Sun and Steel - Yukio Mishima
Category: Spiritual & Religious
Narrator: Matthew Taylor
Tags: Spiritual & Religious, Political, Classic
In this fascinating document, one of Japans best known - and controversial - writers created what might be termed a new literary form. It is new because it combines elements of many existing types of writing, yet in the end, fits into none of them., At one level, it may be listened to as an account of how a puny, bookish boy discovered the importance of his own physical being; the sun and steel of the title are themselves symbols respectively of the cult of the open air and the weights used in bodybuilding. At another level, it is a discussion by a major novelist of the relation between action and art and his own highly polished art, in particular. More personally, it is an account of one individuals search for identity and self-integration. Or again, the work could be seen as a demonstration of how an intensely individual preoccupation can be developed into a profound philosophy of life., All these elements are woven together by Mishimas complex yet polished and supple style. The conf
