Continues the themes of SPRING SNOW with expanded form and new perspectives

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	• Runaway Horses Yukio Mishima Vintage, 1990 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Continues the themes of SPRING SNOW with expanded form and new perspectives

In RUNAWAY HORSES, the second volume of Yukio Mishima's "Sea of Fertility" tetralogy, we are presented with a remarkable turn of events. Kiyoaki Matsugae, the tragic protagonist of SPRING SNOW, has been born again. Those who wondered why the first novel in the cycle had those long debates on the transmigration of the soul will be pleased to see the consequences of the Siamese princes' beliefs.

The year is 1932. RUNAWAY HORSES unfolds through the thoughts of Shikeguni Honda, once Kiyoaki's best friend, who is now thirty-eight years-old and a judge in Osaka. Honda encounters a young man, Isao, who is almost as old as Kiyoaki was when he died, and Honda comes to believe that this boy is his old friend come again, whose life contains events that Kiyoaki foretellingly dreamed of and wrote in his journal. While Kiyoaki's fatal flaw was excess love, his reincarnation is an obsessive patriot, who seeks to purge Japan of foreign ideals and the vices of a capitalism which denied the Emperor. RUNAWAY HORSES is, essentially, a novel of political extremism. The Japan of this era seems poised on the verge of either Communist revolution or, what actually came to pass, military dictatorship, and the uncertainty of the times makes for a very engaging setting. Some knowledge of Japan history comes in handy, although the novel can still be read as it is. The form of the work is also rather more varied than in the first volume of the cycle. RUNAWAY HORSES contains a fifty-page long imagined political tract praising the leaders of a 19th-century rebellion, which inspires the protagonist, and a courtroom scene recounted in dialogue form.

I found so much of this novel supremely agreeable. Mishima expertly causes the reader to feel the long years that have passed for Honda, and the shock that comes in being jerked back to the death of Kiyoaki. Some of the people and places linked with Kiyoaki are seen again in this novel, and often the characters have little idea of the connection, but the reader knows the haunting truth. Nonetheless, the novel is not entirely perfect. One common objection may be that Mishima gushes too much over the purity of Isao, for the author's own political ideals where much the same. Still, anyone concerned with issues of globalization and the existential crisis of the West and westernized nations will have some sympathy for Mishima and his protagonist, even though much about them is deplorable. And Isao is certainly more nuanced than the protagonist of Mishima's gory nearly-pornographic novella "Patriotism" of three years before. My own dissatisfaction about the matter comes from Mishima giving his protagonist, toward the end, the opportunity to rather unrealistically give a long speech to an audience that in truth probably wouldn't hear it.

Still, these are relatively minor complaints. I underestimated the beauty of SPRING SNOW the first time I read it, and I'm quite happy that I re-read it and moved onto RUNAWAY HORSES. The "Sea of Fertility" cycle is indeed an impressive work of fiction.

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greatest mishima book

this is definately one of the greatest novels written in japanese. though the main character seems naive and unreal, the novel does have merit in revealing a different side of japan. unlike spring snow or novels by kawabata, this does not conform to the steretype of being "feminine", but portrays the more musculine samurai culture of japan.

admittedly, the main character, isao's political fanaticism is somehow scary, especially when we look at it now. however, rather than portraying him as a hero who is perfect, Mishima's attitude toward him is conflicting, which makes the story more interesting and the characters more controversial.

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Sequel to Spring Snow, But Not As Good

Mishima is a great author, but like every author not every book is likely to be 5 stars. The present book is one such example.

This is the second of a group of four novels by Mishima called The Sea of Fertility series. Taken as a group they are excellent novels or even what one might call a literary masterpiece. The four books are:

- "Spring Snow,"
- "Runaway Horses,"
- "The Temple of Dawn," and
- "The Decay of the Angel."

"Spring Snow" was set in Tokyo around 1912; it involves two families and two lovers; there is a problem betrothal involving the female protagonist Satoko (Kiyoaki is the male); and there are outside forces at work - the Royal family. The present book is time shifted 19 years later to approximately the early 1930s. The protagonist is changed to Honda - a secondary character in the first book - plus we have a new character, Isao, a young man of about 19 who is swept up with a national fervour after reading "The League of the Divine Wind."

It is a clear and compelling read, and I sat down glued to the book and read 220 pages the first day. Having said that, this story is not as good as "Spring Snow." The characters brought forward 19 years from the first book do not quite fit together. The author has to use mysticism to make the pieces fit together.

The parts that involve Honda are excellent - and if he had more Honda the book would be 5 stars. But as the story unfolds, his role declines. The youthful Isao seem immature, not attractive as a character, and the story is not that good about him. So, it is two parallel stories, one well written with great prose - about Honda, and one a bit immature and political about Isao. Finally, at the end of the book, the last 50 pages, it does not seem the least bit credible. Also, the author inserts and repeats parts of "Divine Wind" into the book on more than one occasion, and it seems a bit political. It reminds a bit of Upton Sinclair's book "The Jungle" where the last chapter is dedicated to advancing socialism. Here it is Japanese nationalism.

Taken as a group of four, The Sea of Fertility group might be a masterpiece series. In a society such as Japan, the book must have been a bit racy when it came out. That is the same comment that describes "Spring Snow" but now it does not quite work here. On its own this is not a great book, but I recommend the read as part of the series.

As a final note, this book has no introduction or extra notes on the author or the book. It is just the basic book, but it seems to be an excellent translation.

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Mishima's Masterpiece of cosmic nihilism on a fertile sea.

Yukio Mishima (The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea) is the fascinating subject of two recent DVD releases Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection and Patriotism - Criterion Collection. His 1959 novel, Runaway Horses (Honba), is one of three Mishima novels filmmaker Paul Schrader adapted for his film, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. It is the second in Mishima's "Sea of Fertility tetralogy," which also includes Spring Snow (1969), The Temple of Dawn (1970), and The Decay of the Angel (1971). (Mishima committed ritual suicide on the day he completed the final book in his tetralogy, November 25, 1970.) Considered to be his masteriece, Mishima's tetralogy follows the successive reincarnations of Kiyoaki Matsugae (1895-1914).

Shigekuni Honda returns from Spring Snow as a judge at the Osaka Court of Appeals, and witnesses the events set forth in Runaway Horses. Set in 1932 and 1933, the novel tells the story of a right-wing samurai, Isao Iinuma, who plots an insurrection to overthrow the zaibatsu (capitalistic business interests) that have corrupted the Yamato-damashii ("the Japanese spirit") and betrayed the will of the Emperor. Isao's scheme hinges on the simultaneous assassinations of government officials on December 3, 1932. Recognizing the same three moles on Isao Iinuma that Kiyoaki had on his side, and remembering Kiyoaki's dying words ("I'll see you again. I know it. Beneath the falls"), Honda believes that Isao is the reincarnation of his schoolmate, Kiyoaki Matsugae, the subject of Spring Snow. Honda advises Isao: "At your age . . . every excitement is dangerous. Every excitement that can send one pitching headlong is dangerous. And some are especially dangerous. For example, judging from that light that flashes from your eyes to disconcert those around you, I would think that your very nature makes a tale of this sort 'unsuitable' for you." The novel ends on a note of "cosmic nihilism," with Isao Iinuma committing seppuku (ritual suicide), foreshadowing Mishima's own ritual suicide in 1970. Runaway Horses attests to the rare genius of Yukio Mishima.

G. Merritt

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Mishima's scope in creating his tetrology starts to show

Looking back, "Runaway Horses" is in many ways more complex than its predecessor, "Spring Snow". I didn't know going into it that it was a literal, chronologically set sequel - within a few dozen pages the reader becomes away of our protagonist's, Isao Iinuma, situation, and who he really is.

Much like Mishima's own life, this story centers around the Iinuma family's small army (Mishima himself had one) of 20 right-wingers who are planning an insurrection. Rooting out communism and capitalism are their main goals; the story tells their ways of going about them.

Set farther back this time is the Matsugae household, though they do have appearances and a presence throughout the novel. Honda, from "Spring Snow", now grown into an adult, tells part of the story from his own perspective, and this is refreshing and interesting. His retelling of moments with Kiyoaki years before are among the best moments in the book.

"Runaway Horses" is more ambitious than "Spring Snow" and more complex as well. I eagerly want to see how the last two novels continue this generations' long story from one of Japan's best writers and thinkers.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

The chronicle of a conspiracy and a novel about the roots and nature of Japanese fanaticism in the years that led to war--an era marked by depression, social change and political violence.

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