Mishima's Sword: Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend
Ratings2
Average rating3
15
Ratings2
Average rating3
On November 25, 1970, the world renowned Japanese writer Yukio Mishima committed seppuku with his own antique sword. Mishima's spectacular suicide has been called many things: a hankering for heroism; a beautiful, perverse drama; a political protest against Japan's emasculated postwar constitution; the epitaph of a mad genius. Part travelogue, part biography, and part philosophical treatise, Mishima's Sword is the story of Christopher Ross's journey to find a sword and maybe an understanding of Mishima's country. The cold trail the author follows inspires a tale of the most engaging-and occasionally bizarre-sort, with glimpses of the real Japan that is not seen by tourists, with digressions on, among other things, bushido and socks, mutineers and Noh ghosts, nosebleeds and metallurgy-and even how to dress for suicide.
Reviews with the most likes.
This was an interesting book, and despite not knowing who Yukio Mishima was, I have a minor interest in Samurai, and Japan in general, but no solid knowledge.
The book outlines Mishima's life, his writing, his politics, and his death by Seppuku in 1970. It also outlines (in what was the more interesting aspect for me) information about Samurai swords, their manufacture and use. There is also background on Japanese martial arts and of course some of the authors past and present experiences in Japan.
This book suited my reading (at this time). It is presented in short sections (not even chapters) some a few sentences, some a few pages, most in between. They jump around in the topics noted above, and are not really chronological (although, for example, all the authors present experiences in Japan researching this book are presented in chronological order), so it all makes some sense.
The author travels to Japan with two (three?) goals - to track down Mishima's sword that he used to commit suicide, and to speak to those who knew Mishima and understand him, (and to write this book?). It was interesting that the author threw in (as those short chapters) other interactions he had in Japan which were seemingly quite irrelevant to the principle story. Those interactions and the authors experiences earlier in life, which he shares keep the book interesting.
A solid 3 stars. Can't say I will be seeking out any of Mishima's writing however.
