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spiralnode 's review for:
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea
by Yukio Mishima
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A story about the relationship between youth and adults, as well as the connection between human and nature, 'The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea' is a meditative, reflective story that pulled equally on my heartstrings as on my neurons.
Noboru is thirteen, living with his mother after the death of his father five years ago. He is known for being rebellious and getting himself into trouble, and so his mum develops the habit of locking him into his room at night. He discovers a peephole between their rooms, and starts to observe her moves at night, including her affairs with the sailor Ryuji.
In general, child protagonists don't work for me. It's a mixture of finding them uninteresting or poorly written. Many books seem to come from an entirely unempathetic viewpoint where the author has no recollection of what thought patterns and inner monologue might emerge at that age. For Noboru though, this was done incredibly well. We have elements of peer pressure and manipulation, and his world view starts to develop towards nihilism - a world of emptiness, where parents are seen as inhibiting towards their children, where try as they may they cannot succeed. Whether fathers are violent or encouraging, in the opinion of Noboru's gang leader, they oppress, just as all other forms of authority.
Thus, even though on their first encounter Noboru sees Ryuji as a hero, him intermingling into their lives has a downwards effect. Objectively speaking, Ryuji is thoughtful and careful when it comes to Noboru, he is deeply aware of the impact parents have. Yet in listening to his friend, and seeing the urbanisation and Westernisation of Ryuji through his daily preoccupations, manner and even wardrobe, a hero soon becomes a nemesis.
Ryuji is also an incredibly absorbing character. We learn to understand why he chose life at sea, how he views his own path and how even as an adult he is still unconvinced about choosing between a stable family life with a woman he cares about, or the complete absence of land. The descriptions of the sea, the breeze, the colours, intermingled with the industrial side of the shipping industry, make this an evocative journey into Yokohama.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. While I did see the plot twist coming, it was well constructed, in that you fear the consequences of the conflict between Noboru and Ryuji, you are aware of the options, yet as a reader you are attached to both of them so you've still got hope left that it will be resolved constructively. I thought this was a realistic rendition of life as a teenager, the mixture of emotions from discovering sex, impressing friends, and turning a hierarchical relationship with parents into one based on respect. It's dark, no doubt about that, but positively challenging all the same.
Noboru is thirteen, living with his mother after the death of his father five years ago. He is known for being rebellious and getting himself into trouble, and so his mum develops the habit of locking him into his room at night. He discovers a peephole between their rooms, and starts to observe her moves at night, including her affairs with the sailor Ryuji.
In general, child protagonists don't work for me. It's a mixture of finding them uninteresting or poorly written. Many books seem to come from an entirely unempathetic viewpoint where the author has no recollection of what thought patterns and inner monologue might emerge at that age. For Noboru though, this was done incredibly well. We have elements of peer pressure and manipulation, and his world view starts to develop towards nihilism - a world of emptiness, where parents are seen as inhibiting towards their children, where try as they may they cannot succeed. Whether fathers are violent or encouraging, in the opinion of Noboru's gang leader, they oppress, just as all other forms of authority.
Thus, even though on their first encounter Noboru sees Ryuji as a hero, him intermingling into their lives has a downwards effect. Objectively speaking, Ryuji is thoughtful and careful when it comes to Noboru, he is deeply aware of the impact parents have. Yet in listening to his friend, and seeing the urbanisation and Westernisation of Ryuji through his daily preoccupations, manner and even wardrobe, a hero soon becomes a nemesis.
Ryuji is also an incredibly absorbing character. We learn to understand why he chose life at sea, how he views his own path and how even as an adult he is still unconvinced about choosing between a stable family life with a woman he cares about, or the complete absence of land. The descriptions of the sea, the breeze, the colours, intermingled with the industrial side of the shipping industry, make this an evocative journey into Yokohama.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. While I did see the plot twist coming, it was well constructed, in that you fear the consequences of the conflict between Noboru and Ryuji, you are aware of the options, yet as a reader you are attached to both of them so you've still got hope left that it will be resolved constructively. I thought this was a realistic rendition of life as a teenager, the mixture of emotions from discovering sex, impressing friends, and turning a hierarchical relationship with parents into one based on respect. It's dark, no doubt about that, but positively challenging all the same.