Cover of Voices of the Fallen Heroes: And Other Stories

Voices of the Fallen Heroes: And Other Stories

by Yukio Mishima, Stephen Dodd, John Nathan, Jeffrey Angles, Tomoko Aoyama, Sam Bett, Paul McCarthy, Hannah Osborne, Juliet Winters Carpenter, Oliver White

272 pages2025Random HouseISBN 9780593804353

About this book

A new selection of Yukio Mishima (author of Spring Snow and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea) short stories from the 1960s—his final decade—Voices of the Fallen Heroes offers a unique glimpse into the mind of one of Japan’s greatest writers. In the title story, "Voices of the Fallen Heroes," a séance brings forth the spirits of young officers in the Imperial Army and the kamikaze pilots of World War II, who reproach the Emperor and mourn Japan’s modern decline. In another, Mishima recounts the true story of the time a deranged fan broke into his home at dawn, insisting on meeting the author and imploring him to "tell the truth." Elsewhere, a beautiful youth achieves eternal life through violent murder, and an ill-matched couple seal their fate with a pack of cards, tangled in the web of time and unfulfilled desire. Available in English for the first time, and carefully selected by a team of expert translators, these captivating stories serve as the perfect introduction to Mishima's work, on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Publication Details

Publisher
Random House
Published
2025
Pages
272
ISBN
9780593804353
Language
en

About Yukio Mishima

Kimitake Hiraoka (平岡 公威, Hiraoka Kimitake; 14 January 1925 – 25 November 1970), known by his pen name Yukio Mishima (三島 由紀夫, Mishima Yukio), was a Japanese writer, playwright, actor, martial artist, model, and the leader of an attempted coup d'état that culminated in his ritual suicide by *seppuku.* Mishima is considered one of the most important postwar stylists of the Japanese language. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times in the 1960s. His works include the novels *Confessions of a Mask* and *The Temple of the Golden Pavilion,* and the autobiographical essay *Sun and Steel.* Mishima's political activities made him a controversial figure. From his mid-30s onwards, his far-right ideology and reactionary beliefs became increasingly evident. ([Source][1]) [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima

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