The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea: A haunting novel of adolescence and honour in 1950s Japan. (Vintage Classics)

Very enjoyable read

Top of the range book the displays the most interesting of Japanese literature. This is a must-read for anyone who turns to Japanese culture as an interest or hobby. Sorry, I don’t want to give anything on the book away…

Mishima is a phenomenal writer. Crafts his characters perfectly. Has a lot of interesting things to say. But dear God is this a crap print, never seen so many typos in a book so short.

This novel opens with Noboru, a child, locked in his room, where he discovers a peephole, in the back of his chest of drawers, into his mother’s (Fusako) bedroom. She brings a sailor home and Noboru secretly watches them. The sailor, Ryuji, is a loner described as “full of unexpressed feelings”, who once thought he was destined for great things. Then he meets Fusako and is tempted into an ordinary life. The writing is undeniably beautiful, but the story is dark and disturbing. A quick look online indicates the author himself is cloaked in controversy with seemingly far right, anti-West and misogynistic views. He is obsessed with protecting Japanese heritage, and he eventually dies by seppuku. (The suicidal honor death of Samurais by disembowelment with sword) That context colors everything. Noboru belongs to a gang of thirteen-year-old boys who genuinely believe they are the only ones who can save the world. They believe the past was heroic and the modern world is weak. Their arrogance and their subsequent actions are frightening. In some respects, it reminded me of The Lord of the Flies, with the difference being that these boys were not unexpectantly isolated. The adults they despise react like reasonable and understanding human beings, yet Noboru and co sees them as weak. Given the authors’ views, I guess this is about the loss of the heroic past to the ordinary present. Ryuji represents the transition and the boys represent the disgust of the author. Pretty intense!

Looks interesting

Ryuji is a sailor who spends his life searching the horizon for some vague glorious destiny that never appears; Fusako is a young widow who takes refuge from loneliness in her swanky boutique; and Noboru is her thirteen year old son, a weaselly, voyeuristic little creep. Noboru is part of a gang convinced of their superiority over everyone else and bonded by a crude nihilistic credo, but their petty schoolboy cruelty reveals them for the obnoxious brats that they really are. When Ryuji and Fusako begin an affair Noboru is initially captivated by the audacious seaman who seems to manifest something of the gang’s Übermensch romanticism - until Ryuji inadvertently incurs their disapproval and events slide towards a grim denouement. This brief overview barely scratches the surface of a book rich in symbolism and metaphor that explores the tensions between men and women, children and adults, fathers and sons, land and sea, freedom and security, and modernity and tradition. Mishima crams more into this slim volume than most writers manage in books of far greater length. Translations are always problematic both in terms of language and culture, and the transition from Japanese to English must be especially difficult. There are some nice poetic flourishes throughout, though the hackneyed American phrasing of the dialogue seemed jarring and out of place with the rest of the text. How much this reflects the original I don’t know but as with all translated works I often wonder how much of the book I’m reading is the book the author wrote. Despite these reservations this is still an acknowledged classic that has been much analysed over the years and there is nothing that I can say here that hasn’t been said already. In summary, if you can stomach its more distasteful elements I would recommend it to anyone who likes exploring books with hidden depths. Cat lovers might want to give this one a miss, though.

I have recently been reading Japenense literature and this is another gem. A sailor becomes involved with a mother and her son and this tale is a mix of a love story with elements of Lord of the Flies. I had to keep reminding myself that the book was written in the 1970s as it had not aged.

After a wonderful 8 days on holiday in Tokyo. I needed something to read on the 12 hour flight home and thought it would be appropriate to try some Japanese literature. I was browsing on Amazon and this was one of the few titles I had heard of. I was pleasantly surprised , it was actually very good. The novel is short, evocative and very moving. A previous reviewer mentions "Lord of the Flies" and I can see why. I cannot speak for the accuracy of the translation, but the English language version reads very well. If , like me, you never read any Japanese literature, it seems a good place to start.

A good read and a good start if you want to read more of Yukios work.

Every word fits perfectly

Love this edition! My order came within 2 days (even over the Christmas public holiday break). Packed with care and left in a sheltered area on my property so it’d be safe. Great experience.

I received the book in pristine condition, it had no errors or paragraphs misaligned and there was no sign of wear on the book. The font used is a little on the smaller side though, but I could do just fine with it

The story was easy to read and not for it’s simplicity, the word choice and translation made it an easy yet very interesting and deep story. It is a well written story and the plot was shocking to say the least.