Acts of Worship: Seven Stories

One thing that struck me while reading this book is Mishima's unique ability to use words to sketch vivid images that will continue to stay etched in your memory long after you’ve finished the story. The seven stories in this collection spans a large part of Mishima's career as a writer. It was first published in 1965. The title, Acts of Worship, suggests that there is a kind of leitmotif to these stories – and it sure makes it more interesting to view this collection as a whole that way. The first two stories, Fountains in the Rain and Raisin Bread, were both written in 1963, and the protagonists here are frustrated young men. There is a hint of surrealism in both of these stories, especially the latter where Mishima also very show more cleverly paraphrases de Lautréamont’s Les Chants de Maldoror. Here, we are introduced to a group of restless westernized youth; the protagonist is called Jack, "with a past that included an attempted suicide", he is described as "twenty-two and made of a clear crystalline substance, [he] had as his sole aim to become quite invisible."

Sword (also 1963) is set in a college kendo club; the main protagonist being the club’s captain, Jiro. It is one of the most lengthy of these stories, and the one I liked the best. It’s easy to see Sword as one of the key stories among Mishima’s work. (Another is undoubtedly Patriotism, which was published in 1966.) Again Mishima’s evocative and poignant images are as important as the storyline:
"To be strong and true had been the most important task he had set himself since early childhood.
Once, as a boy, he had tried to outstare the sun. But before he could tell whether he had really looked at it or not, changes had occurred: the blazing red ball that had been there at first began to whirl, then suddenly dimmed, till it became a cold, bluish-black, flattened disk of iron. He felt he had seen the very essence of the sun....
For a while, wherever he looked he saw the sun's pale afterimage: in the undergrowth; in the shade beneath the trees; even, when he gazed up, in every part of the sky.
The truth was something too dazzling to be looked at directly. And yet, once it had come into one's field of vision, one saw patches of light in all kinds of places: the afterimages of virtue."

The next story, Sea and Sunset (1955), as well as the last in this collection, Act of Worship (1965), deals with more elderly people, and the whole tone is set in a lower, more melancholy pitch. The first of these is set in the thirteenth century; the main character is a reminiscing old Frenchman who had taken part in the Children’s Crusade, then being sold into slavery and eventually ending up as a handyman at a Buddhist temple after being freed by a Zen Master. Well, that's at least the 'skeleton' of the story, which isn't to say that this is what's the story is really about. Mishima is mostly more subtle than that. It is the only story in this collection that I didn’t care much for, while the last is among the best – with its distant echo of Thomas Mann: an aging eccentric professor of literature goes on a pilgrimage to three shrines in his birth district, bringing along his middle-aged house-keeper, both portrayed as unattractive in different ways – he with a walleye, dyed hair, soprano voice, vain... she with hollow cheeks, protruding teeth, "a face devoid of sexual appeal", self-effacing... Slowly the real reason for the pilgrimage comes to light. It rounds up this book perfectly, and it’s no coincidence that this entire collection of stories has gotten its title from this particular story.

In Cigarette (1946), which is a reminiscence of Mishima's school days - one of the first stories that won him attention in the literary world, and Martyrdom (1948), we return to youthful protagonists; both of these stories are succinctly rendered, and in the sublime cruelty depicted in Martyrdom there is a foreshadowing of his 1963 novel The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. These two stories may not be among his best, but still fascinating reading - and on the whole, Mishima's portrayals of youth are in a class by itself.




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In Acts of Worship, Mishima captures the nihilistic despair and complex beauty of characters and settings much like in his longer work. While still containing the essence of his style, the short length of the stories do not allow room for a complete showcase of his talent. Some of the stories are only satisfactory, but others are excellent quality. 'Sword' and 'Act of Worship' stand out boldly among the rest. A worthwhile read for those already acquainted with Mishima's work.

Mishima began my love of Japanese literature, especially short stories. Japanese literature has a refreshing vein of naturalism and mysticism, and Mishima's stories are prime examples. I used some of his stories to teach themes to tenth graders (especially the rain one, with the rain outside, the water in the fountain, the tears on the girl's face, etc). He's a brilliant short story writer. I also enjoyed his other collection, Death in Midsummer.

Short stories that serve us up parts of Mishima. Includes many of the same themes found in his books.