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Yukio Mishima

Sam Bett

Star Kindle Edition

by Yukio Mishima (Author), Sam Bett (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition

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For the first time in English, a glittering novella about stardom from “one of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century” (Judith Thurman, The New Yorker)

Winner of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature

All eyes are on Rikio. And he likes it, mostly. His fans cheer, screaming and yelling to attract his attention—they would kill for a moment alone with him. Finally the director sets up the shot, the camera begins to roll, someone yells “action”; Rikio, for a moment, transforms into another being, a hardened young yakuza, but as soon as the shot is finished, he slumps back into his own anxieties and obsessions. Being a star, constantly performing, being watched and scrutinized as if under a microscope, is often a drag. But so is life. Written shortly after Yukio Mishima himself had acted in the film “Afraid to Die,” this novella is a rich and unflinching psychological portrait of a celebrity coming apart at the seams. With exquisite, vivid prose, Star begs the question: is there any escape from how we are seen by others?

Print length

98 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

New Directions
Publication date

April 30 2019
File size

1028 KB
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Review

Mishima is famous both for writing and for dying. Or, strictly, for attempting hara-kiri. Perhaps surprising, then, is that Star is about shooting a blockbuster: not an Ozu or a Mizoguchi but a cheap Yakuza flick. Mishima himself starred in Afraid to Die, Yukoku, Black Lizard, and Hitokiri and knew first-hand his subject the vapidity of fame. Startling, is its lack of artifice: yielding grace from pulp.

This 1961 novel is finally getting the translation it has so long deserved. The psychologically complex story of Rikio Mizuno, young star of a series of gangster films, is based in part on Mishima’s own experiences as an actor. This is a landmark novel of 20th century Japan, and you no longer have to learn Japanese to read it.

Mishima nicely captures the alter-world of stardom—a sharp little novella.

This little novella gives a bang-filled rush, reflecting on the empty deceit of fame and the psychology of celebrity. Once you're on top of the world, can you ever escape it?

An exquisite contemplation of existence and death, and Mishima’s prose is extremely powerful and the translation finely executed.

A startlingly modern, hypervisual jewel.

Mishima's glitzy melange of playboy paranoia and heartthrob ennui cracks the proverbial 15 minutes wide open, spilling all the juicy details regarding fawning sycophants, monotonous re-shoots, and the anesthetizing effect of prolonged exposure to the limelight. Death-haunted and contemptuous, Star is a sneering "up yours" to celebrity and fanaticism depicted in panoramic decadence — though, notably, nowhere is its critique more biting than when gazing at its own fractured reflection. A rain-slick melodrama dripping with bored excess, this is a pocket guide for the sexy and disaffected.

Mishima’s ethereal 1961 novel, published for the first time in English, showcases the strains of fame on a young movie star. Mishima is a master of the psychological: this nimble novella about the costs and delusions of constant public attention will resonate with readers.

Enormously relevant

Written shortly after Mishima himself starred in the yakuza-centered Afraid to Die, his slim novella—smoothly translated into English for the first time by prize-winning Sam Bett—is a raw, scathing examination of fame.

Mishima is like Stendhal in his precise psychological analyses, like Dostoevsky in his explorations of darkly destructive personalities.

A short but intense psychological ride. Sam Bett has given the book a colloquial translation that powerfully evokes a mood of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

StarÂ isn’t merely a treat for completists, but a happy reunion with a genius.

Mishima was one of literature’s great romantics.

Star, the novella Mishima published in 1960, is now open to rediscovery thanks to an adroit, colloquial translation into American English by Sam Bett. It offers us a snapshot of a twenty-three-year-old, up-and-coming movie star, Rikio Mizuno. In Star, the world of film is, it seems, all artifice, both on and off screen, a world where everyone dons masks as a service to public tastes and desires while peering into mirrors of narcissistic self-regard. Literary genius

Star, translated from Japanese by Sam Bett, is a strange, avant-gardeÂ novella following a young actor whoÂ [receives]Â the kind of attention that could drive any person slowly insane.

This pitch-perfect novella from Yukio Mishima tells the story of a young film star disenchanted with the trappings of fame. Drawing on his own experiences as an actor, Mishima’s Star is a stunning addition to the oeuvre of one of postwar Japan’s greatest storytellers.

There may be no writer more autobiographical than Yukio Mishima. He resembles CeÂ´line and Genet, writers who were not political writers but who were working out the crisis of being alive, the crisis of experience itself. That’s precisely the way it is transcendent—it goes beyond the visible world into a world in which being alive makes sense. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) completed his first novel the year he entered the University of Tokyo and his last novel the day of his death. He is the author of numerous novels, stories, plays, and essays. Gore Vidal once said of him: I only regret we never met, for friends found him a good companion, a fine drinking partner, and fun to cruise with." Mishima committed suicide by ceremonial seppuku after a failed coup d'etat intended to restore pre-WWII power to the emperor of Japan. SAM BETT won the Grand Prize in the JLPP International Translation Competition. With David Boyd, he is cotranslating the novels of Mieko Kawakami." --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07GHC8QFW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Directions (April 30 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1028 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 98 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #590,991 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #957 in Classic American Literature
- #2,450 in Urban Life Fiction
- #4,945 in Psychological Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
307 ratings

About the authors

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Yukio Mishima
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Yukio Mishima (三島由紀夫 Mishima Yukio?) is the pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡公威 Hiraoka Kimitake?, January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970), a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, and film director. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968 but the award went to his fellow countryman Yasunari Kawabata. His works include the novels Confessions of a Mask and The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and the autobiographical essay Sun and Steel. His avant-garde work displayed a blending of modern and traditional aesthetics that broke cultural boundaries, with a focus on sexuality, death, and political change. Mishima was active as a nationalist and founded his own right-wing militia. He is remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état attempt, known as the "Mishima Incident".
The Mishima Prize was established in 1988 to honor his life and works.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Shirou Aoyama (http://www.bungakukan.or.jp/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Sam Bett
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Writer of fiction and essays and Japanese translator, specializing in literary fiction, fashion and the arts.
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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

307 global ratings

5 star		54%
4 star		26%
3 star		15%
2 star		4%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Antoine

Star: a lire absolument!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 20, 2022

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Une belle histoire autour du cinema que je viens de découvrir et J'aimerai bien lire d'autres histoires de l'auteur Yukio Mishima.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 4, 2020

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Really a great book, good condition. Would absolutely recommend

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Mr Creosote

almost Ballardian

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 4, 2019

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Blimey, you wait years for a new Mishima translation, then two turn up at once! Unlike the recently published "Frolic of the Beasts", which was a short novel, "Star" is a 'short story', originally published in Japan as part of a short story collection. As such, it's perhaps unfair to complain about it being sufficiently substantial, as it was never intended to stand alone - however the rest of the collection hasn't been translated, so for now, stand alone "Star" must.
The story does strike me as very 'modern' in comparison with much of Mishima's other work - in fact, aspects of it are decidedly postmodern, verging on the Ballardian in places, with its cynical dissection of the movie-making process and how movies artificially manipulate time, and Mishima's psychopathology of his characters is as sharp as ever.... However I can't deny I felt mildy underwhelmed by the story's conclusion - later Mishima had me expecting some shatteringly mordant twist on the last page, but instead we actually get something quite sweet.
So, while I'm delighted to read this new Mishima story, I suspect it would work better in its orginal context of a short story collection. Maybe next year!

4 people found this helpful

Spartacus23

A good little read from a Japanese master

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 16, 2019

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This is a fine little story about the vanity and narcissism of a young film star, his experience of fanatical adulation and the disorienting effects on him of his fame and job. Mishima's familiar pre-occupations with love and death are present, as are lovely poetic insights and turns of phrase. I had occasional gripes about some of the uses of specifically American slang which I found slightly jarring and unnecessary. They'll date very quickly too. Otherwise, it's a good read and not too taxing at 94 pages. Here's hoping more Mishima short stories make it into print in translation in this handy format.

2 people found this helpful

Despina

A snapshot into the life of an unhappy and disillusioned movie star

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 22, 2022

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Well written though the characters were a bit unlikable but written that way unapologetically in a way you don't often see.

Talks of the futility of showbusiness and the attitude of those within it, the mechanical nature of filmmaking in contrast to the heavily emotive output, the idea of dying young ... So many ideas covered so succinctly!

Rating 3.5 rounded up

S H, Kent

It's a (long) short story really...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 11, 2022

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It's a (long) short story really. Nothing wrong with this, but it's not a novel - not in length, or narrative development or character description. It is however a weirdly-prescient study of modern-day celebrity, even though it was written some time ago. So worth a read.

Chris McC

Never really gets going

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 2, 2022

Verified Purchase

Maybe my expectations were too high but the story never got going or I got it wrong. A well written novelet but lacking the fabric of a story, not too sure how this is a modern classic?

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Follow the Authors

Star Kindle Edition

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Yukio Mishima

Sam Bett

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