The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

This is one of the most unsettling books I've ever read. The language and imagery are stunning, the plot and subject matter absolutely terrifying. I can't say I liked it because it was too disturbing for 'liking', but it impressed me immensely. The writing is so powerful and rich and at the same time spare and hard somehow. I had a hard time understanding the characters' motives and desires, but I think this is because of the culture gap; coming from a western culture, I can't relate to many of the values and ideas expressed in the novel, they seem slightly bizarre to me. What I probably found scariest was that I couldn't tell where the author's sympathies lay, knowing a little about Mishima's life, I can't help thinking that he seems to be almost agreeing with some of the radical views expressed by some of the characters. Also, since I really like children's literature, it seems to me like this is a kind of fucked-up Peter Pan story; there is a group of boys who seem completely detached from their families (like the Lost Boys), led by a mysterious, creepy boy who rails against parents and adulthood and is obsessed with what the world perceives as the 'innocence' of youth, but is in fact cruelty and ruthlessness. Statements like 'fathers are evil itself, laden with everything ugly in Man' remind me very strongly of 'So that was the truth about mothers. The toads!' There are lots of other parallels, but I won't go into it all. Overall, I'm thrillingly terrified by this novel.