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Sun and Steel

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Sun and Steel

By: Yukio Mishima
Narrated by: Matthew Taylor
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About this listen

In this fascinating document, one of Japan's 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 individual's 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 Mishima's complex yet polished and supple style. The confession and the self-analysis, the philosophy and the poetry combine in the end to create something that is in itself perfect and self-sufficient. It is a piece of literature that is as carefully fashioned as Mishima's novels, and at the same time provides an indispensable key to the understanding of them as art.

The road Mishima took to salvation is a highly personal one. Yet here, ultimately, one detects the unmistakable tones of a self transcending the particular and attaining to a poetic vision of the universal. The book is therefore a moving document, and is highly significant as a pointer to the future development of one of the most interesting novelists of modern times.

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Art & Literature Authors Personal Development Personal Success

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Narration made it a tough listen, but if you concentrate on the story it’s a good read.

Insightful read, of mind and body.

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This is the worst narration of an audiobook I have ever listened to. He places emphasis on the wrong words, mumbles some words, and adds pauses where there should be none. And it sounds like he really does not understand what he's narrating. And the grating british accent is just too much to have to listen to for 2 and half hours - whiny and childish.

Terrific book - a classic. Ruined by the narrator

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Sun and steel is brilliant by Yukio Mishima however unfortunately this is ruined by narrator

Brilliant bad narrator

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Fascinating & rich text ruined by a bad narration. Mishima’s text has so much depth, is so lucid, evocative & dense with ideas it’s tragic to hear it rendered in the same way a student reading it aloud in class for the first time would. I’d love to have this on my phone to listen to over & over but this version is a massive let down. Easily the worst download I’ve had from audible

Brilliant text, ruined by performance

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