The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea

A tale of youth and warped masculinity, this is the suspenseful, lyrical, and page-turning Japanese classic.

Overview

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, the boys initially idealise the man, but it is not long before they conclude that he is, in fact, soft and romantic. This disillusionment feels like an act of betrayal to them – and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.

Praise for the Novel

‘Mishima’s greatest novel, and one of the greatest of the past century’
– The Times

TRANSLATED BY JOHN NATHAN