Greeshma's Reviews > Life for Sale

What a wonderfully absurd book. This is my first Mishima and what a pleasurable read this was. The book has a very pulpy feel to it but the language really elevates the plot. Hanio is your quintessential bachelor, there's really nothing wrong with him. Not even in the decision he takes: to put his life up for sale. That's not absurd surely. It's just a harmless ad in a newspaper. There will be a few curious enquiries but no real substance to his request. Except the book jumps from one incident to the other with such vivacity. Women also play quite an intriguing role in the book -- a jilted mobster killing his kept woman, a female vampire, a young girl who thinks she'll go mad, Hanoi has affairs with all of them. Except they do nothing to change his outlook on his own life. They evaporate once their roles are over. That's my only grouse. A sudden beautiful death to their stories. But otherwise it's a thoroughly immersive read. Things just happen.