Review: The Frolic of the Beasts

When a young Japanese student falls into the orbit of a beautiful woman and her husband, he is driven to an act of violence that unites the three in a corrupt love triangle fueled by desire and repentance. And that one impulsive act relentlessly leads to more brutality in the poetically written novel The Frolic of the Beasts.

This novel by Yukio Mashima was first published in Japan in 1961 and has now received its first English translation. Mishima is considered to be one of the most important avant-garde Japanese authors of the 20th century, having written a number of novels, plays and poems.

In The Frolic of the Beast (digital galley, Penguin Classics) Mishima explores the unusual psychological bonds that hold the three main characters together and hints at the disturbing power lust has to influence individuals.