Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Paperback | Pages: 268 pages Rating: 4.13 | 5874 Users | 349 Reviews
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| Original Title: | 羅生門 [Rashōmon] |
| ISBN: | 0143039849 (ISBN13: 9780143039846) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://www.penguin.co.uk/books/rashomon-and-seventeen-other-stories/9780143039846/ |
| Setting: | Japan |
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This collection features a brilliant new translation of the Japanese master's stories, from the source for the movie Rashōmon to his later, more autobiographical writings. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is one of Japan’s foremost stylists - a modernist master whose short stories are marked by highly original imagery, cynicism, beauty and wild humour. ‘Rashōmon’ and ‘In a Bamboo Grove’ inspired Kurosawa’s magnificent film and depict a past in which morality is turned upside down, while tales such as ‘The Nose’, ‘O-Gin’ and ‘Loyalty’ paint a rich and imaginative picture of a medieval Japan peopled by Shoguns and priests, vagrants and peasants. And in later works such as ‘Death Register’, ‘The Life of a Stupid Man’ and ‘Spinning Gears’, Akutagawa drew from his own life to devastating effect, revealing his intense melancholy and terror of madness in exquisitely moving impressionistic stories. A WORLD IN DECAY - Rashōmon - In a Bamboo Grove - The Nose - Dragon: The Old Potter's Tale - The Spider Thread - Hell Screen UNDER THE SWORD - Dr. Ogata Ryōsai: Memorandum - O-Gin - Loyalty MODERN TRAGICOMEDY - The Story of a Head That Fell Off - Green Onions - Horse Legs AKUTAGAWA'S OWN STORY - Daidōji Shinsuke: The Early Years - The Writer's Craft - The Baby's Sickness - Death Register - The Life of a Stupid Man - Spinning GearsPoint About Books Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories
| Title | : | Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories |
| Author | : | Ryūnosuke Akutagawa |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 268 pages |
| Published | : | October 31st 2006 by Penguin Classics (first published 1927) |
| Categories | : | Short Stories. Cultural. Japan. Fiction. Asian Literature. Japanese Literature. Classics |
Rating About Books Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories
Ratings: 4.13 From 5874 Users | 349 ReviewsWrite Up About Books Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories
I first came by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa via Akira Kurosawas 1950 film Rashōmon. Its an adaptation of two short stories within this collection: In a Bamboo Grove and Rashōmon (though Kurosawa adapted the former and simply took the name of the latter and used it as a framing device). Its one of my favorite Kurosawa films, and so I knew Id like to check out the source material at some point. Im glad I did, because there are some really good stories here and its an overall well-rounded anthology.ThisI was Compelled to read this after loving Akira Kurosawa's classic film. Most of the stories are superb, with Akutagawa's prose full of such fluidity. He really catches you out with some beautiful quirks of description, sharp bouts of humour, and many revelations in a short space of time that it's no wonder he is considered one of Japan's greatest short-story writers.
Verdant vignettes vibrate across the readers eyes, as the are drawn into the splendiferous similes which dance across the page, shimmering like the pale reflection of sun-light on pebbles in a Japanese garden. Akutagawa fused he aesthetics of haiku with the psychology of Dostoevsky and other Western writers; style and form are as central to his stories as structure, psychology and characters, yet few short story writers are able to match the sheer diversity of Akutagawas ouvre; whether it be
Hmm, these stories are so unlike what I'm used to expecting shorts to be like. They're like folklore or legends. It's quite impressive to think a once-living man could have created such timeless stories. Don't such narratives take centuries to shape, passed from one generation to the next by old women making yarn or silk thread? *********************************************************I'm not sure whether to be amused or annoyed that Murakami gives Akutagawa such grudging praise in his
In fulfillment of his longstanding dream, he became the author of several books. But what he got in return was a desolate loneliness. This collection offers a piercing insight into the stunning yet troubled mind of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. A writer brought to the world by a madwoman, he was a well-known insomniac, a drug addict, a guilt-plagued sinner, yet he produced such beautiful works while hounded by the looming shadows of his inevitable insanity. This masterwork can be adequately divided into
Throughout my life I've been experiencing the strangest tendency when reading a really great literary work: after finishing a particularly brilliant passage/story/poem, I just have to put the book down for while, to stop reading it altogether as if I was afraid that this was the peak and nothing better will follow. Sometimes this takes days of sweet pondering upon the writer's craft. I like savouring these moments, they occur rarely, bringing me much pleasure and gently nudging me into thinking
Wow...just...wow.I never though I could find myself this immersed in a book before and finish it this quickly. The last time I finished a long book this quickly was 4-5 years ago when I read Jonathan Stroud's "The Amulet of Samarkand" in one night. This was a good book to start reading the night of my birthday. What a real treat indeed!I was expecting to finish this AFTER "A Man of All Seasons", which I was already over halfway done with and I got there from only two days worth of reading...but
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