Description

‘Interplanetary, quite extraordinary . . . awash with dark humour and scenes of intense beauty’ Financial Times

‘One of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century’ New Yorker

Beautiful Star is a 1962 tale of family, love, nuclear war and UFOs, and was considered by Mishima to be one of his very best books.

Translated into English for the first time, this atmospheric black comedy tells the story of the Osugi family, who come to the sudden realization that each of them hails from a different planet: Father from Mars, mother from Jupiter, son from Mercury and daughter from Venus. This extra-terrestrial knowledge brings them closer together, and convinces them that they have a mission: to find others of their kind, and save humanity from the imminent threat of the atomic bomb…

Publisher Review

A brilliant black comedy following the Osugi family, who come to the understanding that they are each from a different planet. This new knowledge strengthens their bond while solidifying a mission: to seek others of their kind and save humanity from the looming threat of the atomic bomb. This is an insightful, moving read. Mishima deserves a wider readership. -- Irenosen Okojie * The i * Ordinary people harbour the grandest (and most terrible) thoughts in a cosmological fable as disconcerting as it is funny: behind the simplest actions lie visions of worlds in collision -- Simon Ings * The Times * The Oscar Wilde of Japan ... one of Japan's great novelists ... his subtlety, warmth and wit shine through * Telegraph * A mixture of humour, high literary seriousness and flying saucers ... remarkable -- Sam Leith * Spectator * Mishima is the Japanese Hemingway * Life Magazine * A writer of immense energy and ability * Time Out * One of the greatest avant-garde Japanese writers of the twentieth century * New Yorker * The wunderkind of the Japanese literary world ... an extraordinary literary talent * The Times Literary Supplement * Among Japan's most celebrated post-war authors * Little White Lies * Interplanetary, quite extraordinary ... a fusion of sci-fi and social satire with great pathos, awash with dark humour and scenes of intense beauty ... Mishima blends the sublime and ridiculous in provocative and surprising ways ... a fresh and limpid translation -- Bryan Karetnyk * Financial Times * Moves from vividly described scenes of ordinary human life and the beauties of the natural world to arguments about human nature and whether peace is possible this side of death -- Lisa Tuttle * Guardian Best Recent Science Fiction * Its humour may be the book's most brilliant trait ... intense and earnest, the novel contains plenty of Mishima's spectacular writing ... an impressive accomplishment by Dodd in conveying a sense of import, sophistication and mastery of prose -- Eric Margolis * Japan Times * A delightfully strange, absorbing work. Full of humour and insight. Highly recommended -- Irenosen Okojie Strikingly different... Stephen Dodd's translation captures Mishima's dark humour, succinct style and dry wit -- Vanora Bennett * The Times Literary Supplement *