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3 Stars • The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is about Noboru Kuroda, a 13-year-old boy in a nihilistic gang, and his mother Fusako, who starts an affair with Ryuji Tsukazaki, a sailor. Initially, Noboru idolizes Ryuji for his adventurous life at sea. Ryuji's decision to settle down and marry Fusako is seen by Noboru and his friends as a betrayal of the sea's romantic ideal. The gang plots against Ryuji, leading to his murder by boys.

The plot flowed so subtly; something so horrible hiding itself behind the the façade of a child being a mere child. The spectrum of glory, on which stood one 13 year old and one 30-something year old, mirroring one another, was beautifully done. The exploration of masculinity, obsession and more, through seemingly two different lenses was so beautifully done. I would love to read a book just on each and every single one of the characters on here.

Fusako on Ryuji (ie the prototype of masculinity according to both himself and Noboru): “…what a simple man he was!… First he had misled her with his pensive look ubfi expectibg profound observations or even a passionate declaration, and then he had begun a monologue on shreds of green leaf, and pratted about his personal history, and finally, horribly entangled in his own story, burst into the refrain of a popular song!”

I generally don't read the synopsis of a book when I pick it up and go in quite blind. Got through about one third of this. It was dark ( I could deal- ish... ), the language was lyrical (great), but then there was that graphic animal cruelty scene and I don't think this book will be for me - what with me being on the fence about "dark".
Was hoping to read this as a nautical book for #booked2022. Will have to pick another.

The book I read was a book written by Yukio Mishima. This book follows a very philosophical boy named Noboru. His ideas are strange and his morals are not what you would say “normal“ for a thirteen-year-old boy. At the start of the book he spies on his naked mother through a peephole in his wall; he only does this when his mother is being mean or is scolding him.

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 115
#BooksToRead #TBRPile #TBRMountain

I thought this was an interesting book- it had Lord of the Flies vibes to it. A band of intellectual 13 years deciding to take lives into their own hands in order to find meaning and purpose. A love story as well. It was very disturbing at times. Although I enjoyed this just fine, I wouldn't necessarily recommend.

From start to finish this was a dark and captivating read!

It was beautifully written but I totally did not expect it to turn into a disgusting monster! Truly a disturbing kid with such sickening mindset! I was so appalled at the end 🤮🤮🤮

Next up. The writing is lovely so far.

Gonna drink some tea, read for a bit, & then hit the bed! Have a lovely evening! 💕🌸

#japaneselit #yukiomishima #ownvoices

Finished this late last year. I bought it simply because I loved the cover and wanted to try some Japanese fiction having only ever read Ring. Some parts of it went over my head though. After reading about the author's fate I realised that he was a very deep man and I would like to read more of his work but whilst I did quite enjoy this I didn't love it - I'd have preferred to have witnessed the aftermath of the ending. Dark and philosophical.

My cat, Eggy Say, agrees: Kill all the fictional people you want, but murder a fictional kitten, and you're a monster. Not sure I can keep reading Mishima. I keep telling myself no actual kittens were harmed.

What an amazing & terrifying book this is. Six boys have a "pure" creed that finds fault in everything. Their uncompromising view echoes the view of sea life that Ryuji has before he starts seeing Noboru's mother. His move toward love & fatherhood starts a nightmare of acts by the boys, acts of misused ideals. The tragedy is their misguided rejection of any human warmth or faults for an untenable vision of pure freedom. (Sea image: Lucy Bellwood)

An ugliness unfurled in the moonlight and soft shadow and suffused the whole world. If I were an amoeba, he thought, with an infinitesimal body, I could defeat ugliness. A man isn‘t tiny or giant enough to defeat anything.

Yet another book that I can't seem to find anywhere so I'll post a screenshot of the cover! I loved this book so much and thought it was perfect for #SetByTheSea #TheSailorWhoFellFromGrace #YukioMishima #Day20 #SomethingforSept #SeptPhotoChallenge