Rashomon and Other Stories (Tuttle Classics) [Paperback]

Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Author), Howard Hibbet (Author), Kojima Takashi (Author), Howard Hibbett (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Tuttle Classics | Publication Date: November 15, 2007

This collection of short stories includes "In a Grove", a psychologically sophisticated tale about murder, rape, and suicide; "Rashomon", the story of a thief scared into honesty by an encounter with a ghoul; and "Kesa and Morito", the story of man driven to kill someone he doesn't hate by a lover whom he doesn't love.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There are enough Swiftian touches in Akutagawa to show his hatred of stupidity, greed, hypocrisy, and the rising jingoism of the day. But Akutagawa's artistic integrity kept him from joining his contemporaries in the easy social criticism or naive introspectionàWhat he did was question the values of his society, dramatize the complexities of human psychology, and study, with a Zen taste for paradox, the balance of illusion and reality."—Howard Hibbett

About the Author

Ryunosuke Akutagawa was the author of over 100 short stories. In 1927, he committed suicide at the age of thirty-five.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4805308826
• ISBN-13: 978-4805308820
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #532,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I could read japanese, April 12, 2009

By 

E. A. Hayes Jr. - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rashomon and Other Stories (Tuttle Classics) (Paperback)

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.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars short and unsettling, December 3, 2007

By 

Z. E. Lowell "zlowell" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rashomon and Other Stories (Tuttle Classics) (Paperback)

Ryunosuke Akutagawa, as the introduction to this work will tell you, is one of the most well known and admired figures in Japanese literature. He was a sensitive and cynical man who wrote more than one hundred short before his early death in 1927. Like many people in the West, I think I was drawn to Akutagawa's work after viewing Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" and wanted to read the story (or stories, rather) upon which it was based. Just as Kurosawa was a master of the moving image, Akutagawa was a master of the written language and a keen observer of the human condition.

For those not familiar with Akutagawa's work, be warned: his dark, ironic and frequently pessimistic world-view is not for everyone. In his stories love, honor and decency are often frequently and unexpectedly replaced by jealousy, hatred and violence. This collection of stories can easily be read in one or two sittings, but it's unsettling effects will likely stay with you for long you put it down.

5.0 out of 5 stars Japanese tales teach universal lessons, January 30, 2011

By 

TChris (Tzer Island) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Rashomon and Other Stories (Tuttle Classics) (Paperback)

The Tuttle Classics edition of Rashomon contains six stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, with an introduction by Howard Hibbet. "In a Grove" recounts a woman's rape and her husband's death from the conflicting perspectives of the rapist, the woman, and the husband, each of whom provides a different account of how the husband died. Akutagawa employs the same device -- telling a story from different perspectives -- in "Kesa and Morito": after a married woman has sex with a man who loathes her, they agree to murder her husband -- but the woman's vision of that crime is quite different from the man's.

"Rashomon" -- a meditation on good and evil, on desperation and hypocrisy -- tells of a servant who cannot decide whether to steal or starve until he meets an old woman who is pulling the hair out of corpses. Lacking compassion or empathy, he fails to recognize himself in her. Similarly, the Christian values of charity and forgiveness give way to hypocrisy in "The Martyr," as Jesuit missionaries and members of the Christian church in Nagasaki condemn a devout parishioner (Lorenzo) on the strength of rumored sin -- only later to declare Lorenzo a martyr after an act of self-sacrifice reveals Lorenzo's true (and surprising) nature.

"Yam Gruel" is the story of an aging samurai who, having been treated with contempt his whole life, clings to a dream -- to eat his fill of yam gruel -- until, finally given the opportunity to fulfill his desire, he questions whether he really wants to do so. In "The Dragon," a priest who is ridiculed because of his long nose decides to pull a prank on his fellow priests by posting a notice board that says "On March third a dragon shall ascend from this pond," only to find the prank taking on a life of its own.

I view these stories as the Japanese equivalent of western fables: teaching life's hard lessons by illustrating the misfortunes that come to those who behave badly. Each story has a moral. The lessons they teach transcend the differences between east and west: the seven deadly sins are just as deadly in Japan as they are in the United States.

Hibbet makes a convincing case that the stories in translation lose the nuances of language that convey the essence of the author's thought. While it is likely true that the stories are richer in Japanese, translation into English does not rob them of their power and vitality. They are a joy to read.