Spring Snow, by Yukio Mishima

I put down the book after reading several chapters. It was not an easy reading -- Mishima threw in too many his words and "philosophy".

However, the imagine of maple trees and the boy lying on the grass in the sunshine kept floating out. So I picked up the book again and eventually finished it, although it took more than two months.

Mishima made the story in order to illustrate his "philosophy": the war of passion/love after the age of hero. To him (and many other writers), the story itself is not really important. However, I prefer a smoother story.

In the "made" story, the character Kiyoaki's behavior is a nonsense. However, nonsense is everywhere in humans, which gives it its sense.

Translated by Michael Gallagher. Published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1972. The book is the first one of "The Sea of Fertility", a cycle of four novels. ISBN 0394442493.