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Notes on Yukio Mishima’s ‘Star’, a Brutal, Grimy Look at Stardom and Celebrity
Mishima’s 1961 novella is bleak and confronting but written with a beautiful, poetic poise
‘[The powers that be] know that the reality everyone thinks they see and feel draws from the spring of artifice that you and I are guarding. To keep the public pacified, the spring must always be shielded from the world by masks. And these masks are worn by stars. But the real world is always waiting for its stars to die. If you never cycle out the masks, you run the risk of poisoning the well. The demand for new masks is insatiable.’
Dialogue from Kayo, Star pg. 86–87
My introduction to the writing of Yukio Mishima has been a very long time coming. Having owned a number of his books physically and juggling them around my room through multiple moves and endless re-arranging, I have absolutely no excuse for having not read any of his work yet other than the fact that there is always a staggering amount of exciting art to get around to (and a real life to lead, unfortunately) which can get in the way. Still, picking up a copy of Star (not to be confused with Beautiful Star, also written by Mishima) based solely on Mishima’s name being attached to it proved a risk worth taking, especially given the price of the book, and before long its…
