A review by mrtvavrana
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 

While I do know a lot about Mishima, his life, and his (extraordinary? horrifying?) death, and I've been eyeing his works for close to a decade, this was my first. 

The first thing I am going to say is that this book is somehow exactly like him. Don't ask me to explain, because I can't. 

While the book itself is really short, just over 140 pages, I felt like it was so much longer. I definitely don't mean that in a bad way, no. The detailed descriptions, no matter how short or gruesome, were quite mesmerizing and gave the book an illusion of length. I think that maybe they took away from the characters and story a bit, but I did not really mind it. 

The story itself is quite enjoyable if you are into dark stuff. I've seen people calling this book terrible, and to a certain extent I have to agree.

Noboru spying on his mother through a peephole, Noboru and his "friends" torturing, murdering, and dissecting a helpless kitten, all their deranged fantasies and ideals, and the ultimate (hinted) murder of Noboru's stepfather were too much even for me.

 

I also think the book was beautiful. The writing flowed seamlessly, the characters had depth (although I wish the book was longer and we learned more of the boys and their actions), and Mishima described everything perfectly. I also noticed many parallels with his own life, which makes me think: how much of this story has really happened?