The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea

By: Yukio Mishima

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

A band of savage 13-year-old boys reject the adult world as 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 disallusionment as an act of betrayal on his part - and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.

©1965 Copyright 1965 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright renewed 1993 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Originally published in Japanese as Gogo No Eiko by Kodansha in 1963. (P)2010 Audible, Inc

Critic Reviews

"Mishima's greatest novel, and one of the greatest of the past century." ( The Times)

"Coolly exact with his characters and their honourable motives. His aim is to make the destruction of the sailor by his love seem as inevitable as the ocean." ( Guardian)

"Told with Mishima's fierce attention to naturalistic detail, the grisly tale becomes painfully convincing and yields a richness of psychological and mythic truth." ( Sunday Times)

Unsettling writing, flawed reading

I can only agree with a previous reviewer. The novel itself is very moving and exquisitely done. It has a fluid, effortless flow, and at the same time is unrelentingly brutal (and really not for the faint of heart). In some aspects it reminded me of "The Lord of the Flies", of "Crime and Punishment" and Sartre's "The Nausea". In one of the strongest scenes in the book, a group of boys kill and "dissect" a stray kitten in order to train themselves in "perfect lack of feeling" -- I had a very hard time listening to this. But the most striking thing is the seeming ease with which the writing shifts between points of view, between past and present, between events and reminiscences. It could have been an outstanding audiobook.

But unfortunately it isn't, and that is due to the reader. It's a shame, because Brian Nishii reads very clearly and pronounces all the Japanese names correctly. But for some reason he almost always seems to emphasize the wrong part of the sentence. It's as if he reads every sentence separately, with no notion of context. In the end, it was possible to follow and enjoy the writing, but I had to overcome the flaws in the narration to do that. And that's the exact opposite of what an audiobook narrator should do.

Bottom line: recommended, but proceed with caution.

Good Book

PewDiePie recemended this book through a video he uploaded a while ago, So I bought the book and and go ahead and got the audio book to make it easier on myself to read it. The voice is good and all the words are pronounced correctly (even the names which are Japanese).

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And....I'm done with Mishima

This is not a bad book. If you're new to Mishima, or you're a die hard fan of Mishima's style, this book will be great for you. This is my 3rd Mishima novel, and the third that follows an outsider who feels empty and misplaced, a sadistic sidekick, and a slow story that ends with a premeditated act of violence. It was interesting the first time. Less the second. Even less so this time.

Don't make this your first Mishima Novel

Although the novel is relatively short, the style and detailed poetic descriptions of EVERY SINGLE MOMENT, feels less inspiring and more like a chore to get through.

I think I'm at fault for undertaking this one not knowing of the poetic and slow paced structure of the novel.

The general plot is simple to the point of being boring up until the last few chapters, it is worth the wait if you're mindful of this

There is something great here and I need to revisit this sometime in the future after maybe reading some of his other work.

Excellent reading

This is the third Mishima work read by Brian Nishii that I've listened to now. He has really grown on me. His subdued style works well and does not become intrusive. As a student of Japanese, I appreciate that he actually knows how to pronounce

Even the killing of a kitten is brute poetry

This is not for the tender hearted. Yukio Mishima's prose is brilliant but Brian Nishii is a master at drawing the characters, especially the sociopathic Chief.

amazing.

amazing narrator and prose. only mishima can write a beautiful, but haunting tale of this caliber.

Weird / dark

What the heck did I just listen too?? Very day and morbid. Not at all what I thought it was going to be

weird story but beautiful writing from Mishima!

the narrator for is good, i did have to speed it up
overall very nice!

A dark tale of honor and glory

This was my first read by Mishima. I found the narrator to be decent enough - a bit of a lack of inflection at times. The story was very interesting, and certainly a deviation from what many westerners read and are used to in literature. Would recommend for those interested in Japanese novels.

The Tragedy of Both Worlds

I have wandered through two long audiobooks, Dickens' "Bleak House" and Pynchon's "Against the Day", the latter in which I became lost so irretrievably that I needed a rescue team to get me out - I have no intentions to return in the foreseeable future, despite "Mason & Dixon" occupying the top spot in my books as my favourite piece of literature.

In short, I needed a change, preferably something modest in length. A Japanese friend of mine, a teacher of Japanese literature, recommended Mishima, and to my joy there are a few audiobooks available here on Audible.

I started with "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea", and I was thoroughly impressed. Not only is there some utterly beautiful language, which also means that the English translation is commendable, but the sheer energy of the narrative is superb. Sure, this is a dark place to descend to, but Mishima really knows how to take us there: despite the short length of the novel, he takes his time, sets up the pieces, and not only alludes to a violent climax, he makes it the obvious outcome by the time of the ruby heart in the boys' hands. Yet still, when we get to the inevitable, he is able to transcend mere brutality, angst and anarchism. It's a masterful ending to a masterfully narrated story, and I hope I'm not spoiling too much by pointing out how wonderful it really is.

The book is a modern tale of alienation, and, as the Chief states towards the end, "the world is empty." I think Mishima is able to describe that emptiness evocatively enough to make it plausible, but also do the nigh-impossible, that is, not severe his ties with the other world, which in the novel is the world of the adults, and parents. And because of the fluidity of his writing, it feels like he's guiding us on a boat through the river, whence we can see both shores, and the tragedy of both worlds.

Next, I'm going to listen to the sound of waves.

Food for thought.

Interesting development and delivers a surreal experience overall, worth my time! Will be interesting to find more novels from this author, I enjoyed every second.

magnificent!

wonderfully exciting all senses. love Mishima. waiting for forgotten colours to come audio. make it happen!

damn poetic piece of art

it is one damn poetic piece of art, will be rereading it again soon .

Great Book.

I highly recommend this book and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Scary, japanese

Hypnotic, scary. The language is beautiful, the story sharply defined, the message unnerving. Probably worth a reread or two

Nasty...

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who like dark, grubby little books with episodes of animal cruelty. And newspaper critics.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Some of the language is quite good.

Any additional comments?

A nasty little book about nasty little boys being nasty. I tolerated the boy spying on his mother's naked body and then on her having sex. I put up with the pretentious, unrealistic conversation the boys have amongst themselves about the existential emptiness of life. But I abandoned it at the point when they were just about to kill a kitten for fun. Not for me.

Avoid

A book about repulsive characters and animal cruelty. Could not finish because of a nauseating scene.

Not for me

This book is not something I would ever enjoy but it is so well written and the ending is so powerful that I will remember it forever.

It’s a brilliant work of literature and I wish I was mature enough to be able to appreciate its dark elements more.

A well written book, but the story disappointed.

Mishima writes beautifully, the story is powerful. The characters interesting enough. But why only four stars? The ending - it fell short for me. That may not be the case for everybody so don't be put off. Listen to the story and make up your own mind. I can't say precisely what bothered me - it would give the game away.