giving it 4 stars only because reading "Etsuko was a beautiful eczema" was a life-changing moment ( )

This is an interesting love triangle! Etsuko is a woman whose husband has died so she is invited to and moves to the home of Yakichi, her father-in-law, where she resides as a mistress while secretly being in love with Saburo, the young household man-servant.

I found this story very intriguing as I was trying to piece together the relationship of the various individuals living within the household. The story seemed very Japanese in the way in which it was told (for instance, the hierarchy within the household and the festival observance), but the feelings were universal. Etsuko tried to deal with what she thought was a secret love, but, more importantly, both she and Yakichi were trying to deal with their individual jealousy.

I liked the tone of the story and its gentle flow as well. I could not guess what would happen so it kept up my interest to the end. This is the second book by this author I've read, and I look forward to reading more of his work. ( )

It was very fleeting. It was very cold; sterile almost like Etsuko. There are some funny points, but I was mostly disappointed.

Though lacking his potboilers, I think it would be interesting to contrast and to compare "Thirst for Love" with "After the Banquet," in terms of the characterizations of Mishima's female protagonists.

Interestingly, I found the 1967 B&W film adaptation by Koreyoshi Kurahara, which is available through the Criterion Collection, to be superior to the original novel. If I could take a guess, I'd say that the most vivid passages and the tension that run throughout could only be truly realized through film. Fortunately, there was this one—which I absolutely recommend—and fortunately for Mishima fans there are film and TV adaptations of almost all of Mishima's novels.

Verhaal van een jonge Japanse weduwe die de minnares is van haar schoonvader; beklemmende naturalistische inslag; jaloersheid overheerst. Sterk psychologisch beschrijvend, zeker naar het einde toe: voor elke gesproken zin een pagina beschrijving van de emoties en de omstandigheden. ( )

Mishima's only female protagonist comes alive with startling clarity. Thirst for Love is one of the quieter, less twisted, of his early novels that I've read, though it is still very dark and uncompromising. There's still lots of forbidden love and murder. Mishima returns to the themes of obsessive love, of a futile search for salvation, or desperate acts. ( )