Golden Temple

In "The Golden Temple," or Kinkakuji, the novel that established Mishima's name after its publication as one of the world's most distinguished writers, the Japanese novelist takes us on a philosophical journey of beauty through a story that shook Japan about a man who burned down the most beautiful temple in the world. As a child, Mizoguchi heard about the Golden Temple from his father, a Buddhist priest. Since childhood, he also suffered from a stutter, which made him withdrawn into himself. One day, the father realizes that his death is approaching and asks his son to take care of the temple, which was built more than five hundred years ago in the city of Kyoto. He introduces him to the temple's abbot, and the boy's journey begins. We accompany him on a journey that takes us on a journey through pre-World War Japan and the changes it underwent, up until 1950, the year the Golden Temple, Japan's most famous tourist attraction, was burned down. Mishima believed that writing was an act of transformation, and in this novel, he presented a new vision of history, incorporating his own philosophy on themes such as violence, desire, religion, and beauty. A novel that, when we finish its last page, makes it difficult not to think that everything in the world gains its beauty from the knowledge that it will end at some point... and that in itself is the height of beauty.