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mandalor3960's review against another edition
1.0
I feel that this collection of short stories was a joke played on me. The short stories felt pointless and dealt with topics that seemed unlike Mishima.
Notes
Preface: I am disappointed that John Bester, the translator, did not include about a dozen lines because of their inability to render the original as faithful as possible.
I believe that I will come across one or two stories from this collection that I will enjoy and which will reach the heights of three and four stars, while the rest will be two stars.
Fountains in the Rain: Started off great, with the boy rejecting the girl and dragging her along, but then stagnated with his inspection of the fountain and the indefinite ending. I didn't care about the symbolism of fountains or teenage love affairs. Two stars.
Raisin Bread: I enjoyed the atmosphere of the misanthropothic youth. However, the story felt pointless aside from giving this mood. Two stars.
Sword: This felt like a long pointless, nearly 60 page short story. Jiro's death seems out of the blue. I feel that the short story deserves a one star-rating for how long and pointless it ended up being. One star.
Sea and Sunset: Mishima writing about a Christian whose landed in Japan after failing during the Children's crusade? This is very strange of Mishima and this choice has left me with a bitter reception to the short story, especially after Jesus appeared to Anri, the French Christian, and told him to go to the sea where he would part the sea so he could go to the holy land. Lies. One star.
Cigarette: A boy smoking a cigarette and then having the world change around him? Why is Mishima writing about these topics? These short stories are becoming increasingly pointless and dull. One star.
Martyrdom: These short stories are reminding me of primary school stories I was required to read. They inconclusive and try to grasp something higher than what it actually is. An ostracized boy who gets in a relationship with an alpha male and is hanged is not a story that interests me. I hate that his body has disappeared after he was hanged in the end. One star.
Act of Worship: I liked some aspects of the history of Japanese poetry associated with the shrines. I was put off by poor Tsuneko being subservient to the professor and continuing to fulfill the professor’s dreams relating to the girl he once loved. I had liked the story up until the end. I was enjoying Tsuneko’s desire to become proficient at poetry as well as their stops at the shrine. Two stars.
Detailed rating of the collection of short stories:
Fountains in the Rain (Pages 3-12, 10 pages): 0.1063829787234043 stars
Raisin Bread (Pages 15-33, 19 pages): 0.2021276595744681 stars.
Sword (Pages 37-91, 55 pages): 0.2925531914893617 stars.
Sea and Sunset (Pages 95-105, 11 pages): 0.0585106382978723 stars.
Cigarette (Pages 109-124, 16 pages): 0.085106382978723 stars.
Martyrdom (Pages 127-142, 16 pages): 0.085106382978723 stars.
Act of Worship (Pages 145-205, 61 pages): 0.648936170212766 stars.
188 pages total. 1.478723404255318 total stars, which rounds down to one star.
December 28, 2019
Update
A note for the December 27, 2019, rankings from my "Yukio Mishima Rankings" document: "Acts of Worship must be above After the Banquet because at least it has two star-rated sections. After the Banquet is brought down considerably by its feel that reading even the two star-rated sections are a waste of time". This note was also added to the After the Banquet review.
January 5, 2020
Update
I must clarify on this statement from the original review: "I was enjoying Tsuneko’s desire to become proficient at poetry as well as their stops at the shrine". This contradicts with a previous statement on how I was "put off by poor Tsuneko being subservient to the professor and continuing to fulfill the professor’s dreams relating to the girl he once loved", which involved visiting the shrines. The imagery of the shrines was beautiful and to my liking, but the later shrines and the unveilment of the professor's actions disappointed me.
January 12, 2020
Update
I have thought of raising the ratings of "Cigarette" and "Martyrdom" but these were short stories that I finished reading and found them to be a waste of time. Even their boring, two star-rated content is buildup that amounts to nothing. This is a case where buildup is considered part of what it amounts to in a negative way.
"Act of Worship" will remain at two stars, despite my liking for it, because of the Professor using Tsuneko to help bury articles of his dead lover.
Notes
Preface: I am disappointed that John Bester, the translator, did not include about a dozen lines because of their inability to render the original as faithful as possible.
I believe that I will come across one or two stories from this collection that I will enjoy and which will reach the heights of three and four stars, while the rest will be two stars.
Fountains in the Rain: Started off great, with the boy rejecting the girl and dragging her along, but then stagnated with his inspection of the fountain and the indefinite ending. I didn't care about the symbolism of fountains or teenage love affairs. Two stars.
Raisin Bread: I enjoyed the atmosphere of the misanthropothic youth. However, the story felt pointless aside from giving this mood. Two stars.
Sword: This felt like a long pointless, nearly 60 page short story. Jiro's death seems out of the blue. I feel that the short story deserves a one star-rating for how long and pointless it ended up being. One star.
Sea and Sunset: Mishima writing about a Christian whose landed in Japan after failing during the Children's crusade? This is very strange of Mishima and this choice has left me with a bitter reception to the short story, especially after Jesus appeared to Anri, the French Christian, and told him to go to the sea where he would part the sea so he could go to the holy land. Lies. One star.
Cigarette: A boy smoking a cigarette and then having the world change around him? Why is Mishima writing about these topics? These short stories are becoming increasingly pointless and dull. One star.
Martyrdom: These short stories are reminding me of primary school stories I was required to read. They inconclusive and try to grasp something higher than what it actually is. An ostracized boy who gets in a relationship with an alpha male and is hanged is not a story that interests me. I hate that his body has disappeared after he was hanged in the end. One star.
Act of Worship: I liked some aspects of the history of Japanese poetry associated with the shrines. I was put off by poor Tsuneko being subservient to the professor and continuing to fulfill the professor’s dreams relating to the girl he once loved. I had liked the story up until the end. I was enjoying Tsuneko’s desire to become proficient at poetry as well as their stops at the shrine. Two stars.
Detailed rating of the collection of short stories:
Fountains in the Rain (Pages 3-12, 10 pages): 0.1063829787234043 stars
Raisin Bread (Pages 15-33, 19 pages): 0.2021276595744681 stars.
Sword (Pages 37-91, 55 pages): 0.2925531914893617 stars.
Sea and Sunset (Pages 95-105, 11 pages): 0.0585106382978723 stars.
Cigarette (Pages 109-124, 16 pages): 0.085106382978723 stars.
Martyrdom (Pages 127-142, 16 pages): 0.085106382978723 stars.
Act of Worship (Pages 145-205, 61 pages): 0.648936170212766 stars.
188 pages total. 1.478723404255318 total stars, which rounds down to one star.
December 28, 2019
Update
A note for the December 27, 2019, rankings from my "Yukio Mishima Rankings" document: "Acts of Worship must be above After the Banquet because at least it has two star-rated sections. After the Banquet is brought down considerably by its feel that reading even the two star-rated sections are a waste of time". This note was also added to the After the Banquet review.
January 5, 2020
Update
I must clarify on this statement from the original review: "I was enjoying Tsuneko’s desire to become proficient at poetry as well as their stops at the shrine". This contradicts with a previous statement on how I was "put off by poor Tsuneko being subservient to the professor and continuing to fulfill the professor’s dreams relating to the girl he once loved", which involved visiting the shrines. The imagery of the shrines was beautiful and to my liking, but the later shrines and the unveilment of the professor's actions disappointed me.
January 12, 2020
Update
I have thought of raising the ratings of "Cigarette" and "Martyrdom" but these were short stories that I finished reading and found them to be a waste of time. Even their boring, two star-rated content is buildup that amounts to nothing. This is a case where buildup is considered part of what it amounts to in a negative way.
"Act of Worship" will remain at two stars, despite my liking for it, because of the Professor using Tsuneko to help bury articles of his dead lover.
averbee's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
lostmacaroon's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good. Sword, Sea and Sunset, Raisin Bread and Martyrdom were the best stories. The book definitely shows Mishima’s range, with some stories being surrealistic, some being similar to his other work (martyrdom and the man who fell from grace) and some doing a good job of exploring relationships. I don’t know if I loved any of the stories but there is a lot of subtle nuance and layers to the stories that I would go back and re-read them in the future.
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