Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Spring Snow (春の雪, Haru no Yuki) is a novel by Yukio Mishima.
The first in his Sea of Fertility tetralogy. Mishima did extensive research, including visits to Enshō-ji in Nara, to prepare for the novel.
Published in 1969

Spring Snow is set in the early years of the Taishō period, in Tokyo, with the reign of the Emperor Taishō, and is about the relationship between Kiyoaki Matsugae, the son of a rising nouveau-riche family, and Satoko Ayakura, the daughter of an aristocratic family fallen on hard times.

Yukio Mishimas was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, but the award went to his countryman and benefactor Yasunari Kawabata.

Pages 389

NOTABLE WORKS of Yukio Mishima

“The Sea of Fertility”
“The Temple of the Golden Pavilion”
“Spring Snow”
“The Decay of the Angel”
“Runaway Horses”
“The Temple of Dawn”
“Confessions of a Mask”
“Patriotism”

Have you read any of his work? Do you plan on reading Spring Snow?

A writer for Kirkus Reviews wrote, "Mishima's novel begins slowly but picks up momentum in the second half along with episodes of sly humor as well as the tragedy of its finale."

In The New York Times, Hortense Calisher stated that Spring Snow is praiseworthy for "its marvelous incidentals, graphic and philosophic, and for its scene-gazing [...] no doubt partially researched, but the author's vitality and native omniscience are triumphant."

Charles Solomon wrote in 1990 that "the four novels remain one of the outstanding works of 20th-Century literature and a summary of the author’s life and work."

I have a couple of his other books but not this one.
Did you know he finished his first book the same year he started classes at the University of Tokyo and his last novel the day he died?

No I didnt. That is very interesting. Thank you Jazzy!

You can read another of his books and post here if you would like. We have done that many times with other Authors.

You're most welcome Lesle ❤️ And thanks, I was going to see how many more Nobel Laureates I can read before the first of January, but since my adventure won't be completed this year anyway I can read one of his instead!

By the way, his name in Japanese (Yukio) means Snow Boy.

Since I read Snow Country with this group, I feel I should read another Japanese Snow titled book, especially by someone named Snow Boy. I've been curious about Mishima ever since they did the movie of his The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea in 1976. I plan to start it after Black Narcissus which I want to read before I see the recent miniseries on the FX channel.

I enjoyed this book and Mishima's writing style. It's funny reading this right after Black Narcissus as that one takes place at a mission in India run by Anglican nuns and this one - well, no spoilers.

Here's my review, which has comments similar to those in the Kirkus review cited by Lesle. I don't think there are any spoilers in the review, but my opinion on this has been wrong before...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I will be reading Death In Midsummer And Other Stories
or at least the first story :)