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The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Essay Example

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The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Essay Example
1) Description A) The Book
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima is thought of being one of Japan's many exceptional and irreplaceable contributions to the world of literature. This book was translated by John Nathan, and published by First Vintage International in New York in 1994 at 181 pages long. The original edition was published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1965. Judging a book by it covers is often how I choose a book to read. Although this book was assigned for the class I still gave the cover a once over before reading it. My first impression was that the cover backed up the title of the book by offering a huge rolling wave as a focal point and the person portrayed the sailor. After learning that the Great Wave is a popular symbol of Japanese culture and reading the book I gave the cover another look. Everything about the cover reflects Japanese culture from the wave to the way that the title and the author’s name are written. On the cover is a person who I believe to be Noboru. In his eye you see the wave reflected which can be seen as the way Japanese culture is reflected in him for he and his friends are old Japan. B) The Story Located on the shores of the Yokohama Harbor, Yukio Mishima's The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea takes place Post World War II Japan. At the start of the book we are introduced to the three main characters: the widow Fusako Kuroda, a merchant of fine European goods, her defiant son Noboru, and Ryuji Tsukazaki, a second mate on the freighter Rakuyo. Fusako Kuroda owns a fancy clothing shop in Yokohama that imports from Europe and England. She lives a lonely existence as a widow with her young son Noboru, who is a 13-year-old boy who lost his father 5 years ago. Noboru spends much of his free time with a group of boys his own age who seek to understand the fundamental order of the universe through their philosophy of objectivity. When we first meet young Noboru, his mother

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