Title: 金閣寺
First published: 1956
Description: The son of a poor rural priest becomes an acolyte at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Mizoguchi had built up an image of ideal beauty in his mind based on this Golden Pavilion; this ideal image causes him to feel disappointed in any supposed form of beauty, even the actual physical Golden Pavilion. He comes under the influence of Kashiwagi, a fellow student with a very bitter view of life.
Subjects: Arson, Arson in fiction, Buddhist Temples, Buddhist temples in fiction, Fiction, Psychology, Young men, Young men in fiction, Psychological fiction, Near and far eastern fiction (fictional works by one author), Japan, fiction, Japanese Psychological fiction, Fiction, general
Places: Japan, Kyoto, Kyoto (Japan)
People: Yukio Mishima