Editions

The Sound of Waves

  • Imprint: Vintage Classics

  • ISBN: 9780099289982

  • Length: 192  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 13mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 138g

  • RRP: £8.99

The Sound of Waves

Set in a remote fishing village in Japan, The Sound of Waves is a timeless story of first love. It tells of Shinji, a young fisherman and Hatsue, the beautiful daughter of the wealthiest man in the village. Shinji is entranced at the sight of Hatsue in the twilight on the beach and they fall in love. When the villagers' gossip threatens to divide them, Shinki must risk his life to prove his worth.

  • Imprint: Vintage Classics

  • ISBN: 9780099289982

  • Length: 192  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 13mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 138g

  • RRP: £8.99

Reviews

  • A work of art...altogether a joyous and lovely thing

    New York Times

  • Of such classic design its action might take place at any point across a thousand years

    San Francisco Chronicle

  • A pastoral with ancient Greek overtones

    Boston Globe

  • A sunny masterpiece

    Los Angeles Times

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About the Author

Yukio Mishima

Yukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor – the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless short stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he acted. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves; Enjo, which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion; and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst For Love and the short-story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship. The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On November 25th, 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuku (ritual suicide) at the age of forty-five.

Yukio Mishima

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Recommendations

Five Japanese classics to read now

The 2019 Rugby World Cup and the Japan 2020 Olympics are drawing an international spotlight on Japan and, to celebrate, VINTAGE have issued special editions of five masterpieces that span a century and offer a perfect entry point for contemporary Japanese fiction.
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Recommendations

6 Japanese classics to read in Spring

Japanese stories have blossomed into Penguin Classics, from The Penguin Book of the Japanese Short Story to newly-translated works from two of the country’s most celebrated authors, Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima.

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