Reply: Maybe we could translate his name (in a slightly American-Indian manner, but still appropriately) as "Man of Catastrophic Narratives," or "Man of Grim Tales." If we wanted to be nicer, we could call him just "Man of Stories."

If you post something that persuades me it's worth slogging on to the end, I might read all of TOTGP, but otherwise...

Reply: Brandon,

Michael here. Let me try to answer your questions.

加入せること (kanyuu + mizenkei of su + rentaikei of ri + koto)
--> CORRECT.

なりたる情勢 (ren'youkei of naru + rentaikei of tari + jousei)
--> CORRECT

遂げたり (ren'youkei of togeru + shuushikei of tari)
--> CORRECT

記せり (ki + mizenkei of su + shuushikei of ri)
--> CORRECT

鬼神をして哭かしむの概あり (mizenkei of naku + shuushikei of shimu + no gai + shuushikei of ari)
--> CORRECT
**Is the shuushikei used before the particle の?

--> No, the rentaikei is used before の, so technically this should be 哭かしむるの概あり. I don't have an explanation for why しむ is in the shuushikei in this sentence.

**Is it common to see をして marking the object of a causative verb in classical Japanese (or modern, for that matter)?

--> をして used in this way is certainly not uncommon even in modern Japanese. There was a sentence in a piece by Machida Kou in our new book, Read Real Japanese Essays (edited by Janet Ashby), that goes as follows:

しかし諦めるのはまだ早やい。そんな人間性の腐ったあなたでも、読
者をして、なんとなくよい人だ、と思わしむる方法がある。

Machida is giving a piece of advice on how to come across as a good person in one's writing simply by tweaking one's sentence endings from plain form to desu/masu form. Anyway, see how he uses the pattern 読者をして . . . と思わしむ ("cause the reader to think ...")? He does this for humorous effect. The note to this sentence goes as follows:

"読者をして . . . と思わしむ = 読者に . . . と思わせる. しむ is a remnant of classical Japanese, equivalent to the causative せる/させる; it is in its noun-modifying form, しむる, because it modifies 方法. The をして is also classical, and is equivalent to に or を."

挙げしより (ren'youkei of ageru + rentaikei of ki + yori)
--> CORRECT
**Should the rentaikei be used before yori? Izenkei?
--> Yes, the rentaikei should be used before yori.

充たざりき (mizenkei of mitsu + ren'youkei of zu + shuushikei of ki)
--> CORRECT.

例えん方もない
**perhaps from 例えの方もない?

--> The ん is the same as classical む, used to express intention, but it's hard to give a replaceable modern equivalent for it. 例えん方もない means something like 例えようとしてもできない.

それが明日来るかも知れぬ (mizenkei of kamoshireru + rentaikei of zu)
**I don't know whether kamoshireru is ever used; I've only seen kamoshirenai.

--> I've never heard "kamoshireru" either. Kamoshirenai is a fixed phrase.

**Why would the rentaikei be used to end a sentence?

--> Good question. Perhaps ことだ is being omitted from this sentence (and the next one), leaving only the rentaikei.

**What does kamoshirenai literally mean? It seems to be composed of two elements: kamo and the negative of shireru.

--> Ka + mo (= one cannot know for sure, but the possibility exists) + shirenai (= it is not known; it is unknowable). If that helps.

うろたえぬ覚悟(mizenkei of urotaeru + rentaikei of zu + kakugo)
--> CORRECT

妻たる者 (tsuma + rentaikei of tari + mono)
--> CORRECT

いつなんどきでも
**The meaning is "whenever, anytime" I suppose.
--> いつなんどき is a more emphatic form of いつ, so いつなんどきでも is a more emphatic form of いつでも, I suppose.

Reply: Brandon
Thanks, that's great news. I ordered Schrader's Mishima from Amazon for 200 dollars (!!) a couple of years ago, but after a few weeks they said they couldn't fulfill the order. From the extracts on YouTube, it looks very good, and the insistent, repetitive Philip Glass music nicely complements the monomaniac protagonist!

Reply: Michael
Thanks for this note.

Reply: Brandon,
Yes, the book I'm translating right now moves between past, present and historic present (as we used to call it in Latin class!). There's a note about this issue somewhere in Michael Emmerich's "Read Real Japanese Fiction." I'll see if I can mobilize Michael Staley, our editor, on this subject.