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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Poor, poor Akutagawa, November 17, 2003
Akutagawa Ryunosuke is regarded as one of Japan's most significant 20th century authors, and although his work might seem a bit dated to the savvy 21st century reader, there is no denying the fact that he was a master of the short story form. Chief among his strengths were a remarkable ability to build atmosphere and a knack for tightly-constructed narrative. At his best, he could even be a gifted raconteur, capable of turning an otherwise heavy-handed moral parable into a humorous reflection on modernity and the human condition. Akutagawa was also a tragic figure-- bleak cynicism and bitter irony run throughout his stories, and he eventually committed suicide.
Sadly, Akutagawa's stories were among the first translated when Japanese literature became an academic field in America. Not that his stories aren't worthy of translation. After all, who hasn't at least heard of the film 'Rashomon,' the very title of which has entered the English language? The unfortunate aspect of this is that Akutagawa's stories have often been translated by individuals who are far from proficient in the Japanese language. And these decades-old translations are still the only ones available in English, in spite of their shortcomings.
Sadly, this recently-published collection of Akutagawa's stories is not the sorely-needed volume of new and skilled translations that the author deserves. Instead, it is a repackaging of the same old versions that have been making the rounds in various volumes of Japanese literature for decades. Granted, there have been a small number of editorial updates. Even so, countless egregious errors in translation still stare forth from the pages of this book ('Cogwheels' is quite literally unrecognizable when compared to the original, and nothing short of incompetent). And far from being an "essential" volume of the stories of Akutagawa, this could more accurately be described as a rogue's gallery of well-intended misfires in the history of Japanese literature in translation.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best collection of Akutagawa that I've come upon, May 16, 2006
The translation is not as bad as some of the reviews make it out to be. At times (I can count them on my hand)sentences may seem a little awkward but by no means does this hinder the story telling in any way. Akutagawa's use of language is not full of rhetoric that would be hard to translate. That's the beauty of his work: each line has it's own energy and he doesn't bog it down with flowering up the language. It's subtle, strong and poetic.
This book is by far one of the best collections of Akutagawa's work. There are hard to find stories in here and his range as a writer are displayed to the reader. All the stories are great here, and the classics such as Rashomon and In a Grove are included, but the treasures are the visceral "Hell Screen," the cultural investigations of "The Ball" and "The Faint Smiles of the Gods," the surreal "San Sebastian," the horrific view inside the mind of Akutagawa in "Cogwheels" and the poetic "A Fool's Life"
plus, all the rest included in the volume are greatly executed pieces literature as well.
If you are interested in Akutagawa and would like read more and get closer to the mind of this amazing Japanese writer, definately pick it up. If can find this book, get it. And usually they aren't expensive.
I only wish they would issue out new printings so that it was easier for people to get a hold of and share.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for what's out there, September 14, 2006
Akutagawa, while popular in the 70's is near impossible to find good collections of his works nowadays. This collection has some of his more well known pieces as well as my favorites, "Cogwheels" and "A Fool's Life." These two gems are worth their weight in gold. I highly suggest this book for these two masterfully written "suicide letters."
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