Every 14 Days...(17)

Re-agitator (Tom Mes)

A full decade ago, plucky Dutchman, Tom Mes wrote a full and complete work on the films of Miike Takashi: 'Agitator'. With the director's recent fame at the time from films like 'Audition' and Ichi the Killer' gaining him international acknowledgement, 'Agitator' came at a good time to fully explore the first twelve or so years of the Japanese director's efforts.

Fast forward ten years, and the international success of his work has seen him move from straightforward straight-to-video releases to bigger budgets and bigger ambitions, with his name gaining further respect throughout the world. Following him all the way, Mes has continued his writing on Miike and his films, culminating in the release of 'Re-Agitator: A Decade of Writing on Takashi Miike'.

From the outset, in Christian Storms' less than articulate foreword, it is made clear that this is not 'Agitator Part II'. And that it is not. Whereas 'Agitator' was an in-depth look at each of Miike's films to date and themes and patterns emerging throughout his work, 'Re-Agitator' is a selection of various random writings by Mes on Miike that have appeared on various websites, DVD sleeves and at international film festivals. And this is a shame.

While 'Agitator Part II' may have been a little underwhelming as a release, perhaps a re-release of the original book with a new second half, with analysis of the Miike films in the same vein may have been useful. 'Re-Agitator', while claiming not to simply be a fan-boy book, clearly is, with no additional analysis or interpretation really added, going over some old ground. Little criticism is offered, with digs more at critics of Miike themselves rather than any negative words said against the man.

'Re-Agitator' offers a couple of insights, such as his various trips to European film festivals that have subsequently started, but not much more. Each film he releases seems to be more of a masterpiece than the last, which is, of course, not true, making 'Re-Agitator' seem the mere work of a fan-boy it claims it will never be.

Days to read: 11

Days per book: 15.9

The Sea of Fertility Tetralogy (Mishima Yukio)

To say Mishima's magnum opus is a sum greater than its parts would be true. The four books written between 1964 and 1971 tell four separate tales of Honda Shigekuni, who in each encounters a different reincarnation of his deceased boyhood friend, Kiyoaki; each in turn dying at the age of 20. Each book looks at a different period of Twentieth Century Japan, and how the nation has changed over this time.

'Spring Snow' begins with the death of old Japan, with the aristocracy fraternising with the wealthy to their downfall. 'Runaway Horses' looks at the growing appeal of 'The League of the Devine Wind' in the build up to World War II. 'The Temple of Dawn' focuses on the importance of Buddhism in Japan, focusing on the tetralogy's key theme of reincarnation. The final book, 'The Decay of the Angel', completed on the day Mishima would commit seppuku, examines the awareness of the self. In each, Honda tries to save the Kiyoaki-incarnate from their certain fate, each time to fail, as they move on to their next life.

Individually, none of the books is a masterpiece in its own write: the intention that there would be a following chapter leaving no satisfying conclusion, until the end of the last. None particularly work as a standalone piece either, and so all four have to be considered as one. What you're essentially left with, then, is a four-figures of pages long novel which begins to drag and struggles to maintain the interest. Each of the books feels like an over-long chapter in a greater story: that of Honda and how his life evolves over a sixty year period.

Mishima, at times, adds far too much detail into the works. Throughout there are long break-offs including extracts from diaries and pamphlets that are long-winded and feel poorly done. At times, Mishima can write well; at others, he is far too detailed, over-explanatory and has his characters mull over things to the last. The motivations of the characters are a point that sits a little badly with the reader at times, never fully believing in them. Though this is something that would match with Mishima himself: a married gay man, he was a nationalist who travelled and dedicated much of his time to bodybuilding; a right-wing radical that modelled.

But with the ambition of 'The Sea of Fertility', Mishima has taken an interesting look at the life of his home nation. With his political views, the work is a reflection of his thoughts about the changing nature of Japan; thoughts that would prove his legacy.

For fun, with each next book, I chose to read an earlier edition, as a sort of reincarnation reversal.

Spring Snow

Days to read: 17

Days per book: 15.9

Runaway Horses

Days to read: 26

Days per books: 16.1

The Temple of Dawn

Days to read: 16

Days per book: 16.0

The Decay of the Angel

Days to read: 19

Days per book: 16.1

Every 14 Days...(13)

The Sound of Waves (Mishima Yukio)

Stumbling about a book shop looking for something to read, I came across the name Mishima Yukio and randomly decided to take a punt on a randomly chosen book of his. ‘The Sound of Waves’ is what I came away with: a tale of first love – probably not the best one to have chosen really.

Humble boy fisherman Shinji starts getting boners over the mysterious Hatsue, the returning daughter of the wealthiest man on the small island of Utajima (‘Song Island’). Eventually meeting her and speaking to her, it’s not long before they are stood naked before each other. But, being that they are young, unmarried and she is the pick of the birds, it’s not long before rumour and gossip spread rife through the community, shaming both their names.

There’s no doubt that Mishima is a good writer, with a nice, flowing style that reads easily, but I’m not really sure what the point of this book is – if it’s that true love shines through, then that’s just a bit shit and gay really. But I’m sure it’s something much more along the lines of the nature of gossip and scandal in a community that revolves around traditional values. ‘The Sound of Waves’ is perhaps not his best work, with ‘The Sea of Fertility’ his most celebrated work, but marks the discovery of a new writer that will undoubtedly make an appearance in the future, despite having committed seppuku forty-two years ago.

Days to read: 15

Days per book: 14.3

You are Nothing (Robert Wringham)

‘If you’ve only ever read one book in your life…I strongly recommend that you keep your mouth shut.’

- Simon Munnery

It’s quite often that a lot of the furore and protest over controversial comedies – such as the will-become-appropriate-later ‘Jerry Springer the Opera’ – is conducted by people that have not actually seen what they are protesting about. What they are saying, therefore, has to be taken with a pinch of salt and filed under ‘words of a bored nutter’. But, what if it’s the other way round, and someone shamelessly praises something that they have never seen?

Enter Robert Wringham and his book ‘You are Nothing’, an account of the Cluub Zarathustra comedy night from 1990s London which featured a heavyweight line-up of Simon Munnery, Stewart Lee (Stew Art Wee), Kevin Eldon, Sally Philips, Richard Thomas, Harry Hill, Roger Mann, Al Murray, Johnny Vegas, Graham Linehan, Peter Baynham, Richard Herring, Julian Barratt, among others. Beyond having seen the unaired Channel 4 pilot on YouTube and that much of Simon Munnery’s material was later used in ‘Attention Scum’ on BBC2, I know little of Cluub Zarathustra. But, with the list of names performing early work that would go on to become huge stars of British comedy and Richard Herring, it’s believable that I would have loved the experimental showcase if I had seen it.

And this is Robert Wringham’s approach: write a book about something you’ve never seen, but assume you would have enjoyed if you had seen it, and try to make the most of sketchy twenty year-old memories of people who were probably drugged-up and/or drunk at the time. Speaking on ‘Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast’ (RHLSTP!), Stewart Lee jokes about the possible validity of the idea, much has he would have questioned the argument of the 50,000 or so Christians who took him to court over ‘Jerry Springer the Opera’. And when reading the book, it’s hard not to have a sense of this is a man writing close to 200 pages in rather a subjective manner about something he never saw.

Though having said that, it is good that an account is being made at a time when all of the performers are still in a position to still have some memory of it, no matter how vague. Given the endless list of television shows, stand-up performances and even films that the bit-part line-up went on to produce, it can only be agreed that Cluub Zarathustra certainly has an important part to play in British comedy history and is worthy of a documented account – even though it is a Go Faster Stripe Book and will probably only be read by a couple of hundred people at most!

A couple of years ago, I posted a comment on the Cluub Zarathustra pilot episode on YouTube. This led to a response from a man identified only as ‘Rob’ to message me asking if I’d ever seen Cluub Zarathustra live. One can only hope that Mr Wringham wasn’t that desperate in his research and that anyone writing any book ever should use every other tool available to them before asking me for my account.

Days to read: 11

Days per book: 14.2

The Motorcycle Diaries (Ernesto Che Guevara)

Watch the film, read the book, feel intellectually superior to you now that I have read the book and you haven’t.

Gap years are great, aren’t they? Gain work experience, go travelling, become an important politic icon of the Twentieth Century. So the film would have you believe, anyway. This is, as stated, more of a travel log of two friends travelling across South America, one of which went on to become a famous Marxist revolutionary. The film plays on events having great significance in shaping Guevara’s change in political ideology along the journey, but that is not the case. While the travels will have undoubtedly had an impact on his future self, he did, of course, go back to University after the travels to finish his course.

Mainly, it is an account of naivety, blagging and having to sleep rough. It should probably have been called ‘The Unicycle Diaries’, as La Poderosa  gave up on them quite early on and much of the journey was spent hitching, flying in the air or sailing by boat. It was probably this fact: travelling on foot, hitching lifts and getting in with locals rather than speeding past on a bike that would have led to a greater impact on Guevara, making the title seem a little ironic in hindsight.

The man he became would happen later: here he is like any other male student, unsure where he is going, in search of adventure and having a laugh. Now for me to write my book: ‘Travelled Round Japan, then I Became a Member of the Green Party’…or something.

Days to read: 10

Days per book: 14.1