on mishima's the sailor who fell from grace with the sea:
georges bataille said that "eroticism was the silence of god, which language could never express, but could only approach."
i lectured on this book to a room full of college freshmen for an entire hour, and managed to only talk in circles. i screamed and yelled and almost cried. and at the end, i realized i had just proved batailles' point: you can never make it audible, you can only ever approach it.
when i read this book, i was homeless (my girlfriend had kicked me out)., squatting in abandoned dorm rooms, and working 70+ hours a week, because i didn't have anywhere else to be but work. this book changed my life.
shit, i could write 100 pages and never fully express it.
georges bataille said that "eroticism was the silence of god, which language could never express, but could only approach."
i lectured on this book to a room full of college freshmen for an entire hour, and managed to only talk in circles. i screamed and yelled and almost cried. and at the end, i realized i had just proved batailles' point: you can never make it audible, you can only ever approach it.
when i read this book, i was homeless (my girlfriend had kicked me out)., squatting in abandoned dorm rooms, and working 70+ hours a week, because i didn't have anywhere else to be but work. this book changed my life.
shit, i could write 100 pages and never fully express it.
I'm a grad student in a literature department, so it's rare for me not to be able to express my reaction to a book. Mishima's work knocked me flat on my ass. I think I sat in a stunned silence for a good couple of hours after finishing it. I still don't know what I can say about it that doesn't seem paltry and inadequate. Bataille's point is well-taken.
I can't imagine teaching the book to undergrads. Yikes. How did they respond to it?
Nice to meet you, by the way. And, yes, Hulga is a real name. I just finished O'Connor's "Good Country People" (in which one of the characters changes her name from Joy to Hulga) so it was the first female name to pop into my head.
[Edited on Jan 08, 2005 4:14PM]
my pinup girl is part of a series of mishima-related tattoos.
"whenever he dreamed of them, glory and death and woman were all consubstantial. yet when woman had been attained, the other two withdrew beyond the offing and ceased their mournful wailing of his name. the things he had rejected were now rejecting him." from sailor, as i'm sure you've recognized.
so i have woman, and
is for glory. and then around the elbow or so i am gonna get a skull and bones, so i'll have death, glory and woman. god, i'm such a nerd.
and yes, it was nice to meet you too.