Yukio Mishima

Life for Sale

'Life for sale. Use me as you wish. I am a twenty-seven-year-old male. Discretion guaranteed. Will cause no bother at all.' When Hanio Yamada realises the future holds little of worth to him, he puts his life for sale in a Tokyo newspaper, thus unleashing a series of unimaginable exploits. A world of murderous mobsters, hidden cameras, a vampire woman, poisoned carrots, code-breaking, a hopeless junkie heiress and makeshift explosives reveals itself to the unwitting hero. Is there nothing he can do to stop it? Resolving to follow the orders of his would-be purchasers, he comes to understand what life is worth, and whether we can indeed name our price.

It starts of with a failed suicide attempt: the protagonist coming to terms with the meaningless of their life - and life in general - then decides to put an ad to sell their life in the hopes that the buyer will do what he could not and secure his death. 

Increasingly bizarre encounters begin to happen and Mishima's characteristic poetry in his prose appears throughout, albeit less consistently as in his masterpieces.

I found the book intriguing and it was interesting to figure out when the protagonist was willing to give up on their lives and when they woild assert themselves to evade death that was not chosen by themselves.

Winnie

It starts of with a failed suicide attempt: the protagonist coming to terms with the meaningless of their life - and life in general - then decides to put an ad to sell their life in the hopes that the buyer will do what he could not and secure his death. 

Increasingly bizarre encounters begin to happen and Mishima's characteristic poetry in his prose appears throughout, albeit less consistently as in his masterpieces.

I found the book intriguing and it was interesting to figure out when the protagonist was willing to give up on their lives and when they woild assert themselves to evade death that was not chosen by themselves.

"After botching a suicide attempt, salaryman Hanio Yamada decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper. But what begins as mere nihilism takes a turn for the unexpected as interested parties come calling with increasingly bizarre requests. What follows is a madcap comedy of errors, involving a jealous husband, a drug-addled heiress, poisoned carrots--even a vampire. For someone who just wants to die, Hanio can't seem to catch a break, as he finds himself caught up in a continent-wide conspiracy that puts him in the cross hairs of both his own government and a powerful organized-crime cartel. Wildly inventive, darkly comedic, and at times deeply surreal, Life For Sale is refreshingly unlike anything else in Yukio Mishima's oeuvre, and an essential work of international literature, finally available in English"--

While the book wasn’t entirely to my taste, I found myself compelled to finish it and even grew curious along the way. Although I resonate with the idea that, in a nutshell, everything is absurd, I felt more entertained than genuinely engaged or moved by the story.

🏹

𓆨

idk i was really bored in the middle of it

kayla 

George

jess

felt like a much nonpareil juncture of Murakami's and Dazai's work. abundance of magical-psychological realism elements, quite a novel experience for me to Mishima's oeuvre, pretty nice for a short read, 4 stars.

Katie Chua

fine, kinda wacky, not sure how i was supposed to feel or even how i did actually feel after i finished it lol

jam 🍯

𝓡.

After botching a suicide attempt, salaryman Hanio Yamada decides to put his life up for sale in the classifieds section of a Tokyo newspaper. Soon interested parties come calling with increasingly bizarre requests and what follows is a madcap comedy of errors, involving a jealous husband, a drug-addled heiress, poisoned carrots—even a vampire. For someone who just wants to die, Hanio can't seem to catch a break, as he finds himself enmeshed in a continent-wide conspiracy that puts him in the cross hairs of both his own government and a powerful organized-crime syndicate. By turns wildly inventive, darkly comedic, and deeply surreal, in Life for Sale Yukio Mishima stunningly uses satire to explore the same dark themes that preoccupied him throughout his lifetime.

Alexis Romero

Joao Freitas

avery

Marissa Liu

Eugene

Alex

nico

𝒩.

Haritlak Thawikasikam

'The best book I've read this year ... darkly comedic and full of tension and surprise' Marina Abramovic 'Life for sale. Use me as you wish. I am a twenty-seven-year-old male. Discretion guaranteed. Will cause no bother at all.' When Hanio Yamada realises the future holds little of worth to him, he puts his life for sale in a Tokyo newspaper, thus unleashing a series of unimaginable exploits. A world of murderous mobsters, hidden cameras, a vampire woman, poisoned carrots, code-breaking, a hopeless junkie heiress and makeshift explosives reveals itself to the unwitting hero. Is there nothing he can do to stop it? Resolving to follow the orders of his would-be purchasers, he comes to understand what life is worth, and whether we can indeed name our price.

Life for Sale

Reviews