Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellence, November 6, 2001
This book is a collection of short stories written by the eminent Japanese author, Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927). These six stories tend to revolve around moral ambiguities. 1) In A Grove is the story of a murder, whose witnesses all tell different, often mutually exclusive stories. 2) Rashomon is the story of a discharged servant who must choose between death and a life of crime and dishonor. 3) Yam Gruel tells the story of Goi, a samurai whose life falls to pieces as he dreams of the rare delicacy yam gruel, and who finds that having is not always as wonderful as wanting. 4) The Martyr reaches back to the 16th Century, to tell the story of a model Christian young man, who is excommunicated when he refuses to recognize a child attributed to him, but the truth he hides is not what everyone thinks. 5) Kesa And Morito is a tale of lust and betrayal. 6) The Dragon is the story of Hanazo, or priest who sets out to play a joke, but learns the power of belief.These stories are quite varied from each other, and all are excellently written. In A Grove is confusing (as is life), while Rashomon is somewhat depressing, and The Martyr is uplifting. But, all the stories are excellently written, and quite interesting. I highly recommend this book. To demonstrate the excellence of these stories, let me submit to you the following line from The Martyr: "For the sublimity of life culminates in the most precious moment of inspiration. Man will make his life worth living, if he tosses a wave aloft high into the starry sky, o'er life's dark main of worldly cares, to mirror in its crystal foam the light of the moon yet to rise."
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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful stories of human nature, September 12, 2000
These stories are excellent - well written in a technical sense, very observant of humanity. They capture the multiplicity of truth as seen by multiple people.In a Grove, the basis of the movie Rashomon, consists of the testimony of several people (including the victim through a medium) in which three people take responsibility for the death - a robber, the victim himself and the victim's wife. Each version appears to be true; each interprets the expressions of others differently than the person whose expression is described. Rashomon tells of a dismissed servent's decision to become a thief; he is then confronted with what others have chosen as necessary to survive. Yam Gruel tells of an official who is taunted and abused, receiving his one goal in life - to eat his full of yam gruel - only to discover that receiving the gruel is not as he anticipated. The Martyr tells of an orphan boy, raised by Jesuits, accused of fathering a child out of wedlock. He becomes a hero in a way that forces those who accused and shunned him to reconsider their actions. Kesa and Morito is a love triangle that will end in murder - but the love triangle is loveless. The Dragon is a practical joke gone awry; or is it really a joke? All the stories are well worth your time - enjoyable and thought-provoking.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Died a suicide in 1927 at the age of 35, April 1, 2000
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.
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