This is Mishima's novel about the pressure of living an idealised life. It tells a fictionalised account of real events - the lonely acolyte who destroyed a famous Kyoto temple. Mizoguchi grows up a lonely boy in a poor family, a hopeless and frustrated stutterer. Only tales of the beauty of a famous temple in Kyoto, told by his dying father, sustain him. Taunted by his schoolmates, he eventually escapes to become an acolyte at the temple. But there, witness to acts of callous violence and terrified by the bombing of the war, Mizoguchi develops an all-consuming obsession with the temple's preservation - until the beauty of the place itself starts to feel like his deadliest enemy. This powerful story of sacrifice and unattainable ideals brings together Mishima's preoccupations with violence, desire, religion and national history to dazzling effect. 'One of the outstanding writers of the world' New York Times

Part of Prestel's Icons series, this book takes a look at the masterpieces of garden design and how they have influenced our understanding of this ancient and complex art. The development of garden design worldwide is traced from mediaeval to contemporary creations. Eighty gardens are covered.

"An attempt to present the life of the English in Japan"--Page viii.

Nobel Prize winner Oe Kenzaburo and the ever-disturbing Mishima Yukio have explored twentieth-century Japanese alienation with an unsparing eye and savage humor. In Escape from the Wasteland, Susan J. Napier examines their vivid and often perverse depiction's of sex, impotence, emperor worship, and violence. For new readers of Oe and Mishima, this is an indispensable guide. For critics and scholars, it is the benchmark study.

Entries include critical commentary, brief biographical information, a portrait when available, a list of principal works, and may also include a further reading section.

Examines the themes, characters, plots, style, and technique of 347 works by authors from the non-English speaking countries of the world, including Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, and Russia.