Author: Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Translator: Jay Rubin
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Publication Year: 2006
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 268
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.
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This book is the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition of Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s
short stories collection. It collects 18 short stories with an introduction
from Haruki Murakami. In general this book is divided into four parts with
specific theme, namely A World in Decay, Under the Sword, Modern Tragicomedy,
and Akutagawa’s Own Story. The stories are presented in the chronological
order of the settings instead of the publication date which I found
interesting.
I was first introduced to Akutagawa through a book from the Penguin Little
Black Classic collection which contains three of his short stories. Those
three are also included in this collection, which are In a Bamboo Grove, Death
Register, and The Life of A Stupid Man. All of which I truly enjoyed reading.
Hence, me picking up this book. Reading his works, I get a sense that he’s an
interesting man with an intricate mind, who went through intricate life. It is
clearly visible in some of his works since some of them are autobiographical.
In this book, we can find these stories under the Akutagawa’s Own Story.
In A World of Decay, Akutagawa observed human nature through his cynical eyes
and presented it through his stories. Rashomon shows us a case where a person
would do anything to survive even at the expense of others; while In A Bamboo
Grove shows that people are unreliable and cannot be trusted. Those are some
examples of the kind of stories under the A World of Decay part, with the
darkest one in my opinion being a story titled Hell Screen. Perhaps influenced
by what Akutagawa’s went through in life, but he definitely illustrated the
worst in people through these stories. Even though it sounds dark and
pessimistic, personally I still need this point of view to remind me that real
life is not always rainbows and butterflies.
Under the Sword collects Akutagawa’s stories which set during the time when
Christianity first came to Japan. Based on what I read briefly about the
history of Christianity in Japan, there were some resistance to the religion.
It was some of the darkest moments in Japan’s history. The stories in this
part reflect that.
While Modern Tragicomedy contains short stories which are supposedly funny,
but still Akutagawa’s funny. The stories are bizarre and surreal you start to
wonder if the writer had slowly descent into madness. One story follows a man
whose legs were turned to horse legs, another one tells a story of a girl who
led a difficult life, went on a date which she looked forward to, only to find
out that the highlight of her day was cheap green onions. Through the stories
in this part I think Akutagawa invited us to laugh at the absurdity of life
and I like that.
The last part of this book, Akutagawa’s Own Story is where we could learn more
about the mind behind the stories in this book since they’re autobiographical.
The stories in this part were mostly written when Akutagawa’s physical and
mental health were deteriorating. I must say what he experienced, what went
through his mind was scary. It can be triggering. However, I still think he’s
such a brilliant writer. It’s a shame what happened to him.
Overall, there’s not a story that I don’t like. Usually, in a short story
collection, there’s at least a story that I don’t like. Not with this one. I
think the writer’s life itself, though tragic, is already interesting which of
course affected his writing. I believe Akutagawa’s writing is also influenced
by Western literature, at least based on what I read in the notes section
because unfortunately I haven’t read the works being referenced. I find this
intriguing since in my mind, Akutagawa is a Japanese classic writer but his
writing feels modern and westernized in a way. Back then Japan were isolated
and closed its borders against western nations so I still couldn’t wrap my
heads around it sometimes. There’s still a lot that can be dissected from his
works, I think. Akutagawa has become one of my favorite writers of all time.
There are still a lot of his published short stories that I haven’t read yet
so I intend to read those. If you never read Akutagawa’s works, I’d recommend
to read the Penguin Little Black Classic first to get a sense of his writing.
If you have and you want to seek more of his works, I recommend reading this
edition since the structure and the notes can be helpful to enhance your
reading experience.
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