1513 Italian The Prince examines the acquisition, perpetuation, and use of political power in the western world. Not intending his writing to be a scholarly treatise on political theory, Machiavelli wrote The Prince to prove his profiency in the art of the state, offering advice on how a prince might gain and keep power. It is a classic study of power—its acquisition, expansion, and effective use.
The Five Rings by Myiamoto Mushashi -
1584 Japan a Japanese swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style. Musashi, as he is often simply known, became legendary through his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He is the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today.
Confessions of a Mask - Yukio Mishima
Japan 1948 Confessions of a Mask is an account, usually considered at least semi-autobiographical, of a boy growing up in a Japan that is war-torn and militaristic. Entirely unsuited by nature to this environment, the narrator must weave an intricate and profoundly self-defeating facade around himself as he discovers his sexuality. This mask leads him into a pitiful affair with a young woman which only redoubles his fear of his peculiarity, into deceiving his parents, and into effectively becoming further estranged from himself the older he becomes. The novel also becomes fixated upon the link between sexuality and violence, and the narrator's tendency to dream in this vein is recounted with mixed feelings of horror and fascination.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-10-10 02:41 pm (UTC)1513 Italian
The Prince examines the acquisition, perpetuation, and use of political power in the western world. Not intending his writing to be a scholarly treatise on political theory, Machiavelli wrote The Prince to prove his profiency in the art of the state, offering advice on how a prince might gain and keep power. It is a classic study of power—its acquisition, expansion, and effective use.
The Five Rings by Myiamoto Mushashi -
1584 Japan
a Japanese swordsman famed for his duels and distinctive style. Musashi, as he is often simply known, became legendary through his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He is the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today.
Confessions of a Mask - Yukio Mishima
Japan 1948
Confessions of a Mask is an account, usually considered at least semi-autobiographical, of a boy growing up in a Japan that is war-torn and militaristic. Entirely unsuited by nature to this environment, the narrator must weave an intricate and profoundly self-defeating facade around himself as he discovers his sexuality. This mask leads him into a pitiful affair with a young woman which only redoubles his fear of his peculiarity, into deceiving his parents, and into effectively becoming further estranged from himself the older he becomes. The novel also becomes fixated upon the link between sexuality and violence, and the narrator's tendency to dream in this vein is recounted with mixed feelings of horror and fascination.