I’ve been meaning to read him. From his biography, he really seems like the kind of lost person who would get sucked into far-right bullshit today. Which is saddening.
It reminds me of an article during early WW2 period speculating on what ‘kind’ of person would become a fascist, and going around a (theoretical?) party examining different figures and why they might or might not go fascist. I remember disagreeing strongly with several of the examples, but one always stuck with me as striking and true: “He is the product of a democracy hypocritically preaching social equality and practicing a carelessly brutal snobbery. He is a sensitive, gifted man who has been humiliated into nihilism.”
That sounds like a very fair way of looking at him. He was clearly a troubled person and he was a beautiful writer. You can’t write the way he did without sensitivity and thoughtfulness. I should go back and reread something of his. It’s been ages.
His mentor is one of my all-time favorite writers (and was not fascist!): Kawabata Yasunari. Truly the most beautiful writing that I have read, so much so that it led me to learn Japanese (reasonably well) and spend time living in the country.
TIL Mishima was gay. Such a shame about him. I really loved his writing until I discovered the whole, well, everything about him.
I’ve been meaning to read him. From his biography, he really seems like the kind of lost person who would get sucked into far-right bullshit today. Which is saddening.
It reminds me of an article during early WW2 period speculating on what ‘kind’ of person would become a fascist, and going around a (theoretical?) party examining different figures and why they might or might not go fascist. I remember disagreeing strongly with several of the examples, but one always stuck with me as striking and true: “He is the product of a democracy hypocritically preaching social equality and practicing a carelessly brutal snobbery. He is a sensitive, gifted man who has been humiliated into nihilism.”
Ah, „Who goes Nazi?“ by Dorothy Thompson!
I don’t agree with everything but it’s pretty good imo.
https://harpers.org/archive/1941/08/who-goes-nazi/
That sounds like a very fair way of looking at him. He was clearly a troubled person and he was a beautiful writer. You can’t write the way he did without sensitivity and thoughtfulness. I should go back and reread something of his. It’s been ages.
His mentor is one of my all-time favorite writers (and was not fascist!): Kawabata Yasunari. Truly the most beautiful writing that I have read, so much so that it led me to learn Japanese (reasonably well) and spend time living in the country.