( 16 reviews )
-
Posted: Jul 15 2009
I am enjoying the book. However, the binding fell apart and most of the pages have fallen out. I have had to tape them back in to finish reading the book.
-
Posted: Apr 12 2009
In the preface, the translator illustrates that this work is far more beautifully written in Japanese. This book, being so elegantly written, motivates me to learn the native language. A book so beautiful should not sit on a shelf, I gave it to someone who would understand what it had to offer. I told her that the one condition is that once she finishes it she must do the same. "Ancient Japan was a pretty strange place" says Louise Vargo, a character in "Ghost Dog." This book is a motif in this fantastic movie and I couldn't help but find out more. Being someone who is interested in Japanese culture I thought I should read this book that is far too short And you should too, if you are interested.
-
Posted: Oct 10 2008
Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon and 17 Other Stories (Penguin, 2006) I'll admit I picked this up less because it was Akutagawa than the bit that said "illustrated by Yoshihiro Tatsumi", who's been one of the best in the business for over thirty years. When I actually got it, I found out Tatsumi was only responsible for the cover, but I went ahead and read it anyway. Eighteen of Akutagawa's stories, including "Rashomon" and "In a Grove" (the two stories that, in combination, Kurosawa adapted into the movie Rashomon). Very simple, almost stark at times. Haruki Murakami, in his introduction, stops short of naming Akutagawa as the founder of Japanese modernism, but all signs seem to point that way; if you're a fan of Japanese modernism, this is a no-brainer. For others-- well, if you haven't been exposed to any Japanese media culture at all, you might be in for something of a surprise. Not so much on the level of the stories themselves, which are quite wonderful and universal in their emotional scope, but in the directness of Akutagawa's prose style. This isn't the kind of thing you'll find in American story anthologies; we tend to gussy things up with flowery language and endless subplots and Moments of Great Import(TM). Akutagawa just has a story to tell (in many of the earlier stories, he's just retelling old fairy tales in new language, though the later stories show a more autobiographical side), and he tells it, and that's the end of it. You may find this as refreshing as I do, just be aware of what's lurking between these covers. ****
