The Temple of the Golden Pavilion: Introduction by Donald Keene

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Mizoguchi stutters. He is ugly, poor, and acutely aware of both. As an acolyte at a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, he becomes obsessed with the Golden Pavilion — its beauty so absolute that it seems to mock his existence. The more he loves it, the more its perfection becomes unbearable. The only possible response, he decides, is to destroy it. Yukio Mishima based this novel on a real event: a young monk's arson of the Golden Pavilion in 1950. The novel transforms the act into a philosophical drama about beauty, inadequacy, and the violence that can erupt when someone worships something they can never become. A novel about the terror of perfect beauty — and the relief of watching it burn.