Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination [Hardcover]

Edogawa Rampo (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Charles E. Tuttle; Fifth Printing edition (1960)
• ASIN: B0010VTPS6
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,337,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Japanese Wierd Tales, October 18, 2004

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination (Tuttle Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

I can think of few more truly disturbing stories than Edogawa Rampo's "The Chair." A psychologically fable describing in minute detail how a master furniture maker, obsessed with an unachievable woman, creates a chair with himself hidden inside. This chair is given to the woman, and each time she sits in it she nestles unknowingly in his lap, puts her weight onto him, lays her head against his face. The furniture maker silently feels her every night, without her ever knowing. The atmosphere, the detail of the language, and the sheer nature of the story combine for one of the classics of this genre.

"The Chair" is of course included in "Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination," a compilation by the father of Japanese mystery writing. Much is made of his adopting the Japanese pronunciation of Edgar Allan Poe as his pen name, but Rampo's style is his own. He favors psychological horror, and there are few elements of the supernatural to be found. Sociopaths and obsessives seem to be his stock in trade, with detailed exercises on how to commit the perfect, untraceable murder. Many of the stories end with some unexpected revelation, although I would not call it a "twist ending." The obsessive nature of the stories renders them all the more disturbing, as almost every story is something that could conceivably happen.

In addition to the excellent "The Chair," you will find "The Caterpillar" featuring a cruel wife's abuse of her de-limbed husband, "The Cliff," a back-and-forth story that will leave you wondering who is manipulating who, "The Hell of Mirrors," a man obsessed with optics and reflecting surfaces descent into insanity, "The Red Chamber," revealing the true nature of those who are attracted to stories of others deaths, "The Two Crippled Men," a story of a murderous sleepwalker who commits crimes without ever knowing it and "The Traveler with the Pasted Rag Picture," the only story with a supernatural twinge, showing brotherly devotion and love of the unreal.

Each story in "Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination" is well-selected, and James B. Harris does a fine job with the translation, maintaining the tension and original intention. The only real shame is that this is the only collection of Rampo's works that has been translated into English. After reading this you will long for more.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collection of stories!, April 18, 2004

By 

maxmasa31 "maxmasa31" (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination (Tuttle Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a huge Japanophile and a lover of dark tales of mystery and I found that this book is the best of both worlds. After reading these stories, I pulled out my dusty old collection of Poe stories and started reading them all over. The translations are excellent (despite a few questionable spellings) and the overall feel of the novel is very Poe-esque (undoubtedly because Edogawa Ranpo, himself, assisted the translator in the creation of this collection).

While a few reviewers have criticized Edogawa Ranpo for his stories lacking Poe's feel for the dark horror novel, one must know that Edogawa Ranpo is regarded as the father of the Japanese MYSTERY novel, not horror. So, for anyone hoping to get a good scare from this book, you will be let down.

But, with that said, the stories are wonderful and I, quite honestly, would have forgotten that the stories were set in Japan if not for character names. A beautiful collection of dark mysteries that would please fans of Poe's "The Purloined Letter" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," but not necessarily fans of "The Pit and the Pendulum."

I highly recommend this book to fans of Japanese literature, those who like the "Kindaichi Case Files" (Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo) and fans of a good mystery.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strange prose psychodramas, March 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination (Tuttle Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Edogawa Rampo (a pen name based on the Japanese phonetic rendering of "Edgar Allan Poe") wrote stories featuring bizarre plot twists, keen insight into human nature (usually the dark side), and dreamlike imagery. Rampo was truly a brilliant writer, way ahead of his time, and this excellent translation is a pleasure to read. Many of these stories continue to haunt me long after I read them, and I've enjoyed reading them again and again--and sharing them with friends.