Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Japan's modernist master explores family, art and the fear of madness in exquisite autobiographical pieces and a short story.

The Life of a Stupid Man

'What is the life of a human being - a drop of dew, a flash of lightning? This is so sad, so sad.' Autobiographical stories from one of Japan's masters of modernist story-telling. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927). Akutagawa's Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories is also available in Penguin Classics.

Nininin

He envied medieval men’s ability to find strength in God. But for him, believing in God – in God’s love – was an impossibility,

It’s not so much that I want to die as that I’m tired of living.

The higher he flew, the farther below him sank the joys and sorrows of a life bathed in the life of intellect. 

Sophía Allan

De repente... fue realmente de repente. En la entrada de una librería, mirando una recopilación pinturas de Van Gogh, comprendió, de repente, lo que era la pintura. Por supuesto, la recopilación de pinturas de Van Gogh no reunía más que reproducciones fotográficas. Pero, incluso en estas ilustraciones, sintió, perfilándose con nitidez, la naturaleza. La pasión por aquellos cuadros transformó su visión del mundo. Empezó a prestar una atención incesante a la tortuosidad de las ramas de los árboles y a la redondez de las mejillas de las mujeres. Un lluvioso atardecer de otoño, cruzaba casualmente un paso subterráneo en las afueras. Al otro lado, al pie del terraplén, había una carreta detenida. Mientras pasaba por allí, tuvo la sensación de que otra persona había recorrido antes aquel camino. ¿Alguien?... Ya no era preciso que se interrogara a sí mismo. En el corazón de aquel muchacho de veintitrés años, un holandés con una oreja cortada y una larga pipa en la boca clavaba sus ojos perspicaces en el triste paisaje...

"You and I are possessed by a demon. The demon of /fin-de-siècle/"

The Life of a stupid man is an autobiography of the author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, or rather, it's not so much as an autobiography as it at a suicide note. 

The title story offers fragments of this "stupid man's" life—Akutagawa himself—leading inevitably to his final and awaited defeat: death. 

The book contains three stories, the 1st one, "In a Bamboo Grove", presents a vague tale that strongly questions and challenges humanity's ability of objective when confronted with conflicting perspectives.

The 2nd story, "Death Register" reflects on the people in his life, his mother, father and sister who were, as he would call it, fortunate enough to die soon & young. He often casts death in a desirable light, a sense of content & comfort he had failed to attain in this life.

The third, the title story, 'The Life of a Stupid Man,' recounts his life in disorganised and scattered memories. Through these glimpses of his life, you see Akutagawa's relentless struggle to find the purpose of life and his growing hatred toward himself, culminating in his suicide.

Written in the third person, the narrating style of this autobiography reveals Akutagawa's profound self-loathing and his desperate attempt to deny the person he despised the most. Yet, in the end, he is and will always be that "stupid man".

"You and I are possessed by a demon. The demon of /fin-de-siècle/"

The Life of a stupid man is an autobiography of the author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, or rather, it's not so much as an autobiography as it at a suicide note. 
The title story offers fragments of this "stupid man's" life—Akutagawa himself—leading inevitably to his final and awaited defeat: death. 

The book contains three stories, the 1st one, "In a Bamboo Grove", presents a vague tale that strongly questions and challenges humanity's ability of objective when confronted with conflicting perspectives.

The 2nd story, "Death Register" reflects on the people in his life, his mother, father and sister who were, as he would call it, fortunate enough to die soon & young. He often casts death in a desirable light, a sense of content & comfort he had failed to attain in this life.

The third, the title story, 'The Life of a Stupid Man,' recounts his life in disorganised and scattered memories. Through these glimpses of his life, you see Akutagawa's relentless struggle to find the purpose of life and his growing hatred toward himself, culminating in his suicide.

Written in the third person, the narrating style of this autobiography reveals Akutagawa's profound self-loathing and his desperate attempt to deny the person he despised the most. Yet, in the end, he is and will always be that "stupid man".

was an interesting read! life of a stupid man, in particular, was slow and i felt the need to always read between the lines which is challenging but fun as well to see the protagonist’s life fall apart

The book contained “In a Bamboo Grove” which is a good short story of the author, depicting how truth can be seen in many different ways. Different opinions will often clash with each other as they are perceived by different people who have different minds. It’s up to the reader how they’ll interpret this. 

In the last part, I couldn’t understand the stories as I’ve began reading it. I thought to myself “this makes no sense at all!” But I guess it was meant to be that way. It was the author’s daily musings, random thoughts, really the life of a stupid man.

The book contained “In a Bamboo Grove” which is a good short story of the author, depicting how truth can be seen in many different ways. Different opinions will often clash with each other as they are perceived by different people who have different minds. It’s up to the reader how they’ll interpret this. 

In the last part, I couldn’t understand the stories as I’ve began reading it. I thought to myself “this makes no sense at all!” But I guess it was meant to be that way. It was the author’s daily musings, random thoughts, really the life of a stupid man.

I've thought long and hard about this book and what I'd like to say about it, however, I find it difficult to communicate. So I'll do my best, but take it all with a grain of salt.

I read "the life of a stupid man" and "spinning gears" (it was an edition that included both into one book, which seemed appropiate since both narratives are quite short) looking for answers and I believe I've found them. The true reason I decided to read the works of Akutagawa, is because I knew that at the very end of the edition I picked up, they included his suicide letter adressed to one of his dear friends. I was interested in reading that descent into madness, into a depth that I couldn't otherwise access. I wanted to know how his narrations led into that suicide letter, and I believe that's the answer I found.

"Spinning Gears", the first part in the edition I read, is quite interesting; it feels very stream-of-consciousness. It is a story that feels like aimlessly walking somewhere, and you're enjoying the melancholic landscape, but there really is no end goal. It tells the story of a man who sees spinning gears in his field of vision and they seem to act as a representation of the man's depression. It was especially interesting as it lead into "The life of a Stupid Man", which is a collection of short "stories" if you can call them that; they're basically paragaphs, most of them just as aimless as Spinning Gears. They're like thoughts being said out loud. And altogether, these stories transmit the last moments of melancholy, sadness and perhaps lucidity that Akutagawa experienced. The stories are sad, and they all convey a void that I'm sure the author was experiencing in his real life. There's an emptiness, perhaps a shallowness to all of them, as we can tell that there is something unsaid in every line of text.

Akutagawa's words feel full of uncertainty at times, and if anything, it all feels very rushed and unfinished, but that is perhaps the essence of the suicide ideation he was experiencing at the time; it is a rushed goodbye. The stories lead to nowhere, until you get to the final part, and read his suicide note. That's what they were leading to.

It's hard to recommend Akutagawa based on these works; they're not as exceptionally reflexive and interesting as that of authors like Osamu Dazai (No Longer Human), who were on a similar path mentally, yet managed to convey their ideas into a narrative that makes more traditional sense than that of Akutagawa, but precisely that is what's interesting here: Akutagawa communicates the ineffable. So, if I were to rate the stories """objectively""" (whatever that means), based solely on the text I received and read, and not counting the suicide note into my score, I'd give it about 3 stars, which is what I've put here. That being said, my personal score is 4 stars taking the suicide note into account as it provides the missing ending- and perhaps I'd even give it 5 stars if you're someone who's ever wanted answers about suicide.

 summary, this is not necessarily a great read, maybe not even a good one per sé. But it personally helped me make peace with the departure of those I've loved. I somehow was able to understand something that had completely eluded me before, all thanks to Akutagawa's unfiltered and desperate narration. I will always be appreciative of this book for helping me understand the other rushed, unifinished, desperate stories I've encountered in life.

So 3 stars for anyone that asks me in casual conversation; 5 stars for anyone that knows me on a deeper level.

I've thought long and hard about this book and what I'd like to say about it, however, I find it difficult to communicate. So I'll do my best, but take it all with a grain of salt.

I read "the life of a stupid man" and "spinning gears" (it was an edition that included both into one book, which seemed appropiate since both narratives are quite short) looking for answers and I believe I've found them. The true reason I decided to read the works of Akutagawa, is because I knew that at the very end of the edition I picked up, they included his suicide letter adressed to one of his dear friends. I was interested in reading that descent into madness, into a depth that I couldn't otherwise access. I wanted to know how his narrations led into that suicide letter, and I believe that's the answer I found.

"Spinning Gears", the first part in the edition I read, is quite interesting; it feels very stream-of-consciousness. It is a story that feels like aimlessly walking somewhere, and you're enjoying the melancholic landscape, but there really is no end goal. It tells the story of a man who sees spinning gears in his field of vision and they seem to act as a representation of the man's depression. It was especially interesting as it lead into "The life of a Stupid Man", which is a collection of short "stories" if you can call them that; they're basically paragaphs, most of them just as aimless as Spinning Gears. They're like thoughts being said out loud. And altogether, these stories transmit the last moments of melancholy, sadness and perhaps lucidity that Akutagawa experienced. The stories are sad, and they all convey a void that I'm sure the author was experiencing in his real life. There's an emptiness, perhaps a shallowness to all of them, as we can tell that there is something unsaid in every line of text.

Akutagawa's words feel full of uncertainty at times, and if anything, it all feels very rushed and unfinished, but that is perhaps the essence of the suicide ideation he was experiencing at the time; it is a rushed goodbye. The stories lead to nowhere, until you get to the final part, and read his suicide note. That's what they were leading to.

It's hard to recommend Akutagawa based on these works; they're not as exceptionally reflexive and interesting as that of authors like Osamu Dazai (No Longer Human), who were on a similar path mentally, yet managed to convey their ideas into a narrative that makes more traditional sense than that of Akutagawa, but precisely that is what's interesting here: Akutagawa communicates the ineffable. So, if I were to rate the stories """objectively""" (whatever that means), based solely on the text I received and read, and not counting the suicide note into my score, I'd give it about 3 stars, which is what I've put here. That being said, my personal score is 4 stars taking the suicide note into account as it provides the missing ending- and perhaps I'd even give it 5 stars if you're someone who's ever wanted answers about suicide.
In summary, this is not necessarily a great read, maybe not even a good one per sé. But it personally helped me make peace with the departure of those I've loved. I somehow was able to understand something that had completely eluded me before, all thanks to Akutagawa's unfiltered and desperate narration. I will always be appreciative of this book for helping me understand the other rushed, unifinished, desperate stories I've encountered in life.

So 3 stars for anyone that asks me in casual conversation; 5 stars for anyone that knows me on a deeper level.

The last 51 writings were my favourites and left me feeling incredibly empty

Milo

Cait🪼

This eponymous collection of 51 short verses seems to be the musings of Akutagawa before he ended his life. It was a strange collection of works: a short story about the death of a man at the hands of a bandit/his wife; a set of descriptive verses about the deaths of the protagonist’s family; and the eponymous final selection of what can only be described as deeply depressing poetry. Perhaps the most depressing part was the fact that I saw so much of my own thinking in Akutagawa’s. Yeah, this was definitely one of those works that will stay with me.

Gavin

Tiny selection of tiny prose poems. Contains "In a Grove" which was later made into Rashōmon. Insofar as the following sentence makes sense: it's good but Rashōmon is better. The other bits are suggestive and modern, but not moving, aside from the bit where the glum Marty Stu reels off all the German Romantics he loves.

laila

okay ! i cannot say much because this was a suicide note (i think) but i don't think everyone is supposed to understand it, it was a short book consisting of 51 short stories, all about his life- which we know nothing about. 
so I'm assuming that's why i couldn't fully grasp what everything meant, it was *his* story *his* life. i don't dislike nor like it to be frank, but i definitely don't regret reading it

Momo

The Life of a Stupid Man is a great little book to read. It's three separate short stories and really reflects the type of literature people read at the time. As well as demonstrating Japanese culture and values of the time too.

The first short story was by far my favourite. It was captivating and mysterious.

The Life of a Stupid Man

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