Book Review The Temple of The Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima

Book Review The Temple of The Golden Pavilion

I love to read Japanese literature across generations. Besides Haruki Murakami, which I just knew him from my favourite author, I fell for the literature since read their Manga and got excited after read Oda Nobunaga’s book. And then I always looking forward to read Japanese literature or such.

Reading this book was not that easy for me. I started reading this last year and then seems I could not finish it in time. Take a hold on for very long time, in this January, I have decided to continue reading the book then tried to struggle in every pages I turned. It almost killed me with a thousand questions. 

As for me, I found it really hard to get into the story. Not that easier than reading Yasunari Kawabata or Murakami, although Sensei Murakami as well harder to understand but I could found another part that lead me to flew on the story stream. Yet this book has a beautiful writing style, packed with sorrow, loneliness and less-hope. Seems darker than another literature, but one thing that I found it interesting - finally - that Mishima is trying to pull the very dark side in my life. The bad and the cruel one that lived inside of me then let me choose whether to let it go or to control it.

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Book Details 

Title : The Temple of The Golden Pavilion || Author : Yukio Mishima || Length : 345 pages || Format : Book || Language : Indonesian || Published by Immortal Publisher || ISBN : 9786026657541

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Mizoguchi is a student at the Golden Pavilion Temple. His chosen to study there is because the Headmaster is his father’s closest friend. Both already make an agreement to help Mizoguchi finish his school and be a good monk than continue his family’s temple at the village. Before that time, Mizoguchi, when was a little kid, always dream about how Golden Temple looks like. Is it as great as his expectation?

On that day, Mizoguchi’s father often tells him about Golden Temple from his point of view. He describe The Golden Temple is beautiful temple than other temples. Despite being a jerk kid, Mizoguchi trying to follow what his father told him, to live with his uncle. In that house, Mizoguchi getting curious day by day after reading so much information about Golden Temple. And one day, his dream will come true.


One day his father ask Mizoguchi to go with him, they’ll visit Golden Temple. What a great day for Mizoguchi. It took a long time for him to wait. That day, he seems delighted although they have to take harder footstep to reach the place. Along the footpath to the temple, Mizoguchi could not calm his excitement, his brain capture how it will looks like. And what will he do when he see it at first time?

After they reach the yard of the temple and see the design of the temple himself, he is dissatisfied, he could not accept it that the temple is not much as his expectation. But, at some point, he has a weird connection with the golden temple. The connection that brings the strange feeling yet comfortable at the same time. Then, Mizoguchi will always go after it every time he is in the middle of something. Something that might be really bad or cruel.

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Mizoguchi and Tsurukawa are really best friend, they both complete each other. Mizoguchi who is hard to mingle with his friends and Tsurukawa who is friendly, he often helps Mizoguchi to talk to other by his help. And with Tsurukawa, Mizoguchi finds that world is completely colorful and bring happiness to him. But, there are a time when Mizoguchi try to apart from Tsurukawa and be friend with Kashigawa who lead him to have bad behaviour and negative thinking about anything in this world. It makes Tsurukawa disagree with Mizoguchi’s decision.

But, who else could take a hold on the death? By the time Mizoguchi haven’t meet Tsurukawa often, that would be the last time they meet each other, because something happen to Tsurukawa. He died by an accident. And it lead Mizoguchi to the darkness. He fulls of sorrow and sadness. His sun already sets off. He could not see the world is colorful any longer since the death of Tsurukawa.

And, when Kashigawa ask him to go to the other place with two girls. Mizoguchi knows that something bad would happen but he could not avoid it. Yes, after that, Mizoguchi has strange feeling to destroy anything related to Golden Pavilion. And everything that would make him as a bad person.

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In the end, I was so happy finished this book. It’s the first time I read book which written by Mishima. And I found it hard to swallow words by words, though the details that he put on the description of the scenery is the best thing I ever found in books. But, hard means I could not keep struggling to dive in Mishima’s world. Yet, this book is still the best and contains a lot of darkness in humanity and a lot of honest things that would make reader understood what is darkside in human.