The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea
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4.4 • 19 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
A tale of youth and warped masculinity, this is the suspenseful, lyrical and page-turning Japanese classic.
A band of thirteen-year-old boys reject the stupidity of the adult world. They decide it is 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 idealise the man at first, but it is not long before they conclude that he is, in fact, soft and romantic. They regard this disillusionment as an act of betrayal on his part – and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.
‘Mishima’s greatest novel, and one of the greatest of the past century’ The Times
TRANSLATED BY JOHN NATHAN
Customer Reviews
Layered
The novella is a short read, done in an hour or two. The plot itself is fairly simple and the synopsis covers it, but within the simplicity of the story the author has layered complex themes that can be challenging to the reader’s sensibilities. In some ways, Mishima reminds me of de Sade. He has a strong world view which can be repulsive to our sensibilities (for good reason) but does touch on deeper human truths.