The Sound of Waves
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Summary
Editor's review
In the editor's view, the value of The Sound of Waves lies not only in its beautiful natural description and lyrical tone but in the "healthy" side of Mishima's aesthetics that is often overlooked. Here physical beauty is not a vehicle for destruction but a hymn to labor and life; love is not a twisted passion or tragedy but a natural fruit won through trial. The sound of the sea is both background music and a symbol of vitality, resonating with the characters' plain yet intense emotions. This pursuit of "purity" and "wholeness" offers another key to understanding Mishima's complex literary world.
In terms of reading experience, the narrative rhythm of this book is steady and powerful as the waves, and Mishima depicts the details of fishing-village life—fishing, typhoons, festivals, daily labor—with superb realism, giving this seemingly simple love story a profound texture of cultural anthropology. For readers familiar with The Temple of the Golden Pavilion or The Sea of Fertility, this book offers a surprising "reversal" experience; for readers encountering Mishima for the first time, it may be the gentlest and brightest entry into his literary world.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who wish to see the bright and healthy side of Mishima's literature
- Readers who love naturalistic literature and regional writing
- Literary enthusiasts seeking to feel deep aesthetic power in a simple story
- Those interested in the everyday life of common people during postwar Japan's social transformation
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting Mishima's typical aesthetic decadence or aesthetics of violence
- Readers seeking complex plots and multiple narrative structures
Reading tips
- Read in a quiet setting and note the tidal rhythm of the prose
- Learn a little about the ancient Greek pastoral romance Daphnis and Chloe to better understand Mishima's frame of reference
- Pay attention to the poetic presentation of "labor" and "the body" in the text; this is key to understanding Mishima's aesthetic views at this time
About the publisher
Founded in 1997 and based in Beijing, Taihai Publishing House takes “building cultural bridges and promoting cross-strait unity” as its mission, focusing on Taiwan-related studies, social sciences and humanities, Chinese and foreign history, and literature. Judging from the 709 titles in the database, its publishing centers on foreign literature and classic works, with attention to Eastern philosophy, architecture, and social culture. Representative books include Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and Steppenwolf and the four-volume Hesse literary series, Liang Sicheng’s A History of Chinese Architecture, Lao She’s Teahouse (unabridged classic edition), Sun Wu’s The Art of War, and collections by W. Somerset Maugham, Yasunari Kawabata, and Yukio Mishima. Its authors include major foreign writers such as Hesse, Maugham, Kawabata, and Mishima, as well as Liang Sicheng, Lao She, and Sun Wu. Its publishing features complete presentation of classic texts and series-based organization of foreign literature; public information on its Taiwan-related studies titles and authors is limited.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 第一章
- 第二章
- 第三章
- 第四章
- 第五章
- 第六章
- 第七章
- 第八章
- 第九章
- 第十章
- 第十一章
- 第十二章
- 第十三章
- 第十四章
- 第十五章
- 第十六章
FAQ
Where does The Sound of Waves stand in Mishima's body of work?
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About the author
Yukio Mishima (1925–1970) was a Japanese novelist and playwright, born Hiraoka Kimitake in Tokyo and a graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. He established his literary standing with Confessions of a Mask in 1949, and went on to explore beauty, desire and death in a coolly refined and intensely aesthetic style. His major works include The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, The Sound of Waves and the tetralogy The Sea of Fertility, whose volumes Spring Snow, Runaway Horses and The Decay of the Angel are available in Chinese. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. On 25 November 1970 he committed seppuku at a Self-Defense Forces base, and his life and writing have remained a subject of public discussion. The library holds 84 of his works, mostly under foreign literature, young adult literature and classics.
Zhang Xueting is a Chinese translator. She studied international economics and trade and Japanese at Linyi University and now works as a freelance translator between Chinese and Japanese. Her translations focus mainly on modern and contemporary Japanese literature, especially the works of Yukio Mishima and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki; she has translated The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, The Sound of Waves, Confessions of a Mask, and A Portrait of Shunkin, among others. These works often center on the subtleties of human nature, aesthetic obsession, and emotional tension, placing high demands on a translator's linguistic judgment and literary sensitivity. Her translations serve Chinese readers' understanding and reception of Japanese literary classics. Because public information is limited, her birth and death dates, the specific course of her translation career, and any evaluations of her work cannot be verified; what is currently known is that she has contributed several translated works to the introduction of foreign literature.
