματα στον αναγνώστη.
Και μου προκάλεσε, όχι όμως εκείνα που είχε πρόθεση να προκαλέσει ο συγγραφέας.
Οι τελευταίες αυτές σελίδες του βιβλίου μοιάζουν όπως η τελευταία σεζόν του Game of Thrones και ειδικά τα τελευταία 2 επεισόδια. Η απότομη αλλαγή της Ντενέρις από Σωτήρα σε Παράφρονα έγινε σε πολύ σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα για να δικαιολογηθεί.
Μια σεζόν που δικαιολογημένα πήρε βαθμολογία 55% σε αντίθεση με τις προηγούμενες που πήραν όλες ανεξαιρέτως βαθμολογία 90%+.
Έτσι και εδώ η πράξη της διψασμένης για έρωτα Ετσούκο δείχνει ότι διψούσε για αποδοχή όχι έρωτα.
Και φυσικά δεν συνδέθηκα με κανένα από τους αχώνευτους χαρακτήρες του βιβλίου.
Εξαιρείται η όμορφη περιγραφή της πόλης της Οσάκα και της ζωής την τότε εποχή.
Και φυσικά θα συνεχίσω και με άλλο Μίσιμα στο μέλλον.
ΒΑΘΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ
Χαρακτήρες: 4/10
Γραφή: 8/10
Αναγνωσιμότητα: 7/10
Εμπειρία: 5/10
Ιστορία: 5/10
Σύνολο: 5.8--> 2.9 stars ★★★
August 2, 2021
Bought this book in an attempt to diversify my reading genre and because it was Japanese lit.
But hell, I still sucks at reading classics😭
I was introduced to Mishima’s writing style that was complex and full of metaphors. Sort of.
I also had a discussion with @dayanreads about how to read Mishima’s works. It was a fruitful conversation with her😙
This book followed a story of a young widow, Etsuko, who lived with her father in law after her husband Ryosuke died.
And she fell in love with Saburo, a young male servant that worked in her father in law’s house.
She also lived with her other in laws in the Sugimoto’s house which is her in laws’ surname. Her other in laws however, envied her as their father favoured her more.
She was suffering internally because of her philandering husband (when he was alive)and she also had to submit to her father-in-law’s lustrous desire.
Worst, her unrequited love towards Saburo went unnoticed by the indifferent guy!
As far as I understood, Etsuko was a complex character surrounded by a diverse characters’ behaviours. It was also hard to guess what kind of a woman she was.
The story was told in a third person omniscient (the all-knowing narrator).
In terms of the plot, it was quite slow and monotonous for me as it centered around the internal conflict of Etsuko.
I was truly shocked by the plot twist. I didn’t see it coming and I never expected that she did that. What a complicated and miserable woman!
I acknowledged that Mishima’s work was such a gem. Perhaps I need to reread this in the future and savour it word by word.
But hell, I still sucks at reading classics😭
I was introduced to Mishima’s writing style that was complex and full of metaphors. Sort of.
I also had a discussion with @dayanreads about how to read Mishima’s works. It was a fruitful conversation with her😙
This book followed a story of a young widow, Etsuko, who lived with her father in law after her husband Ryosuke died.
And she fell in love with Saburo, a young male servant that worked in her father in law’s house.
She also lived with her other in laws in the Sugimoto’s house which is her in laws’ surname. Her other in laws however, envied her as their father favoured her more.
She was suffering internally because of her philandering husband (when he was alive)and she also had to submit to her father-in-law’s lustrous desire.
Worst, her unrequited love towards Saburo went unnoticed by the indifferent guy!
As far as I understood, Etsuko was a complex character surrounded by a diverse characters’ behaviours. It was also hard to guess what kind of a woman she was.
The story was told in a third person omniscient (the all-knowing narrator).
In terms of the plot, it was quite slow and monotonous for me as it centered around the internal conflict of Etsuko.
I was truly shocked by the plot twist. I didn’t see it coming and I never expected that she did that. What a complicated and miserable woman!
I acknowledged that Mishima’s work was such a gem. Perhaps I need to reread this in the future and savour it word by word.
May 13, 2021
"Hers was a cruel, heartless punishment. Moreover, it was a punishment imposed by herself."
Even though it's short, this was a really slow book. It took a lot of time to build up, which I understand why but I was still kinda bored at the beginning.
I liked the writing. I can't talk about the translation since I don't know Japanese and it won't make sense for me to make comparisons. It was mostly understandable, but I felt lost at times. Not sure if it was the writing or the translation.
The last 10 pages or so were what gripped me the most. Yes, it all happened way too quickly but it was the best part of the book.
Even though it's short, this was a really slow book. It took a lot of time to build up, which I understand why but I was still kinda bored at the beginning.
I liked the writing. I can't talk about the translation since I don't know Japanese and it won't make sense for me to make comparisons. It was mostly understandable, but I felt lost at times. Not sure if it was the writing or the translation.
The last 10 pages or so were what gripped me the most. Yes, it all happened way too quickly but it was the best part of the book.
November 11, 2017
Sete de iubire este un roman cutremurător despre dragoste și nepăsare, despre puterea necruțătoare a geloziei, despre dorință și respingere, pe scurt despre o femeie care dorește totul și nu poate ierta nici când i se oferă o parte din lucrul la care râvnește, pentru că simte minciuna ce se ascunde în spate lui. Etsuko este o figură tragică, prinsă între minte și trup, dar care nu își folosește puterea decât pentru a frânge destine, iar povestea ei este impresionantă tocmai prin simplitatea cu care sunt prezentate evenimentele în mijlocul peisajului idilic al unei Japonii marcate de război. continuare
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