Confessions of a Mask
Confessions of a Mask tells the story of Kochan, an adolescent boy tormented by his burgeoning attraction to men: he wants to be "normal." Kochan is meek-bodied, and unable to participate in the more athletic activities of his classmates. He begins to notice his growing attraction to some of the boys in his class, particularly the pubescent body of his friend Omi. To hide his homosexuality, he courts a woman, Sonoko, but this exacerbates his feelings for men. As news of the War reaches Tokyo, Kochan considers the fate of Japan and his place within its deeply rooted propriety.
Confessions of a Mask reflects Mishima's own coming of age in post-war Japan. Its publication in English--praised by Gore Vidal, James Baldwin, and Christopher Isherwood-- propelled the young Yukio Mishima to international fame.
Confessions of a Mask reflects Mishima's own coming of age in post-war Japan. Its publication in English--praised by Gore Vidal, James Baldwin, and Christopher Isherwood-- propelled the young Yukio Mishima to international fame.
BUY THE BOOK
These clubs recently read this book...
Community Reviews
2.5. Maybe Iâm just not meant for books like this, but I found it self-absorbed and dull. There was no plot. There was only the narrator investigating his feelings in minute detail in a series of moments, essentially. Huge amounts of projection (OMG, my voice wobbled... do they now know Iâm A GAY?? They must!!!) and feeling things an absurd amount (And then there was a ray of sunlight and I felt SUCH GRIEF OMG). And the end was very random. Iâm seeing so many people saying that itâs a book of him coming to terms with his sexuality... No. Thereâs no peace, no embrace, no coming to terms. Thereâs a paragraph where heâs like, âhuh, inversionâs a biological thing and the Germans are occasionally like me but itâs not REAL LOVE so itâs still BADâ. I suppose Iâm glad I read it because I was curious. BTSâs RM was reading it and the concept of masks and personas for Singularity and Fake Love was supposed to be drawn from this, but if I want to read a self-indulgent Bildungsroman Iâll go back to Hesse.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.