by Jessica Schneider

Created on: November 28, 2010

Before this point, I was beginning to think that Yukio Mishima was only capable of one type of novel—that is, the angsty, pissed off, young male protagonist in search of self-destruction. In fact, it is sort of a joke among Mishima readers, in that one does not need to wonder too much what the unfolding of events will be. If there’s an attractive, young male, he will likely die (usually by seppuku) because all beauty must be destroyed. If there are women present, they’re likely dull, nagging, one-dimensional and getting in the way of said young male’s homoerotic fantasies. Destruction, angst, and hyperbole—all of these traits are often present within Mishima’s work, albeit he tends to write them very well. In other words, while I can’t claim Mishima to be a great writer (since his work tends to lack a complexity that is found within the best of Kawabata or Tanizaki, or so I’ve seen) what he does do, for most of the time, he does very well.

 The Sound of Waves is unlike any other Mishima novel I have encountered, for not only are the characters more “realistic” and “normalized,” Mishima has moments of tenderness within this book, and it is for these reasons why The Sound of Waves is a different sort of Mishima novel. Translated by Meredith Weatherby, The Sound of Waves is not a great work but it is a very good one—perhaps even excellent, and along with The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, one of his best books (that I’ve read).

 The Sound of Waves is a rather simple love story involving a young man named Shinji and his involvement with a rich man’s daughter, named Hatsue. Set on an isolated fishing village in Japan, there are lovely passages describing the ocean and scenery that surrounds. Some of the most interesting parts to the book, in fact, are not those involving the “love story” but the lives of those around them, and some of the intricacies involving fishing, pearl diving and the village where this is taking place.

 In many ways, the core of the tale is rather predictable: Hatsue’s father wishes to keep his daughter from Shinji, and then there are secondary characters who are both interested in the young couple. One girl, named Chiyoko, is rather unhappy and feels trapped within her life. In one scene, she presses her face against a window, only to watch the outside storm. The narrator notes: “Outdoors was the storm; indoors,

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