247 pages
English language
Published 1994 by A. A. Knopf, A.A. Knopf.
247 pages
English language
Published 1994 by A. A. Knopf, A.A. Knopf.
The son of a poor rural priest becomes an acolyte at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Mizoguchi had built up an image of ideal beauty in his mind based on this Golden Pavilion; this ideal image causes him to feel disappointed in any supposed form of beauty, even the actual physical Golden Pavilion. He comes under the influence of Kashiwagi, a fellow student with a very bitter view of life.