Customer Reviews

Patriotism (Second Edition) (New Directions Pearls)

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"Patriotism" is Mishima stripped to the core: a simple tale of the sacrifice of a young couple, willingly and eagerly giving their lives for the emperor. Written by most anyone but Mishima this would be portrayed as a story of regret and tragedy, but in the hands of Mishima, the couple is described in tones extolling their beauty and virtue; death explained in words that evoke images of heat and passion. Mishima does not sugarcoat the experience; he lays it bare for the reader. My personal feelings regarding the content of this short story are at odds with those of Mishima, but I cannot deny the power and skill of "Patriotism". This is the type of book that should be read and discussed, a story that loses no power despite the time that has elapsed since it was written nearly forty years ago.

An interesting note regarding the title: although the original title (Yukoku) is usually translated as "patriotism" in English, the word carries different overtones than the English word "patriotism" or the more common Japanese word "aikoku" or "aikokushin". Yukoku translates more accurately as worry or anxiety over the present state or future of one's country. It is also a homophone for another word that means "evening". When reading this tale, remember these details as well as the fact that Mishima wrote this tale not during the heat and fury of wartime Japan, but twenty years after World War II ended, and this story will take on new nuances.

Patriotism is an intense study in nationalism, wartime-Japan style, as well as a window onto the soul of the enigmatic Mishima.

"Patriotism," a short story by one of the 20th century's most talented and notorious authors, cannot be adequately described within the constraints of language. It has a raw power that, like all of Mishima's works, is profoundly delicate in construction and exquisite in tempo.

The plot of "Patriotism" is simple enough -- it is, in fact, unimportant. An officer in the Japanese military is given orders to disrupt a renegade political group that he happens to hold allegiance to. What else does one do in such a quandry (particularly a character of Mishima) than commit seppuku? The bulk of "Patriotism" is the last night that this officer and his wife spend together before they both commit ritual suicide. What sets "Patriotism" apart from virtually all other literature is its portrayal of a couple's last night and their gruesome, graphic, horrific deaths in glorious and ecstatic terms.

Many writers are capable of vividly depicting a scene of death and horror, and this story is more disgusting and graphic than anything I've read in Stephen King. But the literal description of what happens has an unpredictable and unbelievable impact in this story, where one man's act of disemboweling himself is described in the most ecstatic terms. It was that juxtaposition of glory and death that made me nearly double over when I'd finished. "Patriotism" is not for the weak heart nor the weak stomach, but in 50 pages or so it creates an effect you are not likely to see executed so well elsewhere.

The new 2010 "Pearls" edition of Patriotism is so full of typos I wanted to cut my own stomach out. There's no excuse for these mistakes. It took me no more than 40 minutes to read the entire story and it's a shame New Directions couldn't take the time to do so before they sent this thing to press. For example: a sentence that is supposed to read "her socks were no longer sticky with blood" says "her sucks were no longer sticky with blood." Completely appalling stuff--I'll be skipping all the "Pearls" from here on out.

To recall Madama Butterfly's comment on life: If one cannot live with honor, one can die honorably. This would be something with which the lieutenant and his wife, depicted in this story, would certainly agree. The reviewers who have commented here are caught up in the gore and blood of this story. Mishima indeed took care to precisely delineate of the act of disembowelment but the gore in this story is more clinically described than done for gratuitous results.

What is at the center of this story is being true to one's beliefs. Toward the end of his life Mishima was outspoken about the traditions of Japan that were rapidly disappearing, among them being allegiance to the Emperor. The event that the story was based upon was a rebellion by a group of junior officers in the Japanese army. They felt that the power and position of the emperor was being infringed upon and proceeded to kill some members of the government who they felt were leaning too much to the West (apologizing to family members). In other words, the soldiers reacted to a threat to traditional Japanese values. The soldiers who participated in the rebellion did not count upon Hirohito feeling otherwise, for he did not support their actions.

The lieutenant is left alone after his comrades participated in the rebellion while he was on leave. He keep faith with them in his act of seppuku, hence the fact that the majority of the story is actually concerned with the act itself. We may wonder why the lieutenant feels he must go through with his act, particularly since the rebellion was a dismal failure. The answer, I think, is honor.

The theme of this story, of keeping faith to traditional values, is echoed in Runaway Horses and, of course, in Mishima's own life - the unity of pen and action. Ironically, the story became the subject of a film where Mishima played the lieutenant.

If we can put aside our fear of blood, the language Mishima employs is astonishingly beautiful and concise. There are few stories that can match the impact conveyed by the words of Patriotism. The only one that I find similarly affecting is Jack London's The Red One. This is a work that is experienced and felt as few works of fiction can even hope to approach.

My short story class was assigned to read "Patriotism," and I was so thankful because now I've been introduced to yet another fantastic writer.

Yes, maybe the idea of a wife following her husband in suicide out of honor and devotion seems preposterous today, but the way it was written was so undeniably beautiful. Mishima writes in a way that makes the reader completely understand why his characters do what they do. No one could argue that the whole act was utterly noble and selfless. The descriptions of the love and mutual respect in Shinji's and Reiko's marriage was heavenly, almost unreal--yet its rarity doesn't make the reader laugh. Again, it was written so that one is convinced that this is a marriage exemplifying the "harmony" we all seek between two people.

Basically I was in awe of the descriptions in this story--such beautiful, powerful imagery in the lovemaking scene, as well as the final act of death. Mishima fills his phrases with so much emotion, that as Shinji's end drew near, I was literally brought to tears.

Part of the beauty in this story was in the translation. I'll bet that Sargeant probably best captured the essence of Mishima's words more than anyone could. I've heard that there are some pretty bad translations of foreign work so I think it's safe to say that Sargeant would be the translator to look for when reading Mishima's work.

Though this story was set in the 30s, Mishima wrote it in 1966. I wonder what inspired him to write it. I don't know what was going on politically in Japan in the 60s. Perhaps the political turmoil in the United States may have affected Japan's psyche. Either way, what surprises me even more is the fact that this story was written so late in the 20th Century!

I highly recommend "Patriotism." It's a wonderful illustration of devotion in its many forms. I loved it, and now I'm going to read other stories by this author!

"Patriotism" is a deceptively short work, which captures the full impact of Yukio Mishima's life's work in some 50-odd pages. It is as simple and brutally effective as an ice-pick, sharp and beautiful as a wakazashi.
Set during the Feb. 1936 coup attempt in Tokyo, a newly married military officer, left out of the uprising by his compatriots, makes passionate love to his bride, following which they both commit seppuku in perhaps the most graphically detailed description in literature. It is a shocking and inevitable work, written foreshadowing Mishima's own violent end.
I highly recommend this book, for while it may offend the unprepared, it's beauty of language, concise and vivid imagery, as well as it's historical significance, make it essential reading for anyone who loves fine literature. It epitomizes Mishima's dual passions for elegant beauty and bloody death.

"Patriotism" is a story by Yukio Mishima, and has been translated into English by Geoffrey W. Sargent. This is a short book (57 pages), but powerful. The story, which takes place in 1936, opens by announcing that Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama, a Japanese army officer, has committed ritual suicide together with his wife Reiko. "Patriotism" tells of the days leading up to and including the double suicide.

This is a simple story, but in its simplicity lies great artistry. Mishima's prose, as interpreted by Sargent, is striking, vivid, and ultimately quite beautiful. "Patriotism" is a tragic love story that is rich in eroticism. The graphic, violent details will, I imagine, shock and even disgust some readers, but I found this story to be ultimately a haunting, and strangely compassionate, work of art.

The story is very straight forward and written in an easy to read style. It is deceptively simple though. There are themes that might go over the head of a person uninitiated in Japanese thought. This is not to say it is unreadable to a westerner, just that a minor understanding of Bushido would help in understanding the story. There are parts that read like a romance novel and parts written like a Samurai text, but mostly it is all interwoven in such a beautiful and emotive manner. Mishima was a complex individual and those same complexities are found in his writings, all of which I would recommend, including his biography written by John Nathan.

Great service. Condition of book was stellar and it was delivered in a very timely manner.

"Patriotism"

Yukio Mishima could not have chosen a better title for his story, "Patriotism." Mishima's characters demonstrate his idea of patriotism. In the story, Lieutenant Shinji Takeyama and his young wife, Reiko becomes martyrs.

The importance of the information in the first sentence of the story is indicated by the great length of the sentence as well as its placement in the story. First mentioned is the reason the Lieutenant commits suicide, his patriotism, and next that he does commit suicide. Death becomes the ultimate test of patriotism. The second sentence recounts Reiko's suicide. Its placement in the story as second does not necessarily render it less important, but instead subsidiary.

Next the reasons they commit suicide are reiterated as the text of their "farewell" notes, drawing the comparison of love for one's country to the love in a new marriage.

The couple is referred to as dedicated, heroic, youthful, and beautiful. Yukio Mishima values youth, and the couple represents all that is beautiful to him. Mishima goes to great length to describe their perfection thus inferring his ideals.

Shinji and Reiko's suicides are so venerable, according to Mishima that "the gods themselves weep." In the Lieutenant's house, the god shelf is under the stairs. The gods and the leaders of Japan represented on this shelf are held on the same level to Mishima. This creates the comparison of reverence to one's gods to reverence for one's country. The suicides are performed upstairs, above the god shelf, giving the suicides superior status. Mishima also describes the relationship between the two as supernatural. They are above nature and the gods. "For Reiko had never, even to herself, thought of those soaring joys of the flesh as mere pleasure." It is more than that. "A hot moistness of the flesh which defied the snows," it is described as. Furthermore, the Lieutenant sees the consummation of their flesh and the sincerity of his patriotism as parts of the same thing.

Among Reiko's few possessions are five small animal trinkets. She dismisses them as worthless because of the materialism they represent. The first animal is a dog which can symbolize loyalty and friendship. The second animal figure is a rabbit which is a symbol of love and faithfulness. The bear is a symbol of strength. The last of the animal trinkets, a fox, symbolizes the presence of an enemy or rival among acquaintances. While Reiko considered their solely materialistic value, "the expressions on the small animals' faces grew even more lost and forlorn." It is their symbolic values that are becoming lost. This is relevant to Mishima's grievance that Japan's values are waning in modern times.

Reiko examines the squirrel more closely. Her thoughts show the development of its childish material worth into its symbolism of happiness in the home. This happiness is her husband. Her love and dedication to her husband is the love and dedication he has to Japan. On the night of their wedding, Shinji sits on the floor with his sword laid in front of him. Reiko sits across from him as he tells her that his death could come at any moment as a soldier. When he asks if she can handle this, she goes and retrieves her dagger and places it as Shinji has placed his sword. Just as the Lieutenant has joined the army with the acceptance that he may have to give his life out of love for his country, Reiko has married Shinji knowing that she may have to give her life out of love for the Lieutenant.

There is much in the story indicating that Shinji is the symbol of Japan and Reiko's love and dedication of him therefore representing ideal patriotism. Shinji is often compared to the sun. He is "the sun about which her whole world revolved." Mishima says that Shinji embodies a "sun-like principle" when describing Reiko's reflections on the squirrel. During the Lieutenant's suicide, his agony "burned as strong as the summer sun." Also, upon returning home after his two-day absence, Shinji arrives near sundown. Yet the door will not open. It is moments later; perhaps at the time of sundown when the sun rests, that Shinji is permitted into the house. Yukio Mishima also uses words like glowing, radiant, and bright in imagery concerning Shinji. The association with Shinji and the sun can be drawn several more times as when he is shaving he sits in the midst of a "cloud" of steam. Shinji is Reiko's sun and her whole world. Before his suicide, Shinji is beautiful, and after he resolves to commit suicide he becomes beautiful once again and is beautiful in death. However, when he returns from his guard duty, his luster and resilience is gone, his head droops dejectedly. One's head is hung low when they're without honor, which is Mishima's grievance with Japan. In "Patriotism" Mishima implores soldier of the Imperial troops to live for their country and therefore die for their country. "Ever since her marriage her husband's existence had been her own existence and every breath of his had been a breath drawn by herself," Mishima tells the reader as Shinji is dying. The same is true of Shinji's relationship with Japan, which Mishima sees as dying.

This is a story of patriotism and a love story. Mishima lets the reader know it is a story about patriotism above all else, not only by its title. Throughout "Patriotism" Shinji is rarely named. After the first reading, the reader recalls the characters as the Lieutenant and his wife. Reiko's name is given a lot yet she also derives her identity from her husband as he derives his from his position on the Imperial army and therefore Japan. She is called his wife and the wife of a soldier. In her suicide note she refers to herself as a soldier's wife. The value of patriotism over the love story is instilled in the way Reiko thinks of Shinji continuously, and he thinks of her during the brief rest periods between training. He think of his training and his duty to Japan over all though. They do not go on a honeymoon either as it is less important than the state of Japan.