Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

The stories included in this anthology take us to feudal Japan, a country ravaged by wars, hunger and social injustice, forming a tormented scenario in which the painful contradictions of human existence are shown to the reader with a brutality not exempt of lyrical beauty.

Rashomon and Others Stories

Writing at the beginning of the twentieth century, Ryunosuke Akutagawa created disturbing stories out of Japan's cultural upheaval. Whether his fictions are set centuries past or close to the present, Akutagawa was a modernist, writing in polished, superbly nuanced prose subtly exposing human needs and flaws. "In a Grove," which was the basis for Kurosawa's classic film Rashomon, tells the chilling story of the killing of a samurai through the testimony of witnesses, including the spirit of the murdered man. The fable-like "Yam Gruel" is an account of desire and humiliation, but one in which the reader's sympathy is thoroughly unsettled. And in "The Martyr," a beloved orphan raised by Jesuit priests is exiled when he refuses to admit that he made a local girl pregnant. He regains their love and respect only at the price of his life. All six tales in the collection show Akutagawa as a master storyteller and an exciting voice of modern Japanese literature.

Rashomon and Other Stories

Maia Feruzi

I am finally done with this book! I’ve been trying to finish it for a month at this point?? I don’t know why but after a certain section it just became so hard to consume! Perhaps it was the writing style which, like all classical literature has the tone of a salted snail and the mood of a quiet graveyard.

I picked this up because I saw the introduction was written by Haruki Murakami so I figured any author acclaimed by him was worth checking out myself. I had no idea how large a part of Japan’s history in literature Akutagawa played. Apparently he is to Japanese high schoolers what F. Scott Fitzgerald is to American teens. So that was certainly an interesting preface to the rest of the book. As someone who doesn’t usually read intros this one is a must. 

The stories themselves were quite interesting. I had no idea most of his stories revolved around the themes of poverty and suffering until a friend pointed it out to me but thinking back it was certainly prevalent throughout every story. I did like the sort of whimsical air a lot of the stories took whilst describing the horrors happening to the characters within. I’m a sucker for a good character torture.

I think another reason it was so hard for me to get into it was the fact this is a translation. The more I read the more I wanted to know what the original text said. Apparently Akutagawa uses words that even the Japanese haven’t heard of and certainly don’t use in casual conversation but his expert manipulation of even the oldest sections of their language make his stories just all the more entrancing. One day I will read his stories in the original Japanese! But for now this was a pretty decent start. 

If you can’t handle classical literatures vernacular because it’s just too boring, this ain’t the one for you. Otherwise, by all means check this one out! 

"Clear-eyed glimpses of human behavior in the extremities of poverty, stupidity, greed, vanity… Story-telling of an unconventional sort, with most of the substance beneath the shining, enameled surface." —The New York Times Book Review Widely acknowledged as "the father of the Japanese short story," Ryunosuke Akutagawa remains one of the most influential Japanese writers of all time. Rashomon and Other Stories, a collection of his most celebrated work, resonates as strongly today as when it first published a century ago. This volume includes: In a Grove: An iconic, contradictory tale of the murder of a samurai in a forest near Kyoto told through three varying accounts Rashomon: A masterless samurai contemplates following a life of crime as he encounters an old woman at the old Rashomon gate outside Kyoto Yam Gruel: A low-ranking court official laments his position all the while yearning for his favorite, yet humble, dish The Martyr: Set in Japan's Christian missionary era, a young boy is excommunicated for fathering an illegitimate child, but not all is as it seems Kesa and Morito: An adulterous couple plots to kill the woman's husband as the situation threatens to spin out of control The Dragon: A priest concocts a prank involving a dragon, but the tall tale begins to take on a life of its own With a new foreward by noted Akutagawa scholar Seiji Lippit, this updated version of a classic collection is a an excellent, readable introduction to Japanese literature.

Rashomon and Others Stories

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