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samranakhtar 's review for:
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
by Yukio Mishima
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is a marvelous novel that is both dark and carries an allegorical meaning in the grand scheme of things. It delves into a psychological world of a teenager that is detached from the world outside his own.
Yukio Mashima portrays Noboru's character as one caught between conformity within a peer circle and one that questions his beliefs and views about fathers. It is a beautiful yet dark portrayal of our beliefs within a group and how we put our faith in one person to give us the truth. I also looked at it from a religious lense where the chief in the story represents the leader and the followers are the teenagers that do not adopt the same power. They cannot question but blindly follow orders that they perceive to be appropriate. Yet, the absence of reason tends to lead a mind down a dark oath and that is where Noboru's character comes in. The teenagers become part of a cult that functions on the sole purpose of finding meaning in life and abiding my rigid, strict rules of their own creation.
I also found the novel moving because it illustrates the lost glory and inner death of a character like Ryuji who dismisses everything that he was passionate about to adopt a normative life in society. The realization of this death pulls him back towards the sea where his soul lies.
I am a fan of Mashima's writing because he paints vivid images within the dark and disturbing ideas.
I would highly recommend this novel. It reminded me of Lord of the Flies.
Yukio Mashima portrays Noboru's character as one caught between conformity within a peer circle and one that questions his beliefs and views about fathers. It is a beautiful yet dark portrayal of our beliefs within a group and how we put our faith in one person to give us the truth. I also looked at it from a religious lense where the chief in the story represents the leader and the followers are the teenagers that do not adopt the same power. They cannot question but blindly follow orders that they perceive to be appropriate. Yet, the absence of reason tends to lead a mind down a dark oath and that is where Noboru's character comes in. The teenagers become part of a cult that functions on the sole purpose of finding meaning in life and abiding my rigid, strict rules of their own creation.
I also found the novel moving because it illustrates the lost glory and inner death of a character like Ryuji who dismisses everything that he was passionate about to adopt a normative life in society. The realization of this death pulls him back towards the sea where his soul lies.
I am a fan of Mashima's writing because he paints vivid images within the dark and disturbing ideas.
I would highly recommend this novel. It reminded me of Lord of the Flies.