Marguerite Yourcenar's Mishima: A Vision of the Void is an insightful and thought-provoking study of the life and work of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. Yourcenar analyzes Mishima's work in the context of traditional Japanese culture grappling with the modernization of Japan. She also examines Mishima's obsession with death and his eventual suicide. Yourcenar argues that Mishima's work was deeply influenced by both Japan and the West. She notes that Mishima was drawn to Japanese aesthetics and literature, as well as to Western writers such as Nietzsche and Dostoevsky. Yourcenar argues that Mishima used these diverse influences to create his own unique and complex vision. Yourcenar also argues that Mishima's obsession with death is a central theme in his work. She notes that Mishima was preoccupied with the tension between the beauty and fragility of life and the inevitability of death. Yourcenar believes that Mishima's eventual suicide was a tragic culmina...