By Yukio Mishima
SPOILER-FREE
A band of thirteen-year-old boys reject the stupidity of the adult world. They decide it is 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 disillusionment as an act of betrayal on his part – and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.
REVIEW
THEMES: DARK, DISTURBING, CLASSIC, MEDIUM-PACED.
Warning; animal abuse and incestuous behaviours, gore.
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea follows a single mother, Fusako, and her son, Noboru. The dynamic between the two is complex and unconventional – which only becomes more bizarre once his mother meets Ryuji, an experienced sailor. Noboru and his friends start to develop a set of expectations on how people should behave, and unfortunately Ryuji is not meeting his criteria.
This is such a strange book, it makes you wonder what the author experienced to even think to write it. It is not a ‘horror’, per say, but at times reads like one.
The characters are interesting. Noboru and his friends are the epitome of childish arrogance, with their self-assured dogmatic views. It perfectly captures that time of youth when you think you know everything and it makes me cringe.
His mother, Fusako brings some much-needed normality to the book, nicely evening out all the absurdity. The boyfriend of the Fusako, Ryuji, is my favourite character. Whilst at times his choices are, questionable – overall you can tell he is trying his best to make do with the situation at hand.
The plot is intense and confronting, there are so many incidents that leave you feeling violated. Though, despite it all, I felt nowhere near as bleak as I have with other books, that are far less severe.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, despite the disturbing content. I would recommend to horror readers – or someone who has an interest in books that feature peculiar family dynamics.
Click link below for Storygraph overview, which includes general rating, summary (same as above) and other reviews.
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