The Decay of the Angel: The Sea of Fertility, 4 (Vintage International)

The final installment of the masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility, finds Shigekuni Honda an elderly wealthy man in the 1960s, adopting a teenage orphan whom he is convinced is the reincarnation of his childhood friend. • "One of the best final scenes in the history of the novel.” —David Mitchell, The New York Times Book Review Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, once more encounters a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki Matsugae—this time restored to life as a teenage orphan, Tōru. Adopting the boy as his heir, Honda quickly finds that Tōru is a force to be reckoned with. The final novel of this celebrated tetralogy weaves together the dominant themes of the previous three novels in the series: the decay of Japan’s courtly tradition; the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics; and, underlying all, Mishima’s apocalyptic vision of the modern era. Yukio Mishima's The Decay of the Angel is the final novel in his masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility . It is the last installment of Shigekuni Honda's pursuit of the successive reincarnations of his childhood friend Kiyoaki Matsugae. It is the late 1960s and Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, once more encounters a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki -- this time restored to life as a teenage orphan, T?ru. Adopting the boy as his heir, Honda quickly finds that T?ru is a force to be reckoned with. The final novel of this celebrated tetralogy weaves together the dominant themes of the previous three novels in the series: the decay of Japan's courtly tradition; the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics; and, underlying all, Mishima's apocalyptic vision of the modern era. From the Trade Paperback edition Yukio Mishima's The Decay of the Angel is the final novel in his masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility. It is the last installment of Shigekuni Honda's pursuit of the successive reincarnations of his childhood friend Kiyoaki Matsugae. It is the late 1960s and Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, once more encounters a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki -- this time restored to life as a teenage orphan, Tōru. Adopting the boy as his heir, Honda quickly finds that Tōru is a force to be reckoned with. The final novel of this celebrated tetralogy weaves together the dominant themes of the previous three novels in the series: the decay of Japan's courtly tradition; the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics; and, underlying all, Mishima's apocalyptic vision of the modern era.From the Trade Paperback edition During the last years of his life, Honda adopts an orphaned boy and teaches him about Japanese society and tradition