Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories

Akutagawa-san is a genius through and through. Rashomon and the Trial stories are most excellent, short but dense.

Familiar with Rashomon? Well Akira Kurosawa's the one that brought Ryunosuke to light to non-japanese world... Story details about an Incident that was narrated by different person from different perspectives leading to different conclusions..... Great book indeed...

If you like to read, fair enough. If you don't just try this collection of short stories. They are absolutely crispy and it will make you want to read more and more.

Arrived in excellent condition possible. Satisfied with product No. Of stories - 18 Total Page - 268

I found about Akutagawa from the anime Bungo Stray Dogs and I'm sure I'm not the only one. As expected, the book is fantastic. Every story as has so much emotions and concept pouring out of it, I've never once regretted buying this novel. Though i would like to give a disclaimer, it's not fit for children and anyone not okay with dark things

Not the best page quality but otherwise good

Classic pure classic

Item not as described or as shown here when it was delivered. It is not a deluxe edition with the cover page as shown, It is only an ordinary edition with a different cover.

Book is in good condition on arrival.

Good sale

Let's get the cliché out first: Most everybody interested in this collection will know the title story by name as it is the framing device of Kurosawa's film of the same title. The bulk of that film's plot, OTOH, is from another story [In a grove], also contained in this very well selected collection. Jay Rubin is a well-known translator of Japanese, for good reason. He hits a well-balanced style relaying the original's intricacies where possible without sacrificing readability - remember that translation is probably more about the target language than the source. Sure, one should understand the culture of the source to get as many connotation as possible. In the end one wishes readers of the target language to learn by way of entertainment they get from the translation. Rubin bolsters understanding with erudite notes and short introductions for the period pieces. The Kindle edition I own is well typeset and formatted, its only downside being the introductions to the stories, which hide just before the notes for the same piece. Unfortunately the introductions do not have their own links. All in all a well thought out, entertaining story collection and introduction to the work and world of Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Highly recommended.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's collection of short stories show him to be a witty author with a cynical view of human nature and the absurdities of the human condition which recall the short works of Franz Kafka. Like Kafka, Akutagawa was plagued by self doubt and recrimination, which unfortunately grew to consume him. The section of the book titled "Akutagawa's Own Story" comprises of writings from towards the end of his life which are pseudo-autobiographical in nature and describe a man succumbing to despair, self-loathing and a growing conviction that he will die by his own hand - as was the case. This section makes for a harrowing read, and if you just want to enjoy the stories and be entertained by Akutagawa's wit and imagination I think it can safely be skipped. I assume most readers will arrive at this collection via Akira Kurosawa's film, and may be surprised when the story Rashomon has little in common with the film Rashomon besides the existence of a gate. This is because the film almost immediately jumps ship into another Akutagawa story, In A Bamboo Grove, which it then follows quite faithfully. It can be a bit of gamble diving into "the classics" as many do not translate well into another time period (let alone language or culture), but Akutagawa's writings - at least those selected here - transcend place and time to speak of something universal.

村上春樹さんのイントロダクションが付いていて、大変得をした感じです。中の構成も時代別になっていて、とても分かりやすいと思いました。