"The completion of this great novel - `The Sea of Fertility` - makes me feel that the end of the world has arrived..." wrote Yukio Mishima in October 1970. In November, he was dead - following a ritual suicide.
Consisting of four parts, `The Sea of Fertility` represents the flourishing of Mishima's quirky genius. `Spring Snow` is a gentle and moving love story. In `Runaway Horses`, its bloody sequel, a far-right terrorist takes center stage. In `The Temple of Dawn`, a Thai princess is mystically connected to the heroes of the previous works. `The Decay of the Angel` is a work equally thrilling and romantic as the previous ones, but imbued with a farewell sadness.
On November 25, 1970, Yukio Mishima, at the peak of his brilliant literary career, surprised the world with his ritual suicide by disembowelment (hara-kiri, or more accurately, seppuku). In his works, Mishima often refers to themes of suicide and premature death, expressing many times his desire to die young. He completed this tetralogy, his last work, on the morning of the day of his death.
Just before committing suicide, he wrote to his friends that he felt empty, having poured all his beliefs and feelings about life into this gigantic endeavor, which was later praised as a masterpiece.
