The Temple of the Golden Pavilion

Summary

The novel "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" by Yukio Mishima tells the story of a young man named Mizoguchi, who has been captivated by the beauty of the famous Golden Pavilion in Kyoto since childhood. Mizoguchi, who suffers from a stutter and feelings of inadequacy, becomes an apprentice to the temple's abbot. However, his admiration for the temple gradually turns into an obsession, intensified by his personal failures and disappointments in life. Ultimately, unable to cope with his inner conflicts and disillusionment with the ideal of beauty, Mizoguchi takes a desperate step—he sets fire to the Golden Pavilion, destroying it. The novel explores themes of beauty, destruction, inner struggle, and the search for meaning in life, while also touching on philosophical questions about the nature of art and human psychology.