Life for Sale Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Yukio Mishima (Author), Kotaro Watanabe (Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)

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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 crosshairs 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.

Listening Length

7 hours and 20 minutes
Author

Yukio Mishima
Narrator

Kotaro Watanabe
Audible release date

April 21 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Random House Audio
ASIN

B085JWK2B8
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	7 hours and 20 minutes
Author	Yukio Mishima
Narrator	Kotaro Watanabe
Audible.ca Release Date	April 21 2020
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B085JWK2B8
Best Sellers Rank	#68,202 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #158 in Absurdist Fiction #701 in Psychological Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #910 in Humorous Fiction & Satire

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

418 global ratings

5 star		47%
4 star		27%
3 star		20%
2 star		4%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from other countries

Mr Creosote

Sex and death for lulz

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 24, 2020

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English-speaking fans of Yukio Mishima have had a right treat in recent years, with three of his lesser-known works (Frolic of the Beasts, Star, and now Life for Sale) finally being published in English translation. Life for Sale dates from 1968, just two years before Mishma shocked the world by attempting to lead his cadre of young gay male martial arts enthusiasts on a military coup of Japan, and disembowelling himself in front of that military when the soldiers, instead of embracing Mishima's manifesto for a return to nationalist Japanese imperial ideals, all just laughed at him. I say 'shocked the world', but to be honest, anyone who was shocked had really not been paying much attention to Mishima's literary output. In particular, Life for Sale is a far cry from his final classy masterwork, the 'Sea of Fertility' tetrology of novels. It was originally published in serial form in Japan's "Weekly Playboy" magazine, a fairly salacious 'lads mag' where Mishima's story installments shared the pages with celebrity gossip, manga strips and pictures of nude ladies. I don't want to give away plot spoilers, but regular Mishima readers will probably not be too surprised to learn that the tale features the lead character engaging if lots of shagging and grizly death whilst struggling with an existential crises brought on by what he perceives as the tawdry meaningless of modern life in post-war Japan. However unlike the lengthy noble and po-faced screeds of Mishima's high brow novels, as befits its serialised format, Life for Sale is composed of fast-paced bite-sized mini-chapters, and unless I have been completely bamboozled by the translation, must surely be intended as a black comedy? The protagonist gets himself into a series of ever-more ludicrous situations, with a vibe which bears comparison with Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'. Taken entirely on its own merits, there is plenty to enjoy here, and Mishima's steely skill in nailing the psychopathology of his characters loses little of its bite even in this lads' mag lulz format. But the thing is, we know that within two years the author would prove in a very visceral way that he really wasn't joking about this stuff at all. In truth, which was the sickest: post-war Japan, or Mishima himself?

22 people found this helpful

Richard Latham

Pulp fiction but satisfying satire.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 14, 2022

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After 4/5ths of this book I parked it for a while.

Not that this is not a fully engrossing and readable version of a Japanese classic. Rather I couldn’t get my head fully around the writing and the mystery that overwhelms the protagonist of this story.

Hanio Yamada on the face of it, young, attractive and successful struggles with his almost meaningless life.

When he wakes up in hospital he realises his attempt at suicide has failed. He sets out on a new venture. He will place an advert where his life is literally for sale. Whoever purchases it will be free to use him as they wish, in complete discretion and terminate his life at a time for their choosing and for their pleasure.

Thereafter, nothing is straightforward as we see and take a journey with Hanio as his life both unravels but curiously makes more sense to him.

First published in 1968 in Japanese Playboy it is considered a piece of appealing pulp fiction by one of the country’s most revered authors. A literary great, Yukio Mishima.

We are now indebted to Penguin Classics and a wonderful English translation by Stephen Dodd for making it assessable and available to modern readers.

It is clearly a satirical work about Tokyo life and wider Japanese society. One I found completely enjoyable and pleasing to read. In setting the book aside I wanted to think about this very different type of fiction and try to find more about the circumstances that brought about its writing.

In the process I forgot about it for a while and was delighted to pick it up again. The story remained fresh and absorbing. This final part of the mystery is both a remembering of all that befalls young Yamada as well as bringing the story to a dramatic conclusion.

In the process Hanio’s thinking turns full circle and he sees meaningless in other’s mundane existence while valuing his own life for the first time in his adult life.

Full of other genres and traditions in Japanese literature this is a book that will amuse and trouble you but in reading it you may glean more insight and empathy for humanity. It is a book with pace and purpose that will leave you breathless and wanting to learn more about this very different culture and read modern authors from Japan.

3 people found this helpful

Darren Ware

Enjoyable if somewhat longer then needed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 6, 2022

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I won't go into too much detail. I also don't want to out people off reading it as I think it's an enjoyable book.
However after a while I did begin to lose interest little. If they ended it after the vampire part then it would of been getting a higher rating but each sale is like a round about. After several times going around, your going to want to get off. However it is a short read even at that and I would say give a go if it's on sale

leetsim

Pointless and damaging

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 7, 2022

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I gave up I'm pleased to say . I didn't like the basic premise of the stories ( it is in fact one story but just reads like different occurrences ) .maybe I'm being too sensitive about the subject matter ( suicide ) but I think it could be damaging . It's not particularly interesting or especially well written ( unless it's poor translation ) .If you fancy reading eastern literature try 'Kafka on the shore ' which is very weird but almost a classic .

Felix the cat

absurdist nihilism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 24, 2022

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This was a very original book. I enjoyed the humour and the thinking behind it. The ending was superb with a great last sentence.

One person found this helpful

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Life for Sale Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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