This book was very intense in quite a frightening way. It is a drama that has all the impact of horror. Certain passages within paint such a vivid portrait of a disturbed mind that they will haunt me for a very long time. The last few paragraphs of this book actually contain a deceptively simple scene that in and of itself is one of those most impactful things I've ever read. All this being said it was unfortunately just a little too melodramatic over all. I think this book would have benefited from explaining less and keeping things more subtle. Maybe part of this could be due to the difficulties inherent in translation but rather than the intended tone of vicious, masochistic despair it could at times be more akin to an angsty soap opera. However, most of the time the book was richly psychologically complex and honestly pretty scary. I would not recommend this book for the average reader because it is so severe and dark. The potency of the emotions explored within the mind of a character who would probably qualify as having a personality disorder are in their own way as difficult to digest as any gory movie. The harsh manner in which Mishima strips down his characters and reveals all their inward inconsistencies and social foibles is distressing. One can see that an author with enormously powerful emotions wrote this book and it was not especially surprising to me when I learned he committed suicide after reading this. Unfortunately for me it stops short of being a masterpiece because it does not have quite enough restraint but this is probably mostly due to me not reading it in its original language.