All six of us are geniuses . And the world , as you know , is empty ( 161 ) . The geniuses are looking for something that will fill this emptiness , in much the same way that a crack along its face will fill a mirror ( 57 ) .
Noboru is fascinated with the sea and ships , so his mother arranges for a tour of a merchant vessel in the port . The First Mate is Ryuji Tsukazaki . Ryuji , too , has been looking for something meaningful in his life , and went to the sea to find it . Fusako invites Ryuji out to dinner , and then later discreetly brings him to her bedroom . But Noboru is watching again . At first , Noboru admires Ryuji . He seems heroic for his rejection of conventional society ( symbolized by his turning toward the sea [ 12 , 179 ] ) and his quest for glory ( represented by his constant journeys on the ocean ) . But Ryuji abandons the life of the sea to marry Fusako , and become another ordinary land-dweller . Noboru must do something desperate to avenge this betrayal . ( And I cannot say more than that without spoiling the story for you . )
An engaging tale . But what is it really about ? It strikes me as a very male novel . Although told in a stark and extreme form , the issues Noboru and Ryuji wrestle with are issues all men face . Young men wish to do something glorious with their lives . They struggle at it for a few years , knowing that they are not making much progress , but believing that their time will come . But then come the responsibilities of a wife and child . At that point , like Ryuji , other men often decide , [ i ] t was time to abandon the dream he had cherished too long . Time to realize that no specially tailored glory was waiting for him ( 110 ) .
Sons , like Noboru , begin by idolizing their fathers . But then they realize that their fathers are really just ordinary men , men who have compromised their ideals , and given up their dreams . Some sons come to despise their fathers for it , vowing never to become what their fathers have .
The Freudian themes in the story are obvious , of course . The chief explains that fathers are filthy , lecherous flies broadcasting to the whole world that they've screwed with our mothers ( 138 ) . Although Noboru expresses no direct sexual desire for his mother , he is clearly fascinated by her sexuality . His own father is dead , and Ryuji becomes , at first , the perfect fantasy father . Noboru brags to his friends that Ryuji is different . He's really going to do something . When pressed for details of what , he replies , I can't say exactly , but it'll be something . . . terrific ( 50 , ellipsis in original ) . But Ryuji betrays the fantasy . He turns out to be more ordinary in his views and even style of life than Noboru hoped . And worst of all he stays to become Noboru's actual father . Fathers , in the Oedipal fantasy , must be either perfect and absent or dead .
Is there a lesson to be drawn from all this ? Yes , but the lesson depends on one's general philosophical perspective . A Nietzschean existentialist would draw the conclusion that the chief and the other boys are right . There is something sad , almost pathetic , in the conventionality that Ryuji succumbs to . In deciding how to treat his new son , Ryuji comforts himself with the observation , [ m ] ost books and magazines would agree ( 171 ) with what he is doing . On the other hand , a Confucian would trace the emptiness of the boys ' lives to the lack of parental affection and guidance . One of the boys says of his father , [ h ] e slaps me across the face . Sometimes he even punches ( 138 ) . The world seems empty to those denied the love of others , a Confucian would say .
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a story so extreme that it becomes almost mythical . But like any myth it reflects things deep in ourselves and in human existence that we cannot see in an ordinary story .
001 4 In post-World War II Yokohama , Japan , a seaport town , the sailor Ryuji , has become disillusioned with his life at sea and finds himself craving what the land has to offer . Ultimately , he marries the widow , Fusako , the owner of a Western imports shop and mother of Noboru , an adolescent boy struggling to come to terms with his own sense of identity and place in the world . These three people , as well as the presence of the land and the sea , itself , form the central characters in Yukio Mishima's haunting masterpiece of tragedy , The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea .
As a true sailor , one whose ultimate quest is inexorably bound to the sea , Ryuji has become Noboru's hero . In Noboru's eyes , Ryuji can do no wrong - - until one day Noboru sees Ryuji and Fusako making love . At that point , the young boy realizes his hero has fallen . Ryuji has lost his attachment to the sea , has failed at his quest and is becoming more and more a lover of life on land . When he finally falls under Fusako's spell and forsakes the sea entirely , Noboru , who , himself , has come to feel that only violence can grant him the power and control he seeks , realizes that Ryuji's only salvation lies in death .
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea is a highly symbolic and multi-layered novel . While it is not necessary to have knowledge of Japanese culture or politics in order to enjoy the book , it does add yet another dimension of meaning to the story as well as deepen an understanding of Mishima , himself .
Noboru clearly represents traditional Japan . His values are those of an old , patriarchal Japan , and when the story opens , Ryuji symbolizes all the values Noboru holds most dear - - stoicism , strength of spirit and the Samurai tradition .
Fusako , on the other hand , embodies the new , Westernized Japan , and as Ryuji comes , more and more , to embrace both Fusako's lifestyle and new Japan , his fall from grace continues , a state Noboru's honor cannot abide .
The book can thus be seen as a metaphor representing modern-day Japan ; a Japan that many feel will only become truly great once more when she forcibly purges herself of all Western influence .
Like all of Mishima's works , this book is astounding in its juxtaposition of savage barbarism and lyrical beauty , with strong currents of eroticism throughout . Mishima wisely chooses to use third person multiple viewpoint , heightening our understanding of the three major characters , for we learn to see them not only as they see themselves , but also as others see them .
Although The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea is a short book , its impact is enormously powerful . Mishima was an amazing writer who was never afraid to venture into the darkest regions of the human soul . His work forces us to do the same , and , in my opinion , we are all better for having done it .
002 4 It is difficult to separate Mishima the man from Mishima the author . When reading books like The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea ( Japanese title is Gogo no Eiko , or Afternoon of Glory ) , one cannot help but think of his suicide , his politics , his private army , etc . . . However , a masterpiece such as this deserves to be judged on its literary merits rather than the politics of its author .
The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a stark book , running both cold and passionately hot as the children who attempt to be intellectually dispassionate , all the while feeling the fluxing emotions of adolescence . A young boy's hero , a Sailor full of bravado and the masculine glory of searching for the horizon and always leaving women behind , finds himself changing his ideals with inklings of romantic love and home and hearth and comfort . The young boy who idolizes him cannot forgive these trespasses . The Sailor must remain a pure hero , uncorrupted by sentimentality .
The purity of the mother is a running theme in Japanese fiction , and Mishima plays with societies ideas of mothers and sons . A mother is supposed to live for her son , and cannot be a woman to any other man . A husband is supposed to be distant and other . An unattainable ideal , but not an actual person .
Such knowledge of Japanese society helps inform this book , but it is not necessary . The emotions on display are raw and offer and uncompromising glimpse into the psyche of another culture but are also understandable by people of every culture . In fact , in an interesting note , The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea is far more famous in the United States than it is in Japan , where it is counted as one of Mishima's lesser books . Perhaps it is a work more in tune with the American psyche than the Japanese .
003 4 Yukio Mishima's economically composed The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea ( 1965 ) is a short , grim novel that gracefully weaves together a number of complex themes and achieves its purpose without hitting a single false or awkward note . Mishima excels at depicting the constant state of tension that results from the disparity between the demands of man's social role and the truth of his inner reality ; all of the book's characters struggle with at least these two conflicting elements of their psyches .
Ryuji , the sailor of the novel's title , additionally lives part of his life in a very specific dream world of his own careful devising . In this fantasy , or is Ryuji perceiving a genuine layer of a deeper reality ? Ryuji believes himself to be an archetypal hero fatally set aside from the rest of mankind but destined for some unimaginable , transcendent future glory . This private mythology and self - idealization provides Ryuji with a kind of charismatic halo which others find mysterious and very attractive , but difficult to specifically identify or even acknowledge . In contrast , Noboru , the young son of Ryuji's widowed fiancé Fusako , is snared between his docile , school - boy persona and his calculating , brutal , and sociopathic real self . When Ryuji and Noboru meet , the boy perceives the well - muscled sailor as a sterling example of steely , unfettered manhood , while Ryuji sees in Noboru and his mother an opportunity to make his peace with life and a chance to exchange his elitist , perhaps neurotic claims to a higher destiny for something warm and tangible . As they step tentatively towards one another with these ill - defined but inexorable expectations floating between them , each unwittingly places himself on a collision course with calamitous personal disaster .
Like Muriel Spark's The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie ( 1961 ) , The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea masterfully addresses themes of fascism , education , hero worship , betrayal , the enigma of sexual conduct , the inconvenient demands of society , and the painful results that can arise when the mentoring process is miscarried or goes terribly wrong . However , Mishima's cosmos is a much harsher place than the relatively ethical and homey world of the Marsha Blaine School For Girls . Mishima portrays formal Japanese society as one in which the polite , absolutely unassailable dictates of social roles and other artifices provide a fertile breeding ground for crippling human isolation , nihilism , deviance , and just - under - the - skin pathology .
Like Erskine Caldwell's Journeyman , The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea also features an important character addictively viewing what he or she believes to be a higher reality through a small hole in a wall . Here , the vision revealed is the primal scene of creation from chaos : Oedipal themes color all of the novel's pages . The book can also be interpreted as a rough parable of Japanese history during the middle decades of the twentieth century .
Though The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea manages to maintain its nuanced , balanced , and quietly poetic tone throughout , a protracted but ultimately ungratuitous scene of animal cruelty may repulse some readers .
004 4 Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a beautifully written , picturesque short novel about idealism and the conflict between compassion and dispassion . The main character is Noboru , a bright , fatherless 13 - year-old boy who hangs out with a few of his schoolmates in a sort of gang . The chief of the gang , who thinks far beyond the level of a typical 13 - year-old , is the gang's philosophical guide and leader . The chief believes that life is merely a result of the chaos of existence ; that society is useless ; that fathers , as procreators of society , are condescending and deceitful ; and that school is a simulation of the society of adults and therefore is useless as well . He instructs Noboru to perform a morbid rite of passage , the purpose of which seems to be to demonstrate that there is nothing mystical about life ; living beings are made up of nothing more than earthly materials and mechanical components , so destroying a living being is no different than breaking a machine .
A sailor at sea lives far away from the foolishness of land-based society , so it's no wonder that Noboru develops an admiration for Ryuji , the sailor who becomes romantically involved with Noboru's mother , Fusako . Noboru is so interested in the sea and ships - - symbols of rugged individualism and the rejection of society - - that his knowledge of the subject rivals Ryuji's . However , when Ryuji decides to give up the sailor's life to marry Fusako and become her business partner , Noboru is disillusioned and wonders if Ryuji is just like all the fathers that the chief berates . As Ryuji starts to metamorphose from Noboru's image of the tough sailor into a sentimental , lenient society dweller , Noboru angrily compiles a list of Ryuji's infractions . When the chief of Noboru's gang reviews this list , he decides that Ryuji must suffer the consequences . The last chapter of the book is somewhat reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado in the way the gang leads Ryuji unsuspectingly to his doom .
When the chief tells Noboru that there are no heroes in the world , Noboru listens but wants to believe that there truly are ; he wants to find a heroic ideal in the sailor his mother has just met . The novel illustrates this problem with idealism : We create imaginary heroes because when we try to identify real-life ones , we are inevitably disappointed by their human fallibility .
005 4 This is a review of Yukio Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea . ( The same translation by John Nathan is published by both Tuttle Publishing and Vintage Books . )
Mishima was a controversial twentieth-century Japanese novelist , famous both for his disturbing fiction as well as for his death by ritual suicide . These is no consensus about what his single best work is , but this novella a good place to start .
The main character is Noboru Kuroda , a thirteen-year-old boy who lives with his widowed mother , Fusako . Noboru discovers a hole in the wall behind a chest of drawers which allows him to peep into his mother's bedroom . He watches her undress , look at herself in the mirror , and even masturbate . Noboru is a bright , intense boy , and belongs to a group of five other boys , led by the chief . The chief succinctly expresses the group's existential philosophy : All six of us are geniuses . And the world , as you know , is empty ( 161 ) . The geniuses are looking for something that will fill this emptiness , in much the same way that a crack along its face will fill a mirror ( 57 ) .
Noboru is fascinated with the sea and ships , so his mother arranges for a tour of a merchant vessel in the port . The First Mate is Ryuji Tsukazaki . Ryuji , too , has been looking for something meaningful in his life , and went to the sea to find it . Fusako invites Ryuji out to dinner , and then later discreetly brings him to her bedroom . But Noboru is watching again . At first , Noboru admires Ryuji . He seems heroic for his rejection of conventional society ( symbolized by his turning toward the sea [ 12 , 179 ] ) and his quest for glory ( represented by his constant journeys on the ocean ) . But Ryuji abandons the life of the sea to marry Fusako , and become another ordinary land-dweller . Noboru must do something desperate to avenge this betrayal . ( And I cannot say more than that without spoiling the story for you . )
An engaging tale . But what is it really about ? It strikes me as a very male novel . Although told in a stark and extreme form , the issues Noboru and Ryuji wrestle with are issues all men face . Young men wish to do something glorious with their lives . They struggle at it for a few years , knowing that they are not making much progress , but believing that their time will come . But then come the responsibilities of a wife and child . At that point , like Ryuji , other men often decide , [ i ] t was time to abandon the dream he had cherished too long . Time to realize that no specially tailored glory was waiting for him ( 110 ) .
Sons , like Noboru , begin by idolizing their fathers . But then they realize that their fathers are really just ordinary men , men who have compromised their ideals , and given up their dreams . Some sons come to despise their fathers for it , vowing never to become what their fathers have .
The Freudian themes in the story are obvious , of course . The chief explains that fathers are filthy , lecherous flies broadcasting to the whole world that they've screwed with our mothers ( 138 ) . Although Noboru expresses no direct sexual desire for his mother , he is clearly fascinated by her sexuality . His own father is dead , and Ryuji becomes , at first , the perfect fantasy father . Noboru brags to his friends that Ryuji is different . He's really going to do something . When pressed for details of what , he replies , I can't say exactly , but it'll be something . . . terrific ( 50 , ellipsis in original ) . But Ryuji betrays the fantasy . He turns out to be more ordinary in his views and even style of life than Noboru hoped . And worst of all he stays to become Noboru's actual father . Fathers , in the Oedipal fantasy , must be either perfect and absent or dead .
Is there a lesson to be drawn from all this ? Yes , but the lesson depends on one's general philosophical perspective . A Nietzschean existentialist would draw the conclusion that the chief and the other boys are right . There is something sad , almost pathetic , in the conventionality that Ryuji succumbs to . In deciding how to treat his new son , Ryuji comforts himself with the observation , [ m ] ost books and magazines would agree ( 171 ) with what he is doing . On the other hand , a Confucian would trace the emptiness of the boys ' lives to the lack of parental affection and guidance . One of the boys says of his father , [ h ] e slaps me across the face . Sometimes he even punches ( 138 ) . The world seems empty to those denied the love of others , a Confucian would say .
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a story so extreme that it becomes almost mythical . But like any myth it reflects things deep in ourselves and in human existence that we cannot see in an ordinary story .
006 4 Through understanding of this work probably requires some knowledge of history of modern Japan and the life of its most notorious writer .
Japan has just lost a disasterous war and is now struggling to recover . On a smaller scale , Noburu's father is dead , and his mother is now running the business . Who'll be the new man of the house ? Who'll lead the new Japan ? So the story is about Noburu's elation and then subsequent dissappointment of the sailor who'll be the new man of the house . Mishima was , of course , through out adult life , very dissappointed with the political and economical direction of new Japan and its postwar leaders . And the final action of Noburu and his gang is what Mishima would like to have done himself had he possessed the power . And when he felt himself powerless to do so , he committed suicide .
Those not aware of the plight of postwar Japan and the thoughts of Mishima can nevertheless enjoy the work for its literary worth . There's the usual dose of sexuality and violence typical of Mishima . And the work does not suffer due to translation since Mishima , unlike Kawabata , takes very little advantage of the Japaneseness of his native language .
007 4 This is a short book , both horrifying and thought-provoking . It draws upon the same glory versus comfort themes which are scattered on almost every page of Ernest Hemingway , but turns to them darkly , like the hounding demons in Thomas Mann's Death in Venice .
The author was indeed an extreme right-wing royalist and traditionalist - - - he did indeed lament Japan's lack of a paternalistic vision of glory after WWII , maintaining his own private army of 100 samurai-like warriors , and culminating in a suicide of glory to protest his view of the weakening post-war Empire of Japan - - - but far from detracting from this book , or making it some sort of apologia , this insight informs you and haunts you even further as you read this book .
You see quite clearly his struggle between the married comfort of the Western world and the glorified struggle of his conception of true Japan , but this does not make the book one-dimensional , simplistic or over-written by any means . On the contrary , it is notable how well he paints a picture which allows the reader to enter the debate for themself .
It is a haunting book , and even when one does not agree with its outcome - - - indeed , ESPECIALLY when one does not agree with its outcome ! - - - it causes the reader to reflect and perhaps even agonize over its conclusions long after it has been read .
It provoked the same lingering emotions in me as the famous Hemingway short stories The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and The Capital of the World , and as stated above , the Thomas Mann book , Death in Venice . For its ability to stay in my mind long after the pages are closed , I give it my highest rating .
Shame on the other reviewers who toss this book aside without making the obvious connection to Hemingway and his own hard-headed ( and perhaps silly ) concentration on glory , but one that literary history recognizes and indeed celebrates . Hemingway was also , like Mishima , a victim of his own suicidal and glory-obsessed mind ; and the knowledge of this fact increases the power of his fiction as much as the knowledge of Mishima's life does his . What's good for Hemingway must also be good for Mishima .
I have read a few other Mishima books , and I find this the most thought-provoking and effective I have read . I dislike the translator's use of silly old-fahioned expressions like Sonny and right you are - - - as well as the use of obsolete words like bedizening calcimined - - - and frankly , Mishima's prose is not as beautiful as it is in other works like Spring Snow , but the writing is not poor by any means , and in the final analysis , its ultimate effect is much greater than that other work .
008 4 An epic novel . But one must forget about the boys as protagonists , they are merely the vehicle Mishima Yukio uses to explore a question more profound than adolescent rebellion . The protagonist is the Sailor - who by the title has fallen from the grace of the sea . Not unlike in western thought , of one who through the pusuit of his own free will , has fallen from the grace of God . Japan as a nation does not believe in God as the West . Founded on Shintoism , the belief of god in the delicate balance of nature , and later converted substancially to Buddhism , Japan , although an island nation surrounded by seas , was not a seafaring nation prior to western contact . But in a relatively short period of time grew into a dominant maritime power . It is possibly through this desire to retain its own will , that Japan remained one of the few nations discovered by the seafaring nation's of europe that was not held in conquest , or even in a much simpler form referred to as discovered in the western sense of the word . The sea is the provider and protector of Japan , and revered as such in art and myth . It is almost as if two worlds coincide , the sea and the land , which when kept in balance allow Japan its very self to exist . When a Man wrought from the sea , bred for the sea , born to become of it , begins to consider a life apart of it , it this very balance which is put to the test . And for what - the love of a Woman ? Primarily yes , but not entirely , and for not just any woman , but a very special one . Her beauty and sophistication aside , she has an occupation unique for this tale . She is a merchant , a land based merchant who does handsomely in the sale of premium western articles to the elite of Japanese society , articles brought to her upon the sea itself . And it is the very influx of these articles which changed Japanese society for all time . Although she herself has born a child called to the sea , her fear of lost love and the hapless pursuit of the lonely life of a sailor's wife , has prompted her to entice the man from his protectorate realm and groom him for inclusion in her trade , rather than give herself as sacrifice to the cause of the sea . But sacrifice must be made for the delicate balance is threatend , and the Sailor is now guilty for his willingness to take part , forsaking not only the sea but for placing Japan even further into the throw of Westernization . Hence , he is tried and found guilty through the vehicle of the boys , who are used to their own unwittingness by a force greater than even they perceive themselves to be . The Sailor has all along pondered his fate as he attempts to make his final decision , but once his new course is set , his true purpose which he unendingly attempts to grasp is brought to the forefront . And what follows is more of a treatise on human sacrifice than the murderous act of teenage boys . Beautifully written in a descriptive prose complimenting many of our own great American masters of this century . And seemingly , a foreboding to the fate of the author himself .
009 4 Yukio Mishima's ' The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea ' is a short novel but , due to its tight plot , brevity is not an issue . Published in 1963 , seven years before he committed ritual suicide , the novel explores motivation and the factors that can cause someone to abandon their passions and resume their life embracing the dreams of another .
Noboru Kuroda , a thirteen year old on the cusp of an adult world , is part of a savage gang whose members , despite their exemplary grades at school , have rebelled against the adult world they deem hypocritical . Under the tutelage of Noboru's friend , also thirteen , they condition themselves against sentimental feelings - a goal they call ` objectivity ' - by killing stray cats .
Ryuji Tsukazaki , a merchant seaman , has been granted two days ' shore leave and has spent the time romancing Noboru's widowed mother , Fusako . Noboru likes the sailor at first , his commitment to the sea and all the manly stories he has to tell . But , as Ryuji falls for Fusako , Noboru feels betrayed by the man's burgeoning romanticism and , with the help of his gang , feels that action should be taken against the man who has replaced his father .
The first thing I noticed while reading this novel was that the characters are rich with life and history . Noboru , at thirteen , has strong feelings for his mother that manifest through voyeuristic sessions at night when , peeking into her room through a spy-hole , he watches her undress , entertain , and sleep . Ryuji , the sailor , knows he has some purpose at sea and continues his life off the land in the hope that one day he will learn his place in life . And Fusako , five years widowed , displays certain strength as she runs her own business , mixes with a richer class of citizen , while trying to raise he son as best she can .
The way the characters develop from this introduction is fast yet believable - the book , in fact , is split into two sections , ' Summer ' and ' Winter ' , to show that enough time has passed to be plausible . Noboru's respect for Ryuji wanes as he becomes the worst thing , based on his gang's beliefs , a man can be in this world : a father . Ryuji's abandonment of his life's passion is , of course , the main thread of the novel and it is a tragic decision he makes to give up the destiny waiting for him at sea in order to embrace the world of Fusako and the new direction she has planned for him .
The best thing about this novel is the language . The translator , John Nathan , has done a wonderful job and not a page passes without hitting you with a warm wash of sea-spray . Metaphors and similes are drenched with watery goodness as they add to the novel's appeal . The prose is warm during the ' Summer ' section but as the book turns to ' Winter ' the turns of phrase become icier and tend to sting more . The dialogue is nice and realistic and doesn't smart of stereotypical Japanese honour ; the way the characters interact completely plausible .
I hadn't heard of Mishima until I picked up this novel and , given that he had three Nobel nominations in his lifetime , I will certainly look out for more of his work . His concise prose , realistic characters , and the way his voice carries the sea makes him a rare find . If books were shells , I would hope to hear Mishima in every one .
010 4 I enjoyed this book , but I could not help but disagree with some of the ideas Mishima presents about the main concepts in this novel . Glory , for example . Ryuji dreams that his special destiny is out there on the high seas . Noboru sees this as manly and idolizes Ryuji , to the scorn of his gang leader . Ryuji ends up leaving the sea for family life with Noboru's mother , causing him to fall from grace with the sea . But is it really manly to continue to sail out over the horizon in search for glory that is almost certain not to be there ? It seems like loneliness and stubbornness in the face of futility are what Noboru ( Mishima ? ) considers virtuous . As stoic as that may seem to be , it seems somewhat absurd in this day and age . However , Mishima , with his Zen samurai background , probably would consider these as virtues , not anachronisms .
The relationship between Ryuji and Noboru's mother was awkward and unnatural , which may have been Mishima's point - that a sailor like Ryuji could never fit into a domestic society - but was unconvincing nevertheless . The parts of this book written from Ryuji's point of view , as opposed to Noboru's , portrayed him as somewhat shallow ( his liking for popular music sticks out in my mind ) even before he becomes involved with Noboru's mother . Perhaps Mishima characterizes him this way on purpose : perhaps Mishima , like the chief , feels that there is no such thing as a hero in this world .
The hypocracy of Noboru and his gang was obvious too , and interesting . They believed in supreme intellect , but were convinced that their genitals were made for copulating with stars in the Milky Way . They believed that they could gain power over existance - a futile effort , given their mortality . They kill Ryuji for failing to continue his quest for glory , yet these boys seem to have no desire to start their own quest .
While I found myself disagreeing often with the views Mishima took , or at least that I interpreted him as taking , I thought this was a fine book , one I would highly recommend . Mishima challenges the reader to think about ideas such as glory , objectivity , and existance long after he or she finishes the novel . Mishima's tale was chilling , but whether you agree with his viewpoints or not , a very satisfying read . The vantage point of the story rotates between Noboru , his mother , and Ryuji - make sure you note the fact that the three main characters often view the same events quite differently , and make false assumptions about what the others are thinking . Interpreting Mishima's work in just one way would be a mistake in my opinion . It would be interesting to know exactly what Mishima was thinking as he wrote this book .
011 4 Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a beautifully written , picturesque short novel about idealism and the conflict between compassion and dispassion . The main character is Noboru , a bright , fatherless 13 - year-old boy who hangs out with a few of his schoolmates in a gang . The chief of the gang , who thinks far beyond the level of a typical 13 - year-old , is the gang's philosophical guide and leader . The chief believes that life is merely a result of the chaos of existence ; that society is useless ; that fathers , as procreators of society , are condescending and deceitful ; and that school is a simulation of the society of adults and therefore is useless as well . He instructs Noboru to perform a morbid rite of passage , the purpose of which seems to be to demonstrate that there is nothing mystical about life ; living beings are made up of nothing more than earthly materials and mechanical components , so destroying a living being is no different than breaking a machine .
A sailor at sea lives far away from the foolishness of land-based society , so it's no wonder that Noboru develops an admiration for Ryuji , the sailor who becomes romantically involved with Noboru's mother , Fusako . Noboru is so interested in the sea and ships - - symbols of rugged individualism and the rejection of society - - that his knowledge of the subject rivals Ryuji's . However , when Ryuji decides to give up the sailor's life to marry Fusako and become her business partner , Noboru is disillusioned and wonders if Ryuji is just like all the fathers that the chief berates . As Ryuji starts to metamorphose from Noboru's image of the tough sailor into a sentimental , lenient society dweller , Noboru angrily compiles a list of Ryuji's infractions . When the chief of Noboru's gang reviews this list , he decides that Ryuji must suffer the consequences . In the last chapter of the book the gang lead Ryuji unsuspectingly to his doom .
When the chief tells Noboru that there are no heroes in the world , Noboru listens but wants to believe that there truly are ; he wants to find a heroic ideal in the sailor his mother has just met . The novel illustrates this problem with idealism : We create imaginary heroes because when we try to identify real-life ones , we are inevitably disappointed by their human fallibility .
Mishima's novel is extremely descriptive and somewhat disturbing . Noboru watches his mother dress and undress in her room from a hole in the wall that separates his room from hers . He sits in his dresser drawer watching her lye on her bed naked and when she gets up to gaze at herself in the mirror Noboru gets upset because he can no longer see her . He also watches his mother and her boyfriend in bed together .
The boy has to dissect a cat as a ritual for the gang he is in . Mishima clearly describes the process Noboru has to go through and everything that happened to the poor cat .
012 4 The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea is truly one of the classic works of late 20th Century world fiction , written during the final years of Mishima's life . As a harrowing tale of wayward youth and the sailor who does indeed fall from grace with the sea , this slender novel is such a riveting exploration of human relations and emotions that the reader does not need to know anything about the author . But knowing that Yukio Mishima was a staunch idealistic militarist who sought Japan's renewal and spiritual redemption from its glorious early 20th Century imperialist past , committing seppuku ( ritual suicide ) as a public protest of Japan's pacifist leanings certainly is quite useful in informing the reader about Mishima's intentions and perhaps his raison d'etre for writing this novel .
In The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea , Mishima sets up a riveting , unexpected climax between the sailor and a young boy who idealizes him at first for his masculinity , before discovering the sailor's weak , almost feminine , side to his personality . The young boy is a member of a band of vagabond boys who share too his enthusiasm for the sailor at first , and who help set in motion a fascinating series of events which will have dire consequences for all . Mishima excels in exploring both the Western and Japanese notions of male-female bonding , especially in his description of the boy's relationship to his mother , and to her suitor , the sailor . Rarely have I've come across a novel as intriguing as Mishima's slender tome ; its gripping tale will linger in my memory for a long , long time .
013 4 Fantastically unique , mysterious , creepy , and aesthetically tight book , enhanced by the utter neutrality of Mishima to the subject matter . It is wonderful to , for once , have a dark story like this that isn't being suffocated by an author's pretentious aspirations to some kind of phoney universal morality . If you have knowledge of Japanese history of the last century or so , the book serves as a complex metaphor for that ( see some of the lengthier reviews below ) , but this is certainly not mandatory to the enjoyment of the book . The symbolism is fascinating , artful , universal , and if you put some imagination into it , will give you a lot to think about regardless of such knowledge . A fine novel , one of my all-time favorites , as it happens .
014 4 Written by Yukio Mishima and translated by John Nathan , this fictional story captures the tranquility of love and the harshness of reality . Split into two sections , summer and winter , this book combines the genres of love and horror to produce what is in the end a frightening and tragic tale of human brutality . Through the characters of Noboru , Fusako and Ryuji we are able to experience three very different perspectives on life . Noboru is a thirteen-year-old highly intelligent boy who in collaboration with his friends has chosen to reject the adult world . Fusako is Noboru's mother who is widowed and manages an elite family business . She is an idealist who dreams of perfection in a crystalline world . Ryuji , the sailor who literally falls from grace , falls in love with Fusako and gives up his life as a sailor in order to become the perfect husband and father . Together these three create a perfectly imperfect family . I thoroughly enjoyed this book for it's unique perspective and would definitely recommend it to others .
015 4 Plainly said , this work is dark , with segments that will chill the blood of the toughest of readers . Mishima is a master of imagery and his book is a nihilistic masterpiece . Without summarizing the plot , all I can say is : be prepared for a jolt ! When you have a group of thirteen year old boys who have banded together in their belief in nothing , paired with two lonely adults who come together so they can finally believe in something - - the combination is like a powder keg , truly .
What is interesting is that the nihilist persona this group of boys takes on collectively is a mask ( especially upon Noboru , one of the main figures ) , which is a reaction to the repressed anguish caused by being either neglected or abandoned , or both .
This is a slim novel , but not necessarily an easy read . Having said that , I feel it is expertly written and belongs in the ranks with Camus and Dostoevsky .
Lastly , I work in a high school and was a bit shocked at first that this was to be compulsory reading for eleventh graders . . . but then I decided to quit playing Pollyanna , because quite frankly , if this book doesn't speak to the teen angst in today's world , I don't know what does .
It is my feeling that if you liked Albert Camus's The Stranger , you will have an affinity for this piece as well .
016 4 I'm not exactly sure why this book caught my attention so well . I'm not exactly sure why I enjoyed it so much . I'll do my best to explain it .
Mishima's main character Noboru is most likely the reason that this book caught my attention so much . Noboru is unlike any other protagonist I've read in a long time . Noboru is violent but innocent . He's a two-faced psychological junk yard that the reader loves and hates at the same time . There's the one side of him where he is an innocent pubescent boy , wanting to know what it's like to be a sailor and having a deep relationship with his mother . There is this other side of him that is quite the opposite . He's violent and rebellious . He disects a cat , watches his mother undress through a peephole , writes down his charges against his stepfather and conspires to commit an act of violence so horrible but the law will put him of the hook because of his age . Noboru is the most interesting part of this book that makes it such an interesting read .
As for the other aspects , Mishima's writing is simple , but effective . He uses parallel structure and crisp descriptions , not overly eloquent ones . There is some sort of a minimalist twinge on some parts of his writing and a very descriptive , in depth look at other parts in the book . Nevertheless , Mishima's symbolism and engaging characters make for a very enjoyable , but slightly disturbing read . This story is not for the faint of heart . The only cute cuddly kitty in the story is slaughtered and disected shortly after its introduction . So if you're up for an intriguing , meaty read , I would highly recommend Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea .
017 4 This novel was haunting and disturbing . Actually , by the time I finished it , I felt pretty depressed ! The story is about a thirteen year-old boy , Noboru , and his mother , Fusako , who becomes involved with a sailor , Ryuji . The problem is the boy runs with a group of kids who basically believe that life is meaningless and ultimately we're headed for death . Often I was reminded of William Golding's Lord of the Flies , only because they were so brutal in their thinking . They were like a group of kids who fell through the cracks , either due to abuse or neglect at home , and therefore were left to fend for themselves . Obviously they were very bright , but that , combined with growing up without any direction whatsoever , was a dangerous combination .
At first the Noboru is impressed with the Ryuji because of his life at sea , isolated , filled with adventure , void of contact with the rest of the world . Noboru sees it as heroic , the antithesis of the silly world of men and women , adults and children . However , as Ryuji becomes more seriously involved with Fusako , it becomes increasingly clear that he will give up his life at sea to live a more settled , married life with her . In Noboru's eyes , and those of his friends ' , Ryuji has degenerated into a figure who is beyond hope , beyond saving .
What's most upsetting is that one can see that Noboru struggles between his feelings for Ryuji and his beliefs he shares with his gang . His age betrays how impressionable he really is . There are times when he is truly delighted with Ryuji's stories , but every time Ryuji attempts to reach a higher level with Noboru , ( either that of a friend , or of father to son ) Noboru backs off and is either intimidated , or just disgusted .
I can sort of see where this might play into the writer's own issues . He was not satisfied with the social / political state of Japan , which ultimately led to his suicide in 1970 . He had problems with the fact that he was unable to serve in the Japanese military , and I understand that his own father did not respect Mishima's desire to write . So with that in mind , one can see a lot of parallels to some of the issues in this book . One that stood out in my mind is how Noburu's gang felt such alienation and contempt for their parents , rather , any adult , who became a part of the system .
018 4 Yukio Mishima was a man of great natural literary ability . He was also a very disturbed individual . Now when you put these things together you either get a lunatic or a lunatic who creates great art . Luckily , Mishima did not commit ritualistic suicide before he cranked out some of the greatest Japanese literature yet written .
This 1965 novel concerns a trio of characters , and bizarrely enough , an almost incestuous love triangle . Fusako Kuroda is the widowed owner of one of the oldest and most prestigious clothing stores in the country . She is well off but lonely , plus she has to put up with the behavior of her son , named Noburu . Noburu is thirteen and has fallen in with a gang of boys whose sole purpose is to wipe compassion out of their lives . The thing that brings all the boys together is their lack of a father , whether literally , or symbolically . A lot of them are abused or mistreated . For instance , one boy's father makes him lick the plates clean after dinner because he is so stingy about wasting money . He wants to get his money's worth .
Noburu's mother has to lock him in his room at night to keep him from going out with the gang . While he is locked up he finds a peephole into his mother's bedroom and sees her and a sailor , named Ryugi Tsukazaki , together , and somehow his entire life becomes clear .
Ryugi is a man tired of the sea and wishes to settle down . Noburu is enamored of the man's masculinity , never having had a real father and soon comes to idol worship the sailor . So does his gang . But what will happen when the gang realizes that the sailor is just as fallible as their own fathers ? That he is not a god ?
Mishima is a master of pressure . Whether it is the puberty about to explode out of Noburu or the sexuality of Fusako or the violence of the gang or the dreams of Ryugi , Mishima portrays them all equally well . None of these forces can be contained and they make this a bloody scar of a book . The characters are drawn deep , the metaphysical ponderings are beautiful and the pacing is perfect .
Not really any negatives about it , except maybe Noburu's gang is a little too well spoken . They talk like college graduate students . I guess the excuse for this would be that they come from elite families and were afforded the best schools . I liked the fact that it was rich kids doing the street gang , and not poor ghetto rats . Just because you have all the advantages in life doesn't mean you show goodness . Mishima masterfully criticizes the breakdown of the family and all the resulting anguish it brings . He also does a number on the rich . Exquisite book . I look forward to reading his many other works .
019 4 happy endings are for fairy tales . this one is a stunner ! terrifying ! life doesn't always make sense . it's hard , but it's fair . what a chilling tale !
020 4 This is Mishima working at the height of his abilities , doing what he always did best : combining believable psychology with an electrifying vision of glory , power and death . It centers around a small group of characters undergoing relatively normal changes ( a man and a woman fall in love , a boy has to deal with his complicated feelings for a potential stepfather and the man has to reconcile his desire for a home with his perverse love of the sea ) , the sort of thing a much more low-key introspective novel could have been written about , and then it goes insane . Whenever a character takes any action , it seems to have both a mundane motive ( love , hatred , jealousy ) and a completley superhuman motive . A malignant vision is lurking around the characters as they talk about simple things , kiss , or eat dinner . There is a character who seems completley born of that vision : the Chief , the leader of a gang of young intellectuals who is best described as pure evil , and whose speeches have a Shakespearian brilliance , even when they border on insanity . I love this kid .
My only criticism is that it seems hurried at times , as though Mishima got incredibly psyched about the idea and decided to finish the book in one sitting . Passages rush along deleriously , sometimes stumbling on a weak or overly explicity metaphor , and sometimes shortening what seems like an important exchange . It's a very short book , and although its compact energy is its strength , it maybe could have stood to be a little longer . I certainly would have liked to read more .
I should note that it isn't as explicitly violent as I for one was led to believe before I read it . There's only one scene with actual bloodshed ( leading to the Chief's timeless remark , Isn't all this blood a sight for sore eyes ? ) ; the rest of the violence is implied , and nothing seems excessive or tasteless .
021 4 Mishima's great achievement with this novel was to compress large ideas and large emotions down into something as compact , detailed and precise as a piece of scrimshaw . It's almost a fever dream of a novel . The whole thing , as translated by John Nathan , has the mannered , stylized feel of an Art Deco print .
This is not to take away from Mishima's tale . He skillfully conveys the impressionism of a newly teenaged boy - - the ease with which the boy , whose name is Noburu , believes first one thing , then another , and the vehemence with which he throws himself into his beliefs without first examining them dispassionately . Noburu's actions and reactions are an eerily prescient foreshadowing of the current religious militantism in the middle east and elsewhere - - he is but one of millions of young , emotionally immature , inexperienced young people worldwide who chooses the simplicity of violence over the more difficult rewards of education and self-knowledge .
Though I had a feeling that the book would end the way it did , it was still something of a shock - - and all the more so because Mishima chooses to stop his narrative just moments before Noburu and his gang commit their first adult atrocity . The delicacy with which Mishima renders this tragic tale is astonishing and makes it easy to understand why this novel is a classic .
022 4 This is a fascinating book , short and simple ( at least by the translation ) , but brimming with intelligence and conflict . Those familiar with Yukio Mishima's personal history will find the author's voice in many parts of the text , sometimes whispering , sometimes shouting , angry yet elusive , full of passion and contradiction . Thus reflects the age of Japan that Mishima endured , and the life he lived .
As I wrote before , this is a simple book - - it only took me a day to read - - but it leaves a strong impression afterward and raises many questions that are not so easily answered . Listing the various themes presented would be exhausting , and pointless for the nature of this review ; let me instead state :
Humans , men in particular , struggle with vague but passionate concepts of ' glory ' and ' living on the edge . ' We seek , in some form , to achieve the status of greatness , a golden ideal expounded in everything from ancient myths to the most recent Hollywood flicks playing at the local Cineplex . However this stature is to be achieved , be it through numerous sexual conquests or high-risk sports or simply taking pride in drinking one's compatriots under the table , men are compelled to make something _ more _ out of themselves than what they actually are at the moment ; to create their own myths that will live on in the annuls of history . But what happens when those dreams and ambitions slowly fade , become the dust of youth , often because they were never fully realized or focused in the first place ? What happens when the ' warrior ' begins to stagnate ?
Noboru , a young child living with his mother , creates a list of ' crimes ' his new stepfather Ryuji has committed in the span of their short relationship , ranging from refusing to boast to adapting western clothes . Ryuji threatens Noboru's ideals of the perfect male : strong , unbending , free . Ryuji's willing domestication cannot continue . Ryuji must be punished ; he must be saved from himself .
Well worth the time to read , even if you find yourself disagreeing with the author's assertions . Mishima's finest and most fully realized book was _ Snow Spring _ , and I would recommend that first , but for a true insight into his personal philosophy , _ The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea _ does it perfectly . I can only wonder how Mishima would react to Japan as it is now . . .
023 4 Although it may be an obvious point , I haven't yet seen it mentioned in other reviews here . One of the many points Mishima seems to be making is the need of the ordinary people ( the children ) to worship heroes who pursue the ideal ( the sailor's life at sea ) over the mundane ( the sailor's life on land ) . When the hero abandons his quest , he is set upon by the small men who feel their own dreams destroyed . Thus , the need of the masses to live vicariously creates heroes , but once the hero acknowledges the hopelessness of the dream , we are all diminished and react violently against him . All in all a good book . It will make you think . But , I found it a bit over the top in heavy-handed symbolism .
024 4 This is one of the most unsetteling books I'v ever encountered . With mix of violence , japanese tradition and freudian family romance it makes Lord of the flies seem like a children's tale . The children in this book are much more confused , violent and anti-social then in any other book I've ever read ( well , except for Poppy Z . Brite's Lost Souls - but the children there were vampires . . . )
025 4 This is as bizarre as Mishima gets . The book is kind of frightening , it's like a kind of horror story . Every one of Mishima's obsessions has found a way to this book : his idealisation of youth , or young males with their stubborn refusal of the adult world , the decay of male values ( or samurai values ) in Japan , the Buddhist emptiness of the objective world , fame , and those of you who've read ' Confessions of a mask ' will , as the story goes on , recognize the sadomasochistic fantasies Mishima had confessed in the aforementioned novel . That's why I thought it was a great book . It surprised me with its complexity , because at first it seems a kind of a simple story , but as you read more and more , you get sucked into Mishima's bizarre world , and in the end there is so much you get from it . Technically it's written very well : every place , every action is described to great detail , often spiced up with beautiful metaphors ( although sometimes the metaphors tend to be somewhat clichéd ) , all this is done in the purpose of making you really ' sense ' the story .
It is also a very unusual storyline , even for Mishima , the ending did really shock me .
I think I could recommend this to beginners , as it is not difficult to read , and there aren't so many pages .
026 4 Mishima is as artful in his language as he is in the selection of pure imagery to tell this tale of nihilism at its exaggerated worst . The characters are memorable - - Ryuji and Fusako are portraitured in fine detail . The boys are , if hard-swallowed in their precocity , at least full-fleshed in their savagery . Harkens to memories of William Golding's Lord of the Flies .
The text stirs the imagination like an art gallery - - the book is filled with sumptuous forms and patterns that betray an aesthetic eye for the picturesque .
Yukio Mishima is a devastatingly brilliant writer of enormous ingenuity in his craft . Dark , savage , and psychologically-labyrinthine , Mishima's gift for probing deeply into underlying human desires is one of the best I've ever encountered .
027 4 Entrancing from the first line to its last breath , The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea recounts the story of Noboru and his friends : a group of boys bent on applying their objectivist philosophy . When one boy's mother takes a lover , the gang initially ignores the situation but later turns on the man . Nathan's translation shines , elevating the book to the status of pure art . As a companion to Camus , Mishima's work is essential ; as a prelude to Crime and Punishment , it exposes the horrific beginnings of pathology
028 4 This slim 181 - page 1967 novel , though easy to devour in one sitting , is in fact packed with taboo eroticism , murderous violence , dense symbolism , and political metaphor . One of the evidences of its quality comes from the quality of the reviews here , some of the best I've read on Amazon.com for any book .
This book is even more relevant now than when it was written for at least two reasons : 1 . The hot - 90s-news-item status of sociopathic boys from broken families ( Kip Kinkle , Columbine , Jonesboro , etc . ) and 2 . The strange way this full-blooded book is brutal and delicate by turns , a much-needed antidote to the passionless moderation of our era .
Another reviewer points out that it contains a grand metaphor of the condition of post-World-War-II Japan . This seems true . The 13 - year-old protagonist Noboru stands for the imperial Japan of the PAST , which was proud , protected from influence and invasion by the sea , and loyal for centuries to a samurai code of honor ( which included nanshoku or boy-love in a form similiar to Greek pederasty ) . The samurai ( theatrical , close-knit , and homoerotic ) had much appeal for Mishima , a political reactionary . Noboru's mom Fusako represents Japan's FUTURE since she has grown wealthy through westernizing , i.e . , importing western goods , and the sailor Ryuji is Japan's PRESENT , at the point of metamorphosis from the stringency of military values to the embrace of domesticity with a woman and her western luxuries .
When Noboru watches his mother make love to Ryuji through a peephole , then , the reader is not only shocked by a scene of incestuous voyeurism but also , through the metaphor , horrified that the nation of Japan is adulterating itself , turning in the wrong direction - - away from its former purity , freedom , and uniqueness .
And when Noboru and his middle school gang plot against Ryuji , whom they once hero-worshipped as boys will do , it presages Mishima's own plot against modern Japan , which ended in a failed coup and his own ritual suicide .
The book is macho in theme , but highly sensitive in its prose , containing Mishima's usual gorgeous sentences . It is among his best novels , which I think also include Confessions of a Mask and Temple of the Golden Pavilion . By all means read it ! It's anything but dull . The book's ending , while somewhat telegraphed , is still shocking and amazing , as Mishima turns his prose up yet another notch to sing the praises of masculine freedom even as Ryuji loses it : I could have been a man sailing away forever . . . He recalled . . . the West Indies , seething with languor and melancholy , teeming with condor and parrots and , everywhere you looked , palms .
But the book is not only about Japan . It's about men and masculinity too , another of Mishima's obsessions . The sweet dream of male freedom and its inevitable disappointment is as relevant and modern as the 90s Men's Movement and films like Fight Club , and American Beauty . Gay authors have given us the loveliest fever dreams of transgressive male tribes living on the margins , men without women or society , though there are exceptions like Twain , Hemingway , and Kerouac . I think of William Burroughs ' amoral teens in Wild Boys or his pirate tale Cities of the Red Night . Then there's Samuel Delaney's Dhalgren , with its sci-fi street gangs and Jean Genet's Miracle of the Rose with its prison Mettray .
In our western world of declining masculinity , Mishima's prose-poem on behalf of rugged male liberty is a tonic for the gelded domesticated Dilberts of our time . It grieves over the transition of men from wolves to lap-dogs . It mourns the ineffectual father or the absent one ( Noboru's died in the War ) . And therefore , it's as relevant in 2003 as it was in 1967 .
029 4 The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea is without question my favorite Mishima novel . The book tells the story of a boy and the failed relationship with his mother's lover . Although written in 1967 the similarities with modern day Japanese society are striking .
031 4 There are many good reviews here . I've read most of them . They cover masculinity themes , dreaming of glory themes , the desired role of the mother , the difficulty of separating Mishima from his work , nihilism etc . These themes are very well covered in the Amazon reviews and don't need further comment .
There is one important theme that I did not see much discussion on , and that is the theme of control . It is touched on in reviews that mention fascism or Mishima's militaristic ideals , but not developed in any review .
The captain is a bully , he manipulates . He strips his apostles of their identities by taking away their names . Further , he has them strip naked . The teaches them violence in stages . When they are totally vulnerable to him , he imbues them with his world view . In compelling them to act , he forces the urgency of the hour . The bully / authority theme weaves into the others of masculinity , glory and Mishima's life but also stands on its own as a description of how authority establishes itself .
Mishima later in his life demonstrates to us that he is not just a writer on , but a practitioner of , the authoritarian process , by training a militia to carry out a his own violent designs .
The characters are well developed and fully believable . Each scene carries the suspense to a strong and chilling climax . It's a short , provocative read .
I picked this up after having read John Nathan's
Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere : A Memoir
. It has a short piece describing the difficulty of creating an English language title for this novel .
032 4 The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea was written at a time where Mishima was at the height of his literary genius . I point mostly towards Forbidden Colors and the short stories he was writing in the early 60s , a la Cigarette . These are character stories , mostly , and discuss a wide range of topics - obsession , aesthetics , morality and death .
Our child protagonist in this story resembles many of Mishima's own frustrations in life including a harsh relationship with his mother , who Noboru feels indifferent toward through much of the novel . Ryuji , the sailor himself , represents what Noboru thinks an ideal man should represent - at least in the beginning .
Mishima has a wonderful way of contrasting light in dark and in one particular scene involving a kitten he contrasts the kitten itself with the darkness of the enclosed barn where it resides . And the following actions show an even darker metaphor underneath . This isn't the best Mishima work that I've read , but for anyone exploring the mind of Mishima himself , you'll want to indulge .
033 4 A quick background on how I got my hands on this novella : I was enrolled in an Asian Literature class that was regrettably cancelled . However , the syllabus outlined the novels we were to read over the course of the semester . With a 1 1 / 2 hour chunk of time now free in my schedule , I decided to read the assigned books . One of the books was Yukio Mishima's ~ Temple of the Golden Pavilion , ~ which was good enough to lead me to the rest of Mishima's body of work .
This novella is not much different from the other Mishima books I have read : cold , objective , and beautiful in its imagery . Being less than 200 pages , the characters are not as three-dimensional as one would typically expect from a Mishima novel . However , the thematic elements of the book are further realised by the caricaturization . Being a comment on the Japanese mindset of a not-so-bygone era , each character represents a facet of life , and quite convincingly .
~ Sailor ~ is as dichotomous as the author , simultaneously filled with humor and terror , beauty and ugliness , calm and torrent . A fascinating read , this book should be experienced with an eagre and open mind .
034 4 The group of youngsters who Mishima observes are the archetypal lost boys , emulated by writers such as Thomas Pynchon and Orson Scott Card , and more recently , ripped off by Generation X in The Craft . Only Mishima could have had the audacity of imagination to execute Sailor . The anger of the young protagonists inexorably rushes like a wave to its only possible end , which is one of the most beautifully understated I have ever read . Mishima's concern with the pure beauty of death keep this book from being a simple piece of social criticism hacked up by a jaded journalist masquerading as a novelist . However this obsession prompts Mishima to overwrite a few passages , marring its perfection . The best one-line description of the attractions of this book is the title of a Coen brothers movie , Blood Simple .
035 4 * Sailor * , as tales go , is an interesting one ; his psychological suggestions are even more so . What the novel has in interest , though , is overshadowed by Mishima's excess in fervor . There is , for example , a simile or metaphor in just about every paragraph , some of which are not convincing in the least . Oddly enough , the book's most troubling scenes are described in Mishima's least bombastic language . It's also intriguing in that it's difficult to tell whether Mishima actually disapproves of the violent actions in * Sailor * ( especially when you take into account his personal history ) . All in all , the book is a mixed bag of overwrought writing and thought-provoking ideas .
036 4 A youth gang and a teenager change how we see
a step father . The second mate is a relatively nice sailor
with ambition who loves the mother .
The son is a boy with a love for the sea
and a followers fault .
The result becomes a twisted ending with colorful
prose in between .
Not really as good as
The Sound of Waves
but certainly interesting reading for insight into Japan .
037 4 The book is wonderfully written , however the faulty logic Mishima gives to the boys cannot be written off as shallow due to childishness or immaturity . The book almost implies a struggle between the pursuit of existence through death and the acceptence of existence through a mundane life . The use of shock value as a means to cast a negative pre-conceived notion , found within most readers , upon the boys is unstable and destoys any veiwpoint through which to judge , interpret , or simply observe the work .
038 4 I read this book in high school . The thing I remembered best from it was the gang's chilling assumption that if they killed a person before they turned 14 , they would not suffer any legal consequences . Given the recent case in Chicago ( of the 7 and 8 year olds who most likely killed an 11 year old and are apparently not going to suffer any consequences ) , I fear that in some respects this novel is coming true in America today . We may see a rise of young murderers who realize from this case with the kids that they can kill in cold blood and get away with it . . . That's all I wanted to say . . . . .
039 4 For those of you who haven't heard this shtick yet , I'll repeat , in broad generalities , the basic concepts that inform my Unified Theory of Human Existence . Essentially , it holds that there are really just two competing impulses and ideas that govern all of humanity , there's the , generally female , predilection for Security and the , largely male , desire for Freedom . Take any issue or epoch and you will find that battle lines drew up along these lines . Now , while I , of course , favor the forces of Freedom in this drama , I respect those who favor Security and understand the natural impulses that lead folks to yearn for it .
But , these are only the healthy impulses , there are a couple of other omnipresent ideas and desires that animate human affairs - - to dominate and to be dominated - - and I do not respect them ; they are malignant pathologies afflicting the human body politic . These malevolent motivations arise at both ends of the political spectrum and are best illustrated in the theories of Fascism , on the right , and Communism , on the Left . Despite the perceived antipathy between the two systems , both are in fact based on the desire of some members in society to dominate their neighbors . In the case of Communism , the desire stems from the fear of the naturally unequal distribution of talent and capabilities to humans . Communism seeks to dominate the gifted in order to favor the weak . Fascism , on the other hand , presupposes that a certain group in society has special merit , typically a racial group , and then seeks to dominate that group or even opposing nation , for the benefit of the chosen group .
All of which brings us to Yukio Mishima's novel , The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea , which along with Robert Musil's Young Torless , is perhaps the best fictional effort to depict the rise of Fascist tendencies in the individual . Mishima was an extraordinarily troubled fellow . Raised by his domineering grandmother , he determined at an early age that he was a homosexual . He became obsessed with sadomasochism , the body , martial arts , bodybuilding and the fascist militarism of Japan's past . In 1968 he founded the Shield Society , a kind of private Bushido-based army . On November 25 , 1970 , he tried to inspire a national uprising by taking over a military complex . When this failed miserably , he committed ritual suicide , seppuku .
In Sailor , he tells the story of Noboru , a teenage boy who spends his days roaming around with a gang of vicious boys and his nights hiding in a wardrobe in order to spy on his widowed mother as she has sex with her lover , the sailor Ryuji . As he and the gang become more psychotic ( at one point they kill and skin a cat ) and his mother and Ryuji announce their plans to marry , Noboru draws up a list of charges against Ryuji . When Noboru is discovered spying and Ryuji decides not to punish him , the boys decide to execute him because he has become a father .
What precisely is the nature of this crime - - being a father - - as the boys see it ? :
There is no such thing as a good father because the role itself is bad . Strict fathers , soft fathers , nice moderate fathers - - one's as bad as another . They stand in the way of our progress while they try to burden us with their inferiority complexes , and their unrealized aspirations , and their resentments , and their ideals , and the weaknesses they've never told anyone about , and their sins , and their sweeter-than-honey dreams , and the maxims they've never had the courage to live by - - they's like to unload all that silly crap on us , all of it !
Now , I don't know how much of this Mishima intended and how much of it his subconscious spewed forth , but this father hatred is central to understanding his pathologies . In a fundamental sense , morality is a male construct ; just as laws and regulations are fundamentally expressions of the female . Legalism presupposes a willingness to yield freedom . Each law and regulation represents another chip struck from the tree of liberty . But when the entire skein of regulation is put in place , those whose central concern is for security can rest easy . Permissible behaviors are strictly delineated and a powerful security state necessarily exists to enforce them . Thus , the boys in Noboru's gang , determine that they must commit a murder now , before they are adults , because the law will essentially allow them to get away with it .
Freedom , on the other hand , requires a rigid personal moral system in order to function . For only if we can be confident that others will be restrained by an internalized understanding of right and wrong will we be willing to grant each other the freedom that we ourselves desire . Fear is the enemy of freedom , morality its ally . The father figure , representing as he does the imposition of internalized moral inhibitions , is a threat to the boys . Ryuji , in refusing to punish the boy , is confident that the lesson can be learned and internalized without external punishment . But it is this very attempt to transmute the boy's values that guarantees the gang's enmity and results in his death sentence .
This is an extremely creepy story . It offers a pretty disturbing glance into the psyche of a troubled genius and seems likely to remain the pinnacle of gay , fascist , Japanese literature .
GRADE : C
040 4 Read this book if you are mature , able to understand the complex symbolism in it , and don't mind gruesome and incestuous situations described in great detail . I feel the back of the book did not warn me enough . Besides the parts that made me uncomfortable , the plot and characters gave me little reason to want to even finish the book . I would recommend this book to any reader with background knowledge of Japan's complex history and culture , but for any sensitive , and especially young reader , you probably won't get much out of it .
041 4 The artsy-lit crowd just adores this book for its poetic nuance and daring treatments of sexuality and violence . That's OK , if you have studied Mishima's bizzare life , understand Japanese culture , and have enough life-experience to recognize existentialist / Verfremdungs-Effekt notions and place them in some kind of perspective . However , because of its literary acclaim the book is working its way into book lists for younger and younger readers . If you are buying this book for a young person , even if ( or perhaps , especially if ) you are buying it for your child to meet requirements for a high-school class , I strongly recommend that you read the book yourself . The book is not a difficult read . The language is clear and Nathan's translation does not stray into obscure usage . The story structure is well defined and easy to follow . The relationships among the characters are understandable . But the ideas expressed make this book an NC - 17 in my rating system . The plot encompasses voyeurism , sex , ritual murder and suicide , animal cruelty in its most extreme form , and the glorification of death . These elements define a worldview which the characters accept as not only normal but satisfactory . Teens with any kind of sensitivity will find the book too horrifyingly disturbing to successfully please their English teachers with their book reports . Others may derive some of their own voyeuristic delight from reading a book with so much salacious material in it . A few may be attracted to and adopt the destructive ( and self-destructive ) ideas professed by the sympathetic characters . Even fewer may be mature enough to seek advice from their elders on how to interpret its themes and place the book in proper context . This book may revolve around an adolescent boy ; that does not mean it is a great choice for an adolescent to read .
042 4 This is another in a long line of modern novels written by deeply nihilistic ( and Mishima stated that he was a nihilist ) authors who have a great deal of writing talent but who have cut themselves off from the values and beliefs which anchor society . Without anything in life being worthwhile or having value , the authors are left with nothing to write down on paper but the logical conclusions of their own unfettered pathologies and lowest instincts . In this one , a group of children poison the father of one of the children for little reason except that he has given up the macho life of a sailor for the domesticity of married life and family . Lovely . It is a horrifying tale but there should be no prizes given for shocking people as all it takes is nerve and the willingness to find what little is still considered sacred and then heap contempt on it ( in this case , the value of human life ) . The translation is very well done but to no matter . This is philosophical and psychological pathology . Since the only logical conclusion to the nihilistic philsophy is suicide , it is little wonder that Mishima ended up disemboweling himself after a ludicrous attempt to stage a revolution in Japan failed . This is shock literature , exquisitely - one might say decadently and hedonistically rendered - and adds up to a big nothing in the grand scheme of things . Reading it is an unpleasant experience - and nothing more .
043 4 Read it as you would an erotic novel . Not as a typical drama or the suspense thriller that Mishima was trying to make . The ending was not a surprise . The build-up to the suspense was not enough . It lacked on various situations in between . The psychological mumbo jumbo that's usually involved in this genre of literature was way too indirect . If you're going to commit the crime , put more thought and brawn into it . I guess Mishima may have done that to show how naive and arrogant the boys in the story really were . Still , it needed more substance .
044 4 mishima makes absolutely no sense in this poorly translated , frankly disturbing book
