The Story Archive

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion

Yukio Mishima · 1956 CE · Novel · Japanese · Contemporary

A stammering acolyte sent to the Zen temple in Kyoto has been told since childhood that nothing on earth is as beautiful as its gold pavilion, and finds the building interposing itself between him and everything else he wants. A clubfooted student teaches him a philosophy of ugliness, and the war ends without the bombing he half hoped for. Built on the novice monk who burned the Kinkaku-ji in 1950.

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Attributes

Genre
Psychological
Theme
ObsessionVanity & BeautyIsolation & AlienationArt & Creation
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Anti-HeroShadowEveryman
Plot structure
ConfessionIronic Reversal
Symbol / motif
FireThe MirrorFlowers
Conflict
vs Selfvs Society
Mode / tone
ModernistIronicTragic
Culture / tradition
Japanese

Closest analogues