The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion

Nov 4, 2025 4:36 PM

Author:Ivan Mishima

Generally regarded both in Japan and in the West as his most successful novel, THE TEMPLE OF THE GOLDEN PAVILION brings together all Mishima's preoccupations with violence, desire, religious life and the history of his own nation. Based on actual incident, the burning of a celebrated temple, the novel is both a vivid narrative and a meditation on the state of Japan in the post-war period.

Reviews

The book reassures that no matter how many times you've done something or been somewhere, the humiliations remain as burning, the pleasure as sharp as ever

—— Independent

A funny, original, stinging-as-a-nettle, soothing-as-a-dockleaf read

—— Observer

A carefully observed, caustic portrait of two opposites - one prickly, one plodding - and their troublesome but enduring friendship

—— New York Times

A pleasure from start to finish

—— Guardian

Every detail...is described with the accuracy of an X-ray and the urgency of poetry

—— Penelope Mortimer , Daily Telegraph

Andric possess the rare gift in a historical novelist of creating a period-piece, full of local colour, and at the same time characters who might have been living today

—— Times Literary Supplement

Just as the bridge on the Drina brought East and West together so your work has acted as a link, combining the culture of your country with other parts of the planet

—— Göran Liljestrand, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences member

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