(March Selection) The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

[[deleted user]]

Readers Inc. will begin reading this novel on March 1, 2016.

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

Summary:

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 hatred, as Ryuji forsakes life onboard the ship for marriage, rejecting everything Noboru holds sacred. Upset and appalled, he and his friends respond to this apparent betrayal with a terrible ferocity.
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March’s selection is the Japanese classic The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima. I’ve only read one other book by Mishima (Confessions of a Mask) which I loved.

Are you excited about this? Have you read any Mishima or Japanese fiction? Which edition will you be getting/reading?
More categories will be set up as the book reading begins. Thanks!

[Rosa]

Great choice - one I've been wanting to read for a while!

[Hilary]

I read and loved Death in Midsummer & Other Stories by Mishima a couple years ago. Very excited to read this one. Kinda want the UK Vintage version but more likely to get the Random House US version. :)

[[deleted user]]

I ordered the UK vintage one because it was cheaper. :) But I love the US cover. Gorgeous! Glad people are excited about it. Seems like it will give us lots to talk about.

[Beata]

I'e read some Japanese fiction, like Kenzaburo Oe, Haruki Murakami (my favorite is "Norwegian Wood", had no luck with others), Ruth Ozeki (if you count Japanese American), Kazuo Ishiguro (his earlier works might be considered "Japanese", his is fantastic merge between British and Japanese), Banana Yoshimoto, Kobo Abe etc. But probably most notable (for me) was Yasunari Kawabata whose works was my early twenties literary fascination.
As for Mishima I always wanted to read some (I even have "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion"), but never did, so it's great opportunity for me. My edition will be "just ebook" (yeah, I read mostly on e-readers).

[Brixton]

This is such a wonderful and disturbing read! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

[[deleted user]]

This is an author I am quite unfamiliar with and I look forward to delving into the novel.

[Malik]

Always wanted to read some Mishima, just never got around to it. Looking forward to reading some of his work.

[[deleted user]]

Brixton wrote: "This is such a wonderful and disturbing read! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!"

Thanks for posting. Since you've read it, I hope you will join us with our discussion.

[Brixton]

Caro wrote: "I'm currently reading my first work by a japanese author (Norweigan Wood by Murakami) and I'm really enjoying it. I look forward to read some more japanese literature."

Mishima will offer you something very, very different from Murakami's work. Murakami was incredibly influenced by English literature and has actively attempted to draw himself as far away from the traditional Japanese literary tradition as possible. Mishima on the other hand was very nationalistic and steeped himself in traditional Japanese culture. Mishima and Murakami's are worlds apart (but I love them both dearly!) :)

[Brixton]

Conrad wrote: "Brixton wrote: "This is such a wonderful and disturbing read! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!"

Thanks for posting. Since you've read it, I hope you will join us with our discussion."

Absolutely! I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts!

[Maddie]

I am so excited about this ...I just ordered my book, which will be my first Yukio Mishima book!

I've been fascinated by Japan and Japanese fiction for a long time now and I've liked pretty much everything I've read from Japan. Probably my favorite Japanese authors would be Natsuo Kirino (Out, Grotesque, Real World) and Ryu Murakami (Coin Locker Babies, Audtion, In the Miso Soup). I've dipped my toes in Haruki Murakami's works - I've only read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and Norwegian Wood and enjoyed them both-, a bit of Keigo Higashino, Hitomi Kanehara, Kobo Abe...but there are SO many Japanese authors that I want to get to!

Really looking forward to next month's reading and discussions!

[[deleted user]]

In the Miso Soup was insane. I'm not a real big fan of Murakami. I think he writes female characters pretty poorly and I usually find his work to be sort of plodding. He's well-loved so that's great. I think I've read four or five of his novels and I still haven't been blown away.

I'm glad you like the choice! Hopefully it will give us all lots to discuss. Good or bad!

[Maddie]

Conrad wrote: "In the Miso Soup was insane. I'm not a real big fan of Murakami. I think he writes female characters pretty poorly and I usually find his work to be sort of plodding. He's well-loved so that's grea..."

Yeah...I enjoyed the two I read, but I wasn't blown away by either, nor did I experience that big 'emotional connection' a lot of people mention when they talk about Haruki Murakami, especially Norwegian Wood. I've started reading Underground, which is one of his non-fictions about the Tokyo sarin gas attack, and it's been pretty good.

[Kathleen]

I've never read anything by this author and very little Japanese literature si I'm looking forward to this choice.

[Carol]

I've never heard of this author or this book and that's why I'm excited to join this group. I want to open my eyes to new things!

[Irene]

I've only read another book by Mishima, The Sound of Waves and I loved it. It had a very delicate prose and great descriptions. The sea was an important part of the plot, I think that is going to be the case with this book too. However, this sounds darker and I am looking forward to read it!

[[deleted user]]

Confessions of a Mask

This is the only other Mishima I've read. It was a positive experience. I guess we'll all find out soon if The Sailor is or not.

Ha!

[Clémentine]

Very excited about this.
This will be a re-read for me, my first read was maybe 5 or 6 years ago and I liked it very much. Also read Confessions of a Mask and Patriotism (in which he wrote about seppuku years before he committed that kind of ritual suicide).
I'll stick to my old French translation.

I don't know much about Japanese literature except for the two Murakamis (Ryu and Haruki, who were mentioned above) and Kenzaburo Oe (by whom I would recommend Seventeen, and an awesome collection of short stories entitled Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness)

[Francisco]

Very glad that you choose some Oriental fiction.

[Debra]

I'm probably the only person in this group old enough to say she saw the movie version of this book IN THE MOVIE THEATRE when it first came out. I can't say I was fond of the film, but have higher hopes for the book, which I just ordered from my local library. Looking forward to some insightful discussions!

[[deleted user]]

Me, too! It takes awhile to come from England.

[[deleted user]]

yup. I'm excited because I really have no idea what to expect. I know nothing about the story but the basic plot.

[Colleen]

Looking forward to reading something that I would have never picked up myself. This will be my first book club membership and I can't wait to start digging in!