Confessions of a Mask

Yukio Mishima's second novel Confessions of a Mask was originally published in Japan in 1949. It quickly became a bestseller and is considered to be one of Mishima's first major literary success. Following his later novel The Sound of Waves, Confessions of a Mask was also Mishima's second novel to

be translated into English. In 1958, Meredith Weatherby's translation of Confessions of a Mask was first published by New Directions. Many of Mishima's works includes strong autobiographical elements, but this is particularly true of Confessions of a Mask. Mishima was my introduction to Japanese literature, and so I have a particular interest in him and his work; I have slowly been making my way through Mishima's novels and biographies available in English. And because Confessions of a Mask is semi-autobiographical and was Mishima's breakthrough novel, I was particularly interested in reading it. Due to its themes of homosexuality and sadism, Confessions of a Mask was somewhat controversial but it was also extremely successful upon its release.

Ever since he was a child Kochan had poor health. The first son born to his family, his grandmother was particularly controlling and overprotective of him. Because of this, growing up he had very little interaction with other boys his own age. In middle school, Kochan would come to realize that his health and family situation weren't the only reasons he was an outsider--he was attracted to the masculinity and strength of other young men, not just as fellow classmates, but as objects of desire. In addition, his fantasies were filled with blood, death, and torment. Struggling with his feelings, Kochan tries to act as though he is like everyone else, lying to himself and to others. When he was older he even managed to develop a complicated relationship with a young woman in an effort to appear normal. But as close as they become, Kochan is never able to completely suppress his dark sexual desires for other men. Unable to fit into society despite his efforts every day is a constant and painful reminder that he is different. Hiding behind a mask of decency he puts on for the sake of others, keeping his sexuality a secret, he is out of sync with the rest of his world.

While reading Confessions of a Mask I was frequently reminded of Osamu Dazai's 1948 novel No Longer Human. Both books include autobiographic elements. The novels also both feature a protagonist who pretends to be something that they are not as a sort of self-defense mechanism. Their very natures keep them separated from the society around them. I found plenty to personally identify with in both novels. Although Confessions of a Mask and No Longer Human share many similarities, they also have their differences. For one, Confessions of a Mask doesn't seem to be nearly as filled with overwhelming despair as No Longer Human is. However, Kochan's struggles and personal turmoil are still incredibly difficult. Confessions of a Mask is also much more erotically charged than No Longer Human. Kochan's intense desire and need for normalcy is just as potent as his desire and yearning for other young men. These needs conflict with each other but are both extremely important to Kochan and who he is.

Confessions of a Mask is a very apt title for the novel because it is just that, Kochan's confessions. In it he bares his soul completely, admitting to himself and to others the true nature he hides behind a carefully crafted public persona. Confessions of a Mask is written in the first person; Kochan is very aware of his audience and even addresses the readers directly. His admissions are told almost stream-of-conscious. Occasionally he drifts off onto tangents, but his thought process is easy to follow. Because of this, Confessions of a Mask feels immediate and intensely personal. Kochan is very frank about his sexual desires and fantasies, revealing their violence and his inability to control them. Kochan's battle between what society expects of him (and not just in terms of his sexuality but his entire being) and accepting who he really is (something he will probably struggle with his entire life) is captured brilliantly. Confessions of a Mask left a huge impression on me.

Experiments in Manga

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LibraryThing member kougogo

Confessions of a Mask is one of the sly-est, most terrifying, and brilliant novels ever written about sexuality. It is anti-autobiographical, seedy, and painfully honest. The first time I read it (with dew in my eyes) I was repelled but also fascinated. The second and third time I read it (years

under my belt now) it seemed like it was a premonition. I never thought i could relate to a narrator that fantasized about eating dudes, but I guess I proved myself wrong.

munchmunchmunch

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LibraryThing member zeborah

Follows the protag's developing awareness of his sexuality from age 4 (the first spark of pre-sexual recognition of something he wants) though to young adulthood (where after much confusion and denial he seems to understand his desires). Torn between his homosexual nature and the intensely

heteronormative society he lives in; between his sexual desire for young men and what I think is not entirely a societally manufactured desire for a platonic relationship with a particular young woman.

The prose of this translation is mannered and lyrical, a bit more than to my taste and sometimes to the point where I couldn't work out who a given sentence was talking about; but mostly both functional and beautiful. It ended to my mind abruptly - I briefly wondered if there was a missing second volume - I guess in retrospect it's a good stopping place, but it could have stood some... foreshadowing or rhythm or something to lead up to it and prepare the reader for the point where the words run out.

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LibraryThing member CharlesSwann

This is the first book that Yukio Mishima wrote just after he quited his job at Ministry of Finance of Japan. As he himself said, he wrote this book with real enthusiasm because he thought he had to establish with this work a status as a professional writer, all the more because he quited his

'stable' job aganst his fahter's will.

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LibraryThing member poetontheone

Mishima's semi-autobiographical debut novel is captivating, but by no means is it a light read. The protagonist repeatedly tries to mask his homosexuality and sadistic fantasies, even to himself, in World War II era Japan. Compared to Spring Snow, this work is easier to read but ultimately not as

staggering or majestic. Only through reading his other novels will I ultimately know how comparatively good this one is, but something tells me it will rank pretty high. A definite must read for fans of Mishima and Japanese Literature in general.

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LibraryThing member jane1104

One of my favorite books of all time - though it's been a while now since I read it. I had read a Mishima biography first and then had to read some of his fiction or, in this case, bio-fiction. There's just so much in this book to love, to think about and to feel. There's something so wonderful and

powerful about the war always pressing in on the story amidst these very personal musings the author offers.

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LibraryThing member redkit

Mishima's Confessions of a Mask is a semi-autobiographical tale of a young boy growing up with a rather unique mindset, placed against the backdrop of the horrors of WWII in Japan. Homosexual feelings, unrequited love, and strange fantasies are scattered throughout the book, but Mishima's style is

so clear and compelling as to make even the most alien concepts seem somehow familiar and understandable. Through his prose we can empathise with the young Mishima, and grow close to a character that is undeniably very interesting and unusual, sharing in situations far away from the typical reader's experiences. A wonderful book, highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member ariesblue

this novel is unusual ,shocking ,very strange....
i feel sympathy for this tragic protagonist Kochan and all his mixed feelings and struggle against himself,and his own emotions being torned between his desire to be straight and his true feelings...his

fascinations and fantasies of death ,his self

confidence that seems nearly in existent because of his naturally weak body ....

his Questionable love to Sonoko ,he being

Jealous from her that she could have such pure and true love that he simply cant give to any woman ...
the sense of victory that he had when he felt he could seduce a woman....
very miserable soul....

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LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind

Another astounding book by Mishima, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers.

LibraryThing member arsmith

i got to page 101 on my second try. with my renewals up, i'm calling it a day. he is interesting, but very philosophical. not a quick read at all. with so many books to read on my desk, whenever i stopped to read something else for a bit it just wasn't compelling enough to bring me back.

LibraryThing member thatotter

This book was like reading a stranger's mopey Livejournal. I would have thought that there was an interesting story in growing up gay in World War II-era Japan, but this just tried my patience.

LibraryThing member SqueakyChu

This was a truly mesmerizing, but sad story. i can't believe that I've had this book for nine years without having read it before. Nevertheless, I found the story very powerful. It is narrated by Kochan, a young boy who is enchanted by the bodies of other young men and is also obsessed by bloody,

violent death. As this thin, weak boy grows up, he knows that his sexual proclivity is not for women and yet he does not know how to deal with this fact throughout his school years. He has a hard time making friends, but does become close to a classmate Kusano and his sister Sokoro. Thinking that he can live what he considers a "normal" life, he decides to approach Sokoro to test out his theory.

This was Mishima's debut novel. At its beginning, it seemed like an autobiography so I had to go back to read information about Mishima's life. If he were a homosexual, that fact was denied by his wife with whom he had two children.

There were many reasons that I found this book touching. One was the psychological explanations of the narrator's feelings. They started from when he did not know what he was experiencing through the time he had to make conscious decisions about how he would act in social situations. The second reason I liked this book was because i felt that this lonely man found true friendship with Sokoro, but because of social expectations, this friendship was not one that could endure. Last, I love the way Mishima could describe everything from emotions to settings to physical descriptions.

"In the pupils of her eyes I discovered a beauty I had never seen before. They were deep, unblinking, fatalistic pupils, like fountains constantly singing with an outpouring of emotions."

I've read this author's works before and will sincerely love to read more in the future.

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LibraryThing member dbsovereign

This, more than any other Mishima novel, seems to me to give us an autobiographical insight into why he ended up committing suicide. It also provides us with an intimate story of how many homosexuals struggle with their sexual identity and either grow up or end up giving up...

LibraryThing member stef7sa

Rather complicated and sophisticated psychological turmoil of an adolescent gay narrator. Difficult to relate to sometimes, beautiful and moving at others. Magnificent nature evocations, chilling ending. Mishima knows how to write.

LibraryThing member OccassionalRead

Confessions of a Mask is a deeply personal, truly confessional book, as the title implies. It feels less like you are reading a novel than the protagonist's diary. My guess is that the first person account is really the thinly fictionalized life experience of the author Yukio Mishima, whose life

parallels that of the main character of this book. Confessions is considered one of the classics in literature that deals openly with homosexuality. In this case, the protagonist struggles with his identity, striving, unsuccessfully to model Japanese society's deep conservative norms and suppress his own erotic tendencies, which have a sadistic bent. Reading this book you feel deeply planted in mid 20th century Japan, before, during, and after World War Two. Its psychological and emotional landscapes are equally realistic. Reading it you absolutely feel like you are eavesdropping on a person's deepest inner thoughts and feelings. It is masterful if a bit disconcerting. Interesting enough, the bulk of the narrative, especially in the latter half as a young adult, the confessor spends most of his time and emotional energy focused on a particular woman, not men, perhaps a true indication of his absolute loneliness and struggle. By the end he seems to have realized this is hopeless, and true fulfillment points towards a different, difficult path.

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LibraryThing member hbergander

Because of his weakness, Kochan is kept away from other boys of his age, who fulfill the norm of masculinity and strength. When Kochan hits puberty, he develops a strong fascination with his best friend, keeping it for himself, as he fears that he likes boys more than girls. Perhaps

autobiographical of Mishima – the artist was deeply attracted by the photographer Tamotsu Yato and the painter Sadao Hasegawa, who possibly saw in Mishima the universal model for his perfectly shaped male bodies.

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LibraryThing member greeniezona

Once again, I wasn’t sure how well I was going to like this one at first. Unlike other books I have read by Mishima in the past, this is strict first person — as if written by a person looking back over their life and trying to explain it to the reader. While first person can be more intimate,

somehow I felt more distant from the narrator, especially earlier in the book when he is looking back over his childhood.

It in his early adulthood, when the narrator is convincing himself that he is his mask — that what he should want and what he does want are one in the same, that I was finally all in. I found it such a compelling portrayal of that compulsive heteronormativity — that everyone else assumes he is straight and he himself assumes/convinces himself he is straight and the cracks at the seams are getting wider but his circular self-assessments just get tighter. And even the narrator’s occasional admissions of the difference of his desires are so hemmed in by the rigid models of “inversion” — there are only two types of invert, according the authorities of the time, or at least those available to our narrator.

So yes, in the end, I loved this. I am getting more and more curious about reading more about Mishima as a person. I shall have to see if there are any good biographies available.

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