From the Bookshelf of David Bowie's Top 100 Books…

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

Yukio Mishima,

John Nathan (Translator)

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Aug 01, 2015 Yuko Shimizu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018_ultimate_favorites

There are better known books by Mishima. However, many of us, die hard Mishima fans, tend to name this novella as our ultimate favorite. Just reread this for the first time in... 20 years?
It did not disappoint though I was afraid my growing as a person as well as taste in books may change my perception. It didn’t. In fact, the book matured like a good wine; it was in fact even better than I remembered.
Often, my issues with many Mishimas are their endings. They end like nothing ever continues a ...more

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Jan 31, 2022 Mr. Bookworm rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. this centers around a young man named Noboru. he’s very similar to Holden in “catcher in the rye”, and just as insignificant, as far as i’m concerned. Noboru, along with his misguided friends, is obsessed with the idea of what a real man should be. he believes he found that man in Ryuji, his mother’s new love interest. Ryuji is a sailor, and Noboru sees him as his ideal hero, and a tamer of the wild seas. when his “hero” turns out to be just a regular guy, Noboru loses it, and him and his psycho ...more

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Sep 07, 2013 Fiona Robson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mishima, bowie-s-100

“Yukio Mishima’s The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea explores the vicious nature of youth that is sometimes mistaken for innocence.

Thirteen-year-old Noboru is a member of a gang of highly philosophical teenage boys who reject the tenets of the adult world — to them, adult life is illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental. When Noboru’s widowed mother is romanced by Ryuji, a sailor, Noboru is thrilled. He idolizes this rugged man of the sea as a hero. But his admiration soon turns to hatr ...more

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