Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima

"The instant the blade tore into his flesh, the bright disk of the sun soared up and exploded behind his eyelids."

That's a fantastic line.  I wish the 419 pages preceeding it had similar lines.  When I read  Les Miserables and The Three Musketeers the back of the book was filled with notes an explanation of the time period.  It helped give context for what was happening.  Runaway Horses does none of that.  You're given reference to The May 15th Incident constantly, but the translator felt no need to explain what the hell it was.  It's a moment in Japanese culture that at least everyone has the general idea about.  But I even as a guy that lived in Japan for several years, had no clue.  Oh it does go into detail about Shinpuren Rebellion, but doesn't give again any annotations about it.


Annotations are invaluable for giving context to a story that is so strongly about a place and a time period.  It wasn't need for the original because when Yukio Mishima wrote it, their were people that were alive during it.  It was also a reaction to current Japan and Mishima's views on it.  The translator, Michael Gallagher failed to give annotations but also failed as a translator.  He does the obnoxious thing of using occasional Japanese words in italics to mark them as Japanese words, but also never felt the need to translate these words. 


The only context I have for the word "zaibatsu" is freaking Tekken.  It's...something to do with corporations or conglomerates or monopolies I guess?  I know.."hakama" is a kind of clothing.  He never italicizes kimono though.  He did feel the need to write, "The offered noodles with fried bean curd."  You mean MISO RAMEN?  Or that the building was in Number 3 Asogaya.  You mean Asogaya 3-chome?  You read something like that, and you wonder if the man has ever been to Japan.


One of the most infuriating parts has to do with the above mentioned Rebellion.  It is referred to in the book as The League of the Divine Wind.  The main characters wish to imitate this group, and "had named their hideaway Kamikaze, divine wind."  Divine Wind in Japanese is kamikaze (God Wind).  It's such a bizarre line, like suddenly the story isn't taking place in Japan in English.


Hell what is a tokonoma?

Yukio Mishima is an infinitely fascinating man whom I am not enlightened or entertained by the writings of.  He's very good at psychoanalysis.  He perfectly understood everyone and the world around him and still on November 25th, 1970 committed seppuku.


"The instant the blade tore into his flesh, the bright disk of the sun soared up and exploded behind his eyelids."