The Golden Temple. Yukio Mishima

Since its publication in 1956, Yukio Mishima's novel The Golden Temple has been read around the world as one of the key works of Japanese literature. The protagonist is the young novice Mizoguchi: a silent, withdrawn boy who has stammered since childhood and kept aloof from people. For him, the Golden Temple is not just a building, but a symbol of beauty that always remains unattainable. And the more perfect the Beautiful, the heavier its burden: the ideal demands sacrifice and deprives peace. In the end, Mizoguchi dares to burn down the temple that held his soul. But is it possible to live without that which both torments and saves?