Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories

Considered to be one of the greatest national writers of Japan, Rynosuke Akutagawa had a short but brilliant career in the early twentieth century. This collection includes some of his best known short stories, such as "Rashmon", "Spinning Gears", "Loyalty", and "The Nose", as well as some of his lesser-known works. The stories range from humorous, to historical, to agonizingly autobiographical. The Penguin Classics edition also includes a wonderfully insightful introduction by Haruki Murakami. For much of Akutagawa's early career, he delved into Japan's literary past. The story "Loyalty" is a complex tale based on a true event that took place during the Tokugawa period, when the young head of a noble family went insane, creating a crisis among his samurai retainers. Samurai were meant to be loyal to the death, but that loyalty also extended to the Shogun. If one's master posed a thread to the Shogun, where should your loyalty lie? This is the problem that faces two very different retainers, each of whom must make an almost impossible decision. The story explores not only loyalty, but the issues of sanity, respect, obligation, and shame. Some of the more humorous stories include "Horse Legs" and "The Story of a Head That Fell Off", both involving dead men who suffer terrible humiliations, one at the hand of some spiritual bureaucrats, and the other because of a medical miracle. But the final section of the book, which include those selections that tell Akutagawa's own story, is possibly the most moving and compelling. Akutagawa's childhood was difficult, as his mother went insane shortly after his birth. He was afraid of mental illness for the remainder of his life, and the final story of the book, "Spinning Gears" tells the tale of his last months spent in depression and constant anxiety. He suffered from insomnia, hallucinations, and constantly worried about his own sanity. It is the final passage of the story that conveys Akutagawa's overwhelming despair: "I don't have the strength to keep writing this. To go on living with this feeling is painful beyond description. Isn't there someone kind enough to strangle me in my sleep" The story was published posthumously in 1927, the year Akutagawa took his own life. The story progresses toward that inevitable conclusion, and gives us an insight into Akutagawa's tortured mind.

I was expecting a lot when I first opened Rashomon and 17 other stories, and I was not let down. Ryunosuke Akutagawa has an amazing style, and also led an interesting and difficult life. I recommend that anyone considering this product get it, whether it be from a used book store or a new copy. You won't be let down.

This is the second Ryunosuke Akutagawa book that I have read, the first one being "Kappa." The change in tone was a bit of a shock for me, for whereas "Kappa" is a wry, witty political commentary, the stories collected in "Rashomon and Other Stories" are bleak and brilliant. Each of the stories, while very short indeed, packs a powerful punch. Akutagawa managed to condense despair into its basest elements, then packaged it raw and hurting, yet beautiful and human. The title story, "Roshomon," is a scant 9 1/2 pages long yet you would not wish for a single extra word to be included. Of course, not all the stories in this collection are so dismal. The longest tale, "Yam Gruel," shows something of the wittiness and lightness of "Kappa." Some of the stories, such as the catholic influenced, "The Martyr," might be considered uplifting if you take a spiritual lesson from it. "In the Grove," the story that is the basis for the Kurosawa film "Rashomon," is an engaging story on the truth and ego and interpretation. But bleak nonetheless. The translation of "Rashomon and Other Stories" is excellent, and captures the style and intent beautifully. It is a very old translation, as can be shown by the translator feeling the need to include a note explaining what "sushi" is. My single complaint about this book is that, for the price, it is very small indeed. It could have contained at least double the amount of Akutagawa short stories, which certainly exist, and been a better collection.

The book clocking in at only 110 pages is my only complaint. The stories in the book are wonderful, my favorites being: "In the Grove," "Yam Gruel," and "The Martyr." "In the Grove" deals with the murder of a samurai and the many different tellings of his death; I refuse to go into detail here because that would ruin the story for those who hgave not read it, but let me say that explanations come from all sides. "Yam Gruel" deals with a 5th ranked official/samurai called Goi whose only desire in life is to eat his fill of yam gruel, but given the opportunity to do so causes him to reflect on his life, and to see hor horrible it has been. "The Martyr" deals with Lorenzo and how he was excommunicated from a Jesuit church because it was believed he impregnated an umbrella maker's daughter, and how he redeems himself. The monks are definately in for a shock at the end, Great reading, but too bad it can be read in only a couple of hours by a fast reader.

After ordering this book, I sat completely transfixed while reading due to the absolute simplicity of Akutagawa's writing style. All 6 stories flow beautifully fast as you quietly become emotionally wrapped up in them. The deceptive sheen of these stories almost antagonizes you into finding something amiss, only that you'll discover later, after some thought, that there was yet another unseen perspective or line of thought within the work.'In A Grove' is a very unsetteling story, and obviously the most well-known, but I felt that 'The Matyr' and 'Kisa and Morito' are both very witty, and also my favourites. I imagine, that a lot of people will now get a chance to read this book due in part to the media coverage that came from the movie 'Ghost Dog', with Forest Whittaker, where the book itself played a supporting role. It's not hard to understand, after reading, why. This book gives you insight into persepctive, humiliation, accepting fate - even if it is not a good one, and following the path you've chosen. This book conatins some great uses of fantasy, realism, symbolism surrealism, and in a time and place where a Western reader might not expect it.