The final installment of the masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility, finds Shigekuni Honda an elderly wealthy man in the 1960s, adopting a teenage orphan whom he is convinced is the reincarnation of his childhood friend. • "One of the best final scenes in the history of the novel.” —David Mitchell, The New York Times Book Review
Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, once more encounters a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki Matsugae—this time restored to life as a teenage orphan, Tōru. Adopting the boy as his heir, Honda quickly finds that Tōru is a force to be reckoned with. The final novel of this celebrated tetralogy weaves together the dominant themes of the previous three novels in the series: the decay of Japan’s courtly tradition; the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics; and, underlying all, Mishima’s apocalyptic vision of the modern era.
“Mesmerizing. . . . A saga of 20th-century Japan: a story of national decline that nonetheless proposes redemption through the endurance of a certain soul, forceful enough to be reborn ad infinitum.” —The Guardian (London)
“The end of [Mishima’s] Sea of Fertility tetralogy. . . is surely one of the best final scenes in the history of the novel.” —David Mitchell, The New York Times Book Review
The final installment of the masterful tetralogy, The Sea of Fertility, finds Shigekuni Honda an elderly wealthy man in the 1960s, adopting a teenage orphan whom he is convinced is the reincarnation of his childhood friend. • "One of the best final scenes in the history of the novel.” —David Mitchell, The New York Times Book Review
Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, once more encounters a person he believes to be a reincarnation of his friend, Kiyoaki Matsugae—this time restored to life as a teenage orphan, Tōru. Adopting the boy as his heir, Honda quickly finds that Tōru is a force to be reckoned with. The final novel of this celebrated tetralogy weaves together the dominant themes of the previous three novels in the series: the decay of Japan’s courtly tradition; the essence and value of Buddhist philosophy and aesthetics; and, underlying all, Mishima’s apocalyptic vision of the modern era.
Praise
“Mesmerizing. . . . A saga of 20th-century Japan: a story of national decline that nonetheless proposes redemption through the endurance of a certain soul, forceful enough to be reborn ad infinitum.” —The Guardian (London)
“The end of [Mishima’s] Sea of Fertility tetralogy. . . is surely one of the best final scenes in the history of the novel.” —David Mitchell, The New York Times Book Review
