The Madness and Perversion of Yukio Mishima

Subjects:

• Literature » Literature (General)
• Psychology » Psychology (General)

Reviews:

• Piven presents a psychoanalytic case study of Mishima, drawing on biographical evidence--particularly from John Nathan's Mishima: A Biography (CH, Mar'75)--to argue for the traumatic, emotionally injurious nature of Mishima's early childhood, spent largely in his grandmother's sickroom....Recommended. All levels.
  —Choice December 2004
• It is truly a gratifying experience to find a duet of two marvelous talents: one a world-renowned Japanese writer and the other an American who, with unyielding scholarship and abundant passion, explores the mystified psychological landscapes of the novelist....Behind Piven's strenuous intellectual endeavor to remove the mask of Mishima, there is always a quiet current of deep compassion toward somebody whose soul was severely damaged....Whereas Mishima ended his own life by mangling his body, love and compassion enabled Piven to exercise his scholarly passion and recover a sense of Mishima as a whole body and person. I am so glad to see this peaceful work of words, which created another kind of magic and beauty....Thirty-four years after his death, a true attempt was made to touch Mishima psychoanalitically. And it was by the hand of Piven.
  —Contemporary Psychoanalysis July 2005

• Endorsement From Sander J. Breiner, M.D.F.A.P.A.,
  Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Michigan State University
  , Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Wayne State University: ... Piven has written a brilliant definitive exploration of the life and writings of Mishima. It is an excellent insightful psychobiography.... Anyone interested in psychohistory or psychobiography could do well to study this book by Piven. Anyone interested in some facets of Japanese culture as well as important pieces of literary production would also gain significantly from reading this book....

Table of Contents:

• Acknowledgments
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Disease, Misogyny, Narcissism, and Vengeance
• Narcissistic Revenge and Suicide
• Steel and Wax: Icarus and the Decay of the Angel
• Culture, Perversion, and Patriotism
• Homoeroticism, Schizoid Vengeance, and Misogyny in Forbidden Colors
• Impotence, the Feminine, and Death in the Temple of the Golden Pavilion
• Voyeurism and Rage in the Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
• Psychological Postscript
• Conclusion
• Chronology
• References