The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea

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The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea

by Yukio Mishima, John Nathan (Translator)

3.88 · rating details · 2,577 ratings · 216 reviews

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea tells the tale of a band of savage thirteen-year-old boys who reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call "objectivity." When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealize the man at first; but i...more

Paperback, 181 pages

Published May 31st 1994 by Vintage (first published January 1963)

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May 06, 2011

mp rated it

Shelves: reviewed

I had a slightly different review in mind until I read a little bit about Mishima's life. In light of what Mishima did to himself, I am not really sure what to make of The Sailor Who.... While it is dark, reading it I knew it was only a story. But knowing that this darkness could have emanated from Mishima's personal thoughts makes it extremely unnerving.

Fuskao, Noboru's mother, represents westernization; which Mishima despised. Noboru, a 13 year old, is more in the favor of traditio...moreI had a slightly different review in mind until I read a little bit about Mishima's life. In light of what Mishima did to himself, I am not really sure what to make of The Sailor Who.... While it is dark, reading it I knew it was only a story. But knowing that this darkness could have emanated from Mishima's personal thoughts makes it extremely unnerving.

Fuskao, Noboru's mother, represents westernization; which Mishima despised. Noboru, a 13 year old, is more in the favor of traditional Japan. Ryuji, the sailor, dreams of a heroic death and glory, which makes Noboru worship him. Ryuji's dreams represent Mishima's own political thoughts on achieving glory for his country. When Ryuji abandons all such thoughts of heroism, Noboru reacts violently. The question is, how much of Noboru's psychology reflects Mishima's own mind. That Noboru's vileness goes unchallenged and unpunished hints towards there being some parallels.

I know The Sailor Who... was written seven years before Mishima committed ritual suicide. Also I shouldn't be drawing any conclusions based on reading a short work of fiction and one wikipedia article. But I find it difficult to view the ideas in the book and Mishima's life separately.

The gracefulness of the writing stands very much in contrast with the ominous content. His writing is very lyrical. The scene descriptions are vivid, very much like painting with words. Sunlight dances on the pages giving everything a different kind of glow. He infuses some beauty even in cringe-worthy scenes.
In the second half of the book, when story begins to take a dark turn, there is a change in the tone of the writing as well. While poetic descriptions are not completely abandoned, there are fewer of those. On approaching the ending, the story, however, seems to drag for a bit, largely because I could see what was going to happen a long way ahead. I was expecting it to generate a sense of foreboding, but that was lost.

The biggest strength of the book, in my eyes, is the treatment of Noboru's psychology. Mishima provides some perspective on a character I can never hope to understand too well. Once I can digest how disturbed a child Noboru already is, the rest will perhaps be somewhat acceptable. After all, misguided beliefs and fanatsies are not that uncommon among teenagers. Noboru's disenchantment with his hero serves as a cue that makes him lash out, turning his beliefs into something more sinister and real.

Not only Noboru, the other characters are not very relatable either. This is more like a mere peek into a world completely alien to me. Also I can't really expect to be able to view anything with the same eyes as Mishima did. I am ok with that, I think.

While characters are not fully fleshed out, Ryuji and Noboru have enough going on to let us see who they are. Fuskao, the only major female character, on the other hand was completely dis-appointing. She is introduced to us as Noboru's mother and Ryuji's love-interest, and that's about it. Other than playing these assigned roles, anything like a personality is non-existent. She does run a business of her own, but the only role she seems to play there is to buy stuff and the intricacies of the business are handled by her male associate. There is just one chapter where, of these three main characters, only Fusako makes an appearance. And she uses this stage-time to discuss her prospective husband with another woman. Isn't that what chick-lit is for?! If you are drawing a female character who is a single mother running a business of her own, why not let her have at least one original, smart thought? Why can't she be feminine, and not be hollow at the same time?

Apart from a complaint or two, I do think highly of The Sailor Who... for the most part. It is written economically, but there is lot to chew upon.(less)

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May 31, 2008

Tosh rated it

A very wicked book of sorts, but also a great book on children and how they think. Which is kind of devilish on my part to say - but Mishima captures the kids' view of something very grown-up. The book is very textural in that it is about a lonely woman's erotic impulses as well as her child picking that aspect of her personality or sensuality. Essential book in the Mishima world.

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Feb 26, 2008

Jessica rated it

Recommends it for: voyagers willing to brave the risk of seasickness

Recommended to Jessica by: jane smiley; tosh, kimley

Shelves: leetle-boys

Argh. Okay, so I've been agonizing since finishing this book about how many stars to grant it. What should the stars mean? Do they stand for how good I think a book is? Or do they signify how much I enjoyed reading it? I think this is a three-point-fiver for me, really. Argh! It's so tough to say....

This book contained a great deal of five-star material. While there were several words and phrases that really jarred, these could have been clunky translation glitches, and in general th...moreArgh. Okay, so I've been agonizing since finishing this book about how many stars to grant it. What should the stars mean? Do they stand for how good I think a book is? Or do they signify how much I enjoyed reading it? I think this is a three-point-fiver for me, really. Argh! It's so tough to say....

This book contained a great deal of five-star material. While there were several words and phrases that really jarred, these could have been clunky translation glitches, and in general the language and description was incredible. I mean, it was honestly stunning. Reading this book was so visual, even cinematic, and Mishima describes his characters and their post-war Japanese port city so vividly that you really do see it all, you have to, and it's a lovely thing to behold.

The story is about a widow, Fusako; her thirteen-year-old son, Noburo; and a sailor, Ryuji, who begins a love affair with the mother, the consummation of which is observed by the son through a hole in the wall between his and his mother's rooms. Noboru belongs to a scary, nihilistic cult/gang of kids with a charismatic leader and ruthless philosophy. [As an aside, this whole thing with the kids really reminded me of a book I just started once -- it belonged to Emily K -- about some really scary, nihilistic kids in post-WWII Germany; I thought that book was by Christa Wolf, but now I'm not so sure. Extra credit if anyone knows what I'm talking about!:] The heart of The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is the tension between Noboru's adulation of and disappointment in Ryuji.

This book was so beautiful. I mean, I really just don't know how to say that without sounding like a complete tool. The descriptions of the sailor's life at sea and of the mother and the city were just... bleagh. I refuse to use those pukey book review words like "evocative" or whatever, and I won't say some of these passages just made me "ache," because that's gross, no one wants to hear that.... so I'll just keep my opinions about much of this this novel to myself, for all of our sakes.

For me, though -- emphasis on the for me -- I stopped enjoying this book in the last quarter, and while that might've been Mishima's fault (after all, he did have me for the first three quarters, so maybe he did something to lose me), it might also have been more my personal failures as a reader. My problem was that I could see from the beginning where this was all going, but as the event became more obviously imminent I didn't understand what made it inevitable, because the characters just didn't really make sense to me. I didn't understand what the young boys were feeling or why, and I just couldn't relate to it. I just kept thinking, "If I were the sorta guy who'd commit ritual suicide, these characters might really resonate with me; or even if I were more of an expert on Japanese history and culture, I might kind of get what they're on about... but as it is, er, hm.... I really don't."

Now, should an author be able to get any reader to empathize with any character enough to understand his motivations, across boundaries of culture and time and whatever else? Maybe. I'm not sure. Again, I don't know who to blame here, myself for not getting it or Mishima for not making me get it, but the fact that I was totally on board for most of the book but found myself adrift towards the end makes me suspect it might not just be me, but possibly due to problems in the structure of the book. The rhythm there at the end didn't feel quite right to me, in contrast with the beginning and middle, which felt mostly pitch-perfect.

Anyway, though I wasn't as crazy about the latter part of this book as I was about the earlier parts, it's not like it ever got bad. It's a good book.... I should also add that it is also mighty disturbing, because I suppose it'd be irresponsible of me not to say so.(less)

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Jan 21, 2011

Evan rated it

Shelves: asia, arr-matey-seagoing-fare, 2010-reads, my-faves, favorites, japonais, sexuality

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!

"If I were an amoeba, he thought, with an infinitesimal body, I could defeat ugliness. A man isn't tiny or giant enough to defeat anything."

Ryuji, the "emasculated" sailor in Mishima's great novel, thinks such thoughts on long sea voyages, standing watch on deck; his only friends being the stars. His vague notions of glory -- that something great awaits him at the next port -- allow him to avoid his sense of powerlessness and the...moreHIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!

"If I were an amoeba, he thought, with an infinitesimal body, I could defeat ugliness. A man isn't tiny or giant enough to defeat anything."

Ryuji, the "emasculated" sailor in Mishima's great novel, thinks such thoughts on long sea voyages, standing watch on deck; his only friends being the stars. His vague notions of glory -- that something great awaits him at the next port -- allow him to avoid his sense of powerlessness and the reality of his aimlessness. His idea of romantic completion is an unconsumated coupling that is destroyed utterly in instant oblivion -- a kiss and the lovers' lives brought to an end in a tidal wave, for instance. To him, this is the idea of a perfect marriage. His lifestyle of staying on the move and not becoming attached ends soon after he meets a well-to-do widow, Fusako, in the port of Yokohama.

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea shifts its narrative foci deceptively. As it starts it, we think it might be a novel about burgeoning adolescent sexual discovery, as Fusako's 13-year-old son, Noboru, discovers a peephole into his mother's adjoining bedroom, well hidden in a cabinet inside the closet. It allows him to study his mother's naked body and later the coitus between she and Ryuji. The focus then shifts to Ryuji, and over time we learn his backstory, and how Noboru's interest in ships and maritime trivia lead to the eventual hookup of his mother and sailor. There's a lovely sentence in which Ryuji thinks about how his great quest across every corner of the Earth ends on a point of exquisite sensation: the tip of his finger caressing a woman's nipple. The book is filled with countless wonders of such poetic beauty, but eventually it leads into darker territory about what it means to be a man, about the lies of fathers (or more accurately, the fear of growing up into a world where there is no real control or heroism for a man), and the seductive violence of groupthink. Noboru, as it happens has joined a group of proto-fascist youths who pervert the Nietzschean idea of the Superman. Their hatred of weak men, which all of them consider their fathers to be, drive the characters to a fate about which I cannot elaborate. Let's just say that the moment Ryuji morphs from a sailor-hero to a mere father figure in Noboru's mind is a pivotal one. There's a very disturbing passage in the book where the gang practices their "manly" cleansing ritual of cold violence on a poor kitten. To them, in their warped idea of real manhood, such violence brings some kind of order to the universe. The book accurately essays the dangers of social conformity in extremis and along the way somehow manages to mix in equal portions of romantic longing, family dynamics, the workings of port cities and international import and export, the pull of the sea vs. life on land, and the lure of ritual -- the latter being something of great appeal to the traditionalist Mishima. I suspect that Mishima's concerns about the Japanese man as an emasculated being might also stem from the sense of Japanese defeat after World War II. The novel takes place after the war, more or less contemporaneous to its publication in the 1960s.

I also love how the novel enters the thoughts of the characters as they internally edit themselves when they verbalize bland platitudes and chitchat to one another -- chastising themselves for not saying what they really want to say. The physical descriptions of the living quarters, the environs and the sights of Yokohama are masterly. Rarely have I encountered a book in which so much poetic and langorous space co-exists within such a fast-moving, concise narrative. The book seems to be going in one very romantic direction and then shifts gears to something disturbing and ominous. It takes a deft hand to make such a change of emphasis work. Mishima, it seems, possessed the mastery to pull it off. This is a great book and a super fast read. Another one for my favorites category.(less)

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Apr 15, 2008

Amanda rated it

Shelves: fiction, from-the-mouths-of-babes

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea follows the adventures of Noburu a 13 year old boy and his crazy gang of schoolmates, "all smallish, delicate boys and excellent students," who try to oppose their relative powerlessness in the world by developing a dark idealistic "philosophy" that glorifies inhumanity and emotional detachment.
We are also told the story of Fusako, Noburu's mother, the widowed proprieter of a successful high-end boutique, and her passionate ...moreThe Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea follows the adventures of Noburu a 13 year old boy and his crazy gang of schoolmates, "all smallish, delicate boys and excellent students," who try to oppose their relative powerlessness in the world by developing a dark idealistic "philosophy" that glorifies inhumanity and emotional detachment.
We are also told the story of Fusako, Noburu's mother, the widowed proprieter of a successful high-end boutique, and her passionate affair with Ryuji, a sailor. We watch as their awkward interactions and a meaningless one night stand evolve into a tender relationship and real need for one another.
We witness Noburu's attempt to rectify the wildly confused emotional response he has when Ryuji, who he initially idolizes for his heroic life at sea, devoid of attachment, and his mother embark on a real relationship, with the credo of his "gang", that labels this sort of emotion as unforgiveable weakness.
Ryuji, in turn, represents the forsaking of youthful idealism for adult responsibility and the need for companionship. This makes Ryuji the embodiment of everything that Noburu and his friends aspire to and also everything that they have profound contempt for.
Ryuji seeks a life at sea as a young man because of his contempt for everything on land, and devotes himself to a romantic vision of death and the glory to be found in this isolated life apart. When we meet him he is beginning to realize that this abstract "glory" may not really be out there and that the comfort and stability he finds in his connection to Fusako, might make the prosaic life on land more appealing than the glorified and lonely sailor's life he has created for himself.
Noburu and his gang are digusted by their hero's disloyal decision to "sell out" and betray their dark and angry ideals. It is interesting because I remember that period of youth where purity is tangible and anger and pain and fundamental belief in something feels like the only logical way to account for the inequity in the world. I remember feeling like I would never become a compromised adult (or "father", as Noboru's gang would label this figure) willing to sacrifice my ideals for anemic insignificant comfort and ease. And I also remember realizing that life is really shades of gray and finding myself too old for my black and white ideals and longing for something soft to make this life more bearable and truly worth living.
In our post-Columbine world the violence that Noburu and his friend's embrace is not that surprising. But the tragedy of their vision-- limited by their youth and their strict ideals-- is shockingly real and painstakingly well thought out.

The ideas in this book are very complex, and that complexity can make reading it difficult. (I am sure that some of this could be attributed to the fact that I was reading the book in translation.) Some of the metaphors that Mishima comes up with are incredibly graceful-- when describing the awkwardness of the reunion between Fusako and Ryuji after a long absence at sea, he writes, "Why should things proceed as smoothly as an arm slips into the sleeve of a coat unworn for half a year?". But I found his descriptions of the blossoming love between Fusako and Ryuji to be so clumsy that, given the dark critical tone of the book, I kept doubting their sincerity.

The author's note tells us that, "Yukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the emperor-- the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen....On November 25, 1970... Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide) at the age of 45." Coupled with this fact, one wonders if The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea is Mishima's account of his attempt to find meaning and principle in his own life.

(less)

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Dec 04, 2008

Louis rated it

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Shelves: japanese

The first Mishima I read, and I was instantly in love (of course) it's both oedipal and misogynistic, tender and brutal, erotic and filthy.
Like many 20th century Japanese authors, his life is one I would probably do best not to replicate, but his passion for writing is admirable. A little too much though.
Definitely, definitely, definitely has to be read through to the end.

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Jul 12, 2007

Namrirru rated it

Shelves: japan, e

Mishima creates very evil characters but he doesn't condemn them or let them suffer the consequences of their actions. It's very unnnerving. But at the same time, he's an excellent writer and story-teller.

He unloads a lot of philosophy in the text but the reader can't trust that that is what the writer is espousing. Is it just part of the story? What does the author really think about this idea or the treatment of this person. Like the mother. Most of his books I've read, the women ...more

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Dec 07, 2011

Jeremy added it

Shelves: japanese-literature

I've never read Mishima before, but he's definitely got a skill for psychological characterization, especially when it comes to developing his characters hang-ups and disappointments. A lot of authors seem to rely in uber-dense prose, or on fragmentary narrative techniques to get inside people's heads, Mishima has a lighter touch, but one that's no less effective. The contrast he builds between the adult world and the adolescent one is especially effective, 13 year old boys ARE a bunch of insecu...more

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May 19, 2010

Kyle rated it

If Mishima were an artist, I'd assume he'd paint with only an oily black paint that would run down the canvas, but of course he'd add remarkable detail beyond that. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea is a dark book, certainly, and the kitten scene was enough to nearly make me put the book down. But Mishima knows how to work this, to control the ebb and flow of bile, and as the book ends he progressively chooses to flow with it. The prose is absolutely beautiful, poignant, and striking a...moreIf Mishima were an artist, I'd assume he'd paint with only an oily black paint that would run down the canvas, but of course he'd add remarkable detail beyond that. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea is a dark book, certainly, and the kitten scene was enough to nearly make me put the book down. But Mishima knows how to work this, to control the ebb and flow of bile, and as the book ends he progressively chooses to flow with it. The prose is absolutely beautiful, poignant, and striking as well.

Yet sometimes it's a bit too much. When reading the most visceral details of the book, Mishima often appears beyond his position as a silent artist and the sadistic laughter begins to creep in. We are lead to condemn the actions of Noboru and his gang of boys and their self-importance, yet at the same time Mishima asks us to consider the boys as representative of greater society. The book condemns society while at the same time condemning those that condemn society - an Ouroboric loop of hatred, which, considering the author's biography, isn't so absurd.

The characterization of the characters as well is somewhat lacking, creating the impression of a twisted morality play. Noboru is evil given a child's form, and attempts to soften his edges do not stick or seem believable. The sailor is the only character who truly seems multi-faceted, and he questions himself frequently: however, so much of his character is reduced to a classic hopeless romantic. The mother is the least developed character, and despite her continuous presence she has nearly no impression and acts as merely a distraction. Perhaps this is what Mishima was aiming for, as they are difficult to connect with and Mishima rejects intimacy throughout the novel. Yet as a reader, the passages concerning the mother often appear as pointless and detract from the larger book.

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea suffers some nettling issues, yet for the sheer glory of the prose alone it is worth examining. Mishima's writing prevents the reader from forming an intimate relationship with the text, but perhaps it is this barrier that makes this short novel all the more remarkable. The dark themes surrounding the book threaten to consume it, yet when Mishima attains subtlety he nails the "unsettling" effect, and his full literary strength glows bright. A book for further thought, most certainly.(less)

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Sep 15, 2009

Maren rated it

Shelves: favorites, must-re-read

It's been a really long time since I've read a book that affected me as much as this one did. I don't want to say too much about it plot-wise, because it relies so much on suspense and revelation, but it is definitely in the same vein as Lord of the Flies and deals with the relationship between children and adults (particularly boys and men).

The second I put this book down I gasped and went right back to glimpse through how I had gotten there. Its pacing is perfect and the language,...more

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Jul 30, 2011

Jeremy Hauck rated it

Shelves: comprehensive-exam-list-for-temple

Cliffhanger ending!

"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 th...more

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Sep 03, 2011

Sarah rated it

So much to say. You could spend probably two weeks purely on discussion of Mishima's landscape and setting descriptions, let alone the intricacies of his characters.

The plot itself is fairly straightforward: a sailor and a widow who runs a business meet and fall for each other, and the majority of the book is taken up by the woman's son's reaction to the sailor's appearance in his life.

The boys in Noboru's (the son's) gang abide by an understanding that the world is emptiness...more

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May 18, 2011

David Ireland rated it

Shelves: 1-big-red-circle

Beauty and the beast! As that teapot sang "It's a tale as old as time". Noboru watches his mother in her room through a chink in the wall that was chiselled by billeted soldiers during the occupation (those kinky gaijin). He then watches his new sailor hero and mother have sex. The sailor compromises on his notions of death and glory. Noboru, with his weird nihilistic friends, forces him back on that pedestal.

Note to animal lovers: no kittens were harmed in the reading of thi...more

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Apr 28, 2011

David rated it

Shelves: read-2011

Mishima’s a strange beast. I once heard him described as a bit adolescent, which seems unfair to me, but it is true he’s pretty preoccupied with sex and death. Certainly I remember that part of adolescence. This book features a disturbing and vividly imagined gang of 13-year-old boys, but also a well-drawn pair of adults. Sure, Mishima’s sometimes a little baroque and other times a little clumsy (a painful stretch of dialogue here, though I do allow for the possibility that blame might be laid u...more

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Dec 30, 2009

Heather rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, novels, japan

Mishima is clearly a brilliant writer--his prose (at least, the English translation of it), puts you right in the situation. Unfortunately, this is part of the problem for me, for as well as a brilliant writer he was a profoundly disturbed man (he eventually committed seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide).

The book is, loosely, about a sailor who turns his back on dreams of glory on the sea to love a woman, and how that relationship and the world is seen by the woman's son, Noboru. Nobo...more

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Feb 13, 2011

JoAnn rated it

I read this book many years ago, as part of an extra credit project in high school, so this is based on what I remember.
This story of a group of boys who decide to deal with a sailor who has embarrassed one (or more?) of them by just being a nice guy is one of the most disturbing stories I have read, but it is one that has stayed with me. I think it speaks even more to the times now than when it was written.
Even thought I hate this story, it was a compelling read and, as I said, it has...more

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Apr 25, 2008

Cheron rated it

If you've known me for longer than a month, I've mentioned this book to you--so you have already heard me compare it to The Lord of the Flies. I just mean in spirit. It gets uncomfortably lost in the grey matter of a young, disturbed boy who struggles with his sexuality and who has serious mother issues.

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Mar 16, 2011

Brendan rated it

This is short Japanese fiction at some of its finest. The book doesn't really have much of a plot, which is what kept me from giving it five stars, but the rest is pure gold.

The English translation is well-done, and has some beautiful moments of description. It says a lot with a little, and opens up wide avenues for discussion.

The characters, and the novel as a whole, are rather fatalistic from the start. It is obvious that they easily confuse the ideas of honor and glory...more

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Jan 13, 2011

Taylor rated it

I read this book almost two years ago, and just recently stumbled upon it while doing some cleaning. The anger I felt back when I read it came flooding back, so it obviously had an effect on me.

I've read and enjoyed Mishima before (Forbidden Colors and Confessions of a Mask), but words cannot describe how much I hated this book. The children in this story are the embodiment of evil. They are horrible, horrible monsters who deserve to be locked up for life. Based on the glowing rev...more

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Aug 30, 2011

David Bulgarelli rated it

The sailor in the title of the book refers to Ryuji Tsukazaki, a sailor who falls in love with Fusako, the mother of Noboru. Noboru is a 13-year-old boy with an oedipal complex who suffers from the cold influence of an unnamed boy known only as "the chief" who acts as leader to his group of friends. The novel is quite short, so I can't say much else about it without giving too much away.

This novel is almost deceptive in how dark it is. You almost don't realize how disturbing ...more

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Dec 19, 2010

Amie rated it

I'm so torn over this book. If I was judging it on the prose alone I would say five stars. The writing was absolutely amazing. Poetic and beautiful. The story, however, was disturbing. I would give it one star. It was dark, depressing and graphic. I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked it up. It was recommended to me by a friend. The fact that the book evoked so much emotion in me, positive or negative, earned it an extra star. The juxtaposition between the beautiful writi...more

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Mar 27, 2010

Syed rated it

"The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea", was a good book. I had difficulty reading because of the change in perspective in each chapter, but the language was at an average level allowing me to read it in ease. The book also had many descriptions of the areas that Noburo, Ryuji, and Fusako were. I really did not understand the plot with all the little things but I only know that the book ended in a sad way. There was really no interesting parts in the book either and it got boring...more

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Apr 18, 2008

Raegan Butcher rated it

Strange tale of lust, voyeurism and cruelty from one of Japan's weirdest and most interesting writers. Very macabre yet strangely beautiful and unique.

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Aug 16, 2011

Dennis rated it

Did I like it nor not? I'm not sure. It's a very puzzling book; so many ideas crammed into its 181 pages, each one worthy of a novel on its own and yet, when gathered together in one book, it reads like a pseudo-philosophical rant. My gosh, each character is a walking talking wannabe-philosopher.

No matter what, though, you've got to read the book to its disturbing end. It's foreshadowed by an even more disturbing kitten scene, which sickened me throughout.

When reading thi...more

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Feb 09, 2011

Marcelo rated it

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Chilling, in part due to its austerity. Not sure what to think of the whole story yet - a mother, her son (a 13 year old in thrall to a nihilistic teenage lead that espouses that all adults are weak and threatening to the kids' "unlimited potential") and a sailor who always felt he belonged at sea to fulfill some great destiny, tragically intertwine their fates through the course of a year with disturbing results. A good read, don't want to say too much - suffice it to say that Mishima...more

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Feb 20, 2011

Stefanie rated it

Shelves: japanese, contemporary, favourites

Once again, this is a book that his incredibly hard to describe. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea centers around three characters - Noburo, a 13 year old boy, his mother Fusako and her lover Ryuji.

Fusako and Noburo live in a Japanese port town. Five years ago they lost the the man of the house, and it is only when the sailor Ryuji enters their lives during shore leave that Fusako feels her desires for a new man awaken. Their budding love affair is (sometimes too closely) w...moreOnce again, this is a book that his incredibly hard to describe. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea centers around three characters - Noburo, a 13 year old boy, his mother Fusako and her lover Ryuji.

Fusako and Noburo live in a Japanese port town. Five years ago they lost the the man of the house, and it is only when the sailor Ryuji enters their lives during shore leave that Fusako feels her desires for a new man awaken. Their budding love affair is (sometimes too closely) watched by Noburu. He is an intelligent boy with very strict views of what's right and wrong - and these views do not necessarily limit themselves to what you'd expect in a 13 year old boy, nor what society would deem acceptable. Noburo is part of a gang of 13 year old children who have come to believe that only they can judge the right and wrong of the world. Slowly Noburo finds Ryuji to fall from grace as an untouchable hero of the sea to a family man, a change that carries him and Fusako towards a happy future. Unknown to them, this change also invokes the harsh judgement of Noburo and his gang...

This book is nothing if not unexpected. Each page draws you into the little world of its story more deeply, wraps around you and won't let you go. The descriptions of the port town are cinematic in their vividness, the metaphors are of a poetic, dark nature and the philosophies presented twisted and fascinating. The end is inevitable. Like drums the pages of the book lead you to a destination, and although your every step grants you a bigger knowledge of what this destination is, once you reach it you will be left breathless and amazed and horrified. Mishima is working towards a climax and leaves you with the helpless, terrible knowledge of what is going to happen inevitably, but he does not make you live through it. Not unlike Murakami's After Dark, the reader is left with but a glimpse of where this story is progressing. As though riding a rollercoaster, you reach the top, the world is stretched out for you to see and observe, and just as you are carried over the peak you are left with that feeling of dread and anxiety and excitement for what you know will follow. For me this was a fresh spin of the usual climax-and-resolution-end; a gripping experience.

Some minor points might be deducted for the book slowing down in the last quarter before picking up again for its climax, but it is just a small, forgiveable dent in a steady, sickeningly fantastic ride.(less)

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Sep 28, 2009

Veronika KaoruSaionji rated it

This is mature work of Mishima. His heroine is real woman, not projection of Mishima as before, his first main hero, sailor Ryuichi, is one s not Omi-like. And I don´like it. :o)
But, his other main hero Noboru is young boy, 13 yers old (14 at the end) and he is projection of Mishima. Noboru is half orphan, his mother (heroine) is widow. She is single long time, but she falls in love with Ryuichi and she wants to marry him again (this is heterosexual romance - I don´t like it). Ryuichi is ...moreThis is mature work of Mishima. His heroine is real woman, not projection of Mishima as before, his first main hero, sailor Ryuichi, is one s not Omi-like. And I don´like it. :o)
But, his other main hero Noboru is young boy, 13 yers old (14 at the end) and he is projection of Mishima. Noboru is half orphan, his mother (heroine) is widow. She is single long time, but she falls in love with Ryuichi and she wants to marry him again (this is heterosexual romance - I don´t like it). Ryuichi is sailor, but because his love for her he stays in the mainland and sacrifices his dreams about his glory and heroic death in the sea.
Noboru is member of gang of teenage deliquents, they kill kitten as their play and they want to kill human (as expresssion of their "freedom"). Noboru hates Ryuichi and loves Ryuichi as his hero and symbol of manliness at the same time (and he peeps through small hole into bedroom, when his mother and Ryuichi make love), but he is dissapointed by his kind, unheroic behaviour before his friends from the gang and hates him more and more. He denies Ryuichi as his new father!
He tells about Ryuichi his friends in the gang. Than leader of his gang wants to kill Ryuichi - as their human sacrifice, and as "saving true hero in Ryuichi for Noboru", too. They make mountain trip for Ryiuchi and give strong sedative in his tea before they kill him. Sailor tells stories about his sea adventures and he is sad because loss of oportunity for his glory and heroic death. Than he gets his tea from trembling hands of sad Noboru. This tea is bitter as glore itself... And this is end. The killing of Ryuichi or reaction of heroine is not there. But this is great thing! I like it very much!
Noboru´s part and teenage gang´s part is very interesting. This is the most valuable part of this novel for me! I don´t like heterosexual romance there and Ryuichi´s part is often boring, but the views of young (dangerous) boys are superb!
I am very glad that I read this novel because it.(less)

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May 25, 2011

Brady Kimball rated it

Shelves: 2011

I've always heard of Mishima because of his unique perspectives on glory, death, honor, and grace. I feel like "The Sailor..." is a compact introduction to a number of interesting themes: freedom, peace, death, inertia, disgrace, violence, sex, etc. Reminding us that children aren't always as innocent as we would like, "The Sailor..." conveys the paradox of adult doting against the actual inner monologue of a child without a father.

This book is definitely recomm...more

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Nov 12, 2011

Frank rated it

An author without fear, Mishima has not only mastered his craft of using words for description but easily enters parallel universes of people who seem to share space and circumstances. This dark tale of a sailor who falls in love with a widowed upscale shopkeeper in Yokohama shows how simple daily life activities are viewed and interpreted rather differently; how the quality of articulateness comes and goes; and the difficulty of real communication, regardless of whether it is attempted.

...more

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Aug 28, 2011

Kurt rated it

This book, along with Lord of the Flies, almost makes me believe in original sin. How can children be so evil? So wanton? And yet look at those school shootings by boys from 11 to 17.

Mishima knows way too much about evil. He was a sadomasochist who found militarism to be a sexual turn-on. We should be grateful to him that he shared himself with us, and did it so beautifully. You can see by reading him how the Japanese could be so monstrous in the 30s and 40s. But he has no answer...more

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About Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima, a Japanese author, poet and playwright, famous for both his highly notable post-war writings and the circumstances of his ritual suicide by seppuku.

Mishima wrote 40 novels, 18 plays, 20 books of short stories, and at least 20 books of essays, one libretto, as well as one film. A large portion of this oeuvre comprises books written quickly for profit, but even if these a...more

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“An ugliness unfurled in the moonlight and soft shadow and suffused the whole world. If I were an amoeba, he thought, with an infinitesimal body, I could defeat ugliness. A man isn’t tiny or giant enough to defeat anything.” — 7 people liked it

“..and certain that life consisted of a few simple signals and decisions; that death took root at the moment of birth and man’s only recourse thereafter was to water and tend it; that propagation was a fiction; consequently, society was a fiction too; that fathers and teachers, by virtue of being fathers and teachers, were guilty of a grievous sin.” — 4 people liked it

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