Reading Order
The Sound of WavesMishima Sound of Waves Reading Order
Yukio Mishima's The Sound of Waves (1954) is his most sunlit and most simply beautiful novel — the love story of Shinji, a young fisherman on the remote island of Uta-jima, and Hatsue, the daughter of the wealthiest man on the island. Written after Mishima's trip to Greece and explicitly modeled on the ancient Greek romance Daphnis and Chloe, the novel is unlike anything else in Mishima's work: unclouded by the eroticism of death, the aesthetics of violence, or the political obsessions that characterize his major novels. The Sound of Waves is Mishima's gift to the reader who wants to love him without confronting the darkness that organizes his most important work.
Where to start
The Sound of Waves
Complete The Sound of Waves Book List
- 1Buy
The Sound of Waves
Yukio Mishima·1954·The best introduction to Mishima and his most accessible novel — Shinji and Hatsue on Uta-jima island; simple, beautiful, and entirely free of the darkness that characterizes his major work - 2Buy
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Yukio Mishima·1956·Mishima's most celebrated novel — the stuttering acolyte who burns the famous Kinkaku-ji temple in Kyoto; the companion that shows the other Mishima, organized around the relationship between beauty and destruction; essential after The Sound of Waves - 3Buy
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
Yukio Mishima·1963·Mishima's darkest short novel — a group of boys who plan to destroy a sailor who has compromised their romantic idealism by falling in love; essential for readers who want the full range of Mishima's obsessions - 4Buy
Confessions of a Mask
Yukio Mishima·1949·Mishima's debut novel and his most autobiographical — the narrator's gradual recognition of his homosexuality and his incapacity for conventional love; essential for understanding the personal material beneath the aesthetic surface of his subsequent fiction
The Sound of Waves — Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I read Yukio Mishima in?
Start with The Sound of Waves for the most accessible and beautiful Mishima, or Confessions of a Mask for the most autobiographical. Then The Temple of the Golden Pavilion for his most celebrated work. The Sea of Fertility tetralogy (Spring Snow, Runaway Horses, The Temple of Dawn, The Decay of the Angel) is his most ambitious project and is best read after you know his shorter novels.
What is The Sound of Waves about?
The Sound of Waves is a love story set on the small fishing island of Uta-jima in postwar Japan. Shinji, a poor fisherman of exemplary character, falls in love with Hatsue, the daughter of the island's wealthiest man, who has recently returned from the mainland. The novel follows their courtship in the face of a rival suitor and the father's ambivalence, organized around the values of hard work, natural beauty, and romantic love.
How did Mishima die?
Mishima committed ritual suicide (seppuku) on November 25, 1970, at the Tokyo headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. He had taken a senior officer hostage and made a speech to the assembled troops calling for a restoration of imperial sovereignty; when the troops mocked him, he went inside, made a formal bow to the emperor, and performed seppuku, which was completed by a member of his private militia. He was 45 years old and had that morning delivered the final manuscript of The Decay of the Angel to his publisher.
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