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Ryunosuke Akutagawa

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Rashomon and Other Stories Paperback – December 1, 1999

by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Author), M. Kuwata (Illustrator), Takashi Kojima (Translator),

4.3 222 ratings

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This fascinating collection gave birth to a new paradigm when Akira Kurosawa made famous Akutagawa's disturbing tale of seven people recounting the same incident from shockingly different perspectives.

Writing at the beginning of the twentieth century, Ryunosuke Akutagawa created disturbing stories out of Japan's cultural upheaval. Whether his fictions are set centuries past or close to the present, Akutagawa was a modernist, writing in polished, superbly nuanced prose subtly exposing human needs and flaws. "In a Grove," which was the basis for Kurosawa's classic film Rashomon, tells the chilling story of the killing of a samurai through the testimony of witnesses, including the spirit of the murdered man. The fable-like "Yam Gruel" is an account of desire and humiliation, but one in which the reader's sympathy is thoroughly unsettled. And in "The Martyr," a beloved orphan raised by Jesuit priests is exiled when he refuses to admit that he made a local girl pregnant. He regains their love and respect only at the price of his life. All six tales in the collection show Akutagawa as a master storyteller and an exciting voice of modern Japanese literature.

Print length

96 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Liveright
Publication date

December 1, 1999
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.4 x 8.3 inches
ISBN-10

0871401738
ISBN-13

978-0871401731
Lexile measure

1030L
See all details

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Because I was a Japanese major in college, a very nice edition of a translation of Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa had been left for me at my bedside, to read while I was there and to take with me when I left. Thoughtful, I thought. And fitting. Even more fitting, that friend and I no longer speak, and I am sure we have very different versions as to why that is."
― David Rakoff, The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892–1927) was one of the most famous Japanese writers of the last century and was the author of Rashomon and other works. The Akutagawa Prize is named in his honor.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Liveright; Reissue edition (December 1, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0871401738
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0871401731
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1030L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #150,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15 in Asian Literary History & Criticism
- #52 in Historical Fiction Short Stories (Books)
- #2,460 in Short Stories (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 222 ratings

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Customer reviews

222 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the stories engaging and enigmatic. They describe the book as good and great quality. However, some customers have issues with formatting and printing quality, mentioning errors and poor quality.

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Story quality Readability Formatting

6 customers mention "Story quality"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the stories. They find the stories funny, tragic, philosophical, and enigmatic.

"...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,..." Read more

"...They're brief, enigmatic, and very Japanese, an echo of the author's own brief and enigmatic life...." Read more

"...This story is about 13 pages. While the story is not bad, I would imagine that one would have to be a pretty hard-core fan of that film to buy..." Read more

"...a little masterpiece, going from grotesque, to good-natured funny, to tragic, to philosophical... An amazing Japanese writer, who should be a lot..." Read more

5 customers mention "Readability"5 positive0 negative

Customers like the book. They mention it's a good book, but some formatting issues.

"Come in great quality!!!" Read more

"Very good, especially if you like Edogawa Rampo's style of dark stories...." Read more

"A great read, seen it as a reoccuring theme in the movie Ghost dog which inspired me to buy it." Read more

"Great book...." Read more

3 customers mention "Formatting"0 positive3 negative

Customers are dissatisfied with the formatting of the book. They mention it's poorly printed, organized, and full of errors.

"...But this book was not made for kindle — it is poorly organized, formatted, etc. Better to find a free pdf version." Read more

"...and the table of contents seems procedurally generated and is full of errors. The first story of the collection “The Grove” has multiple parts...." Read more

"...The stories themselves were good, but the Kindle edition is VERY poorly formatted...." Read more

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Top reviews from the United States

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Steffan Piper

Died a suicide in 1927 at the age of 35

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2000

Verified Purchase

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.

32 people found this helpful

Helpful

Stacey DJ Stace

Great book.

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

I bought this for a friend.

Helpful

M

I bought it used and it came with stuff written in it

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2024

Verified Purchase

I guess its on me for buying it used i just expected it to be a little beat up but there was stuff written in it and kind of a lot but it doesnt cover the actual book and it was only $5 so i guess its okay

Helpful

wiredweird

Short stories from another era

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2005

Verified Purchase

I was easily drawn into this collection of seven of Akutagawa's short stories. They're brief, enigmatic, and very Japanese, an echo of the author's own brief and enigmatic life. The book opens with `In a Grove' a murder mystery with too many confessions - including one by the victim. It continues with the title story `Rashomon', less a story than a snapshot of moral choice. `The Martyr' creates an odd mix of Japanese tradition with Christianity, a story of honor ruined and restored, but with a deeper secret that makes restoration much more than it seemed. There are other stories as well, including `Kesa and Mirito,' about infidelity and vengeance (or something like it). If you need proof that these vignettes come from a non-Western world, this story gives all you need and more.

Akutagawa, writing in Japan at the dawn of the twentieth century, evokes a time and place that seem much farther. I recommend this highly, for the sense it gives of how similar other times and people may be to us now, and also how very different.

//wiredweird

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Caraculiambro

make sure you know what you're buying

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2003

Verified Purchase

To clarify some possible misunderstandings about this book:
1. This is not an "old" book, like The Book of Five Rings or Hagakure. It was written in the 1900's.
2 It's a book of short stories, not a novel or even a novella (together the stories total only 109 pages.)
3 Yes, Kurosawa's film was based on one of the stories, "In a Grove," which examines the circumstances of a rape from differing points of view. This story is about 13 pages. While the story is not bad, I would imagine that one would have to be a pretty hard-core fan of that film to buy this book just for that.
4. There is, however, a story called "Rashomon" in this collection, but this heavy-handed tale has little connection to the Kurosawa film, though Kurosawa may have lifted the tone and setting of his film's opening from the opening of this story. For you to decide.
5. What is or was the "Rashomon"? This is something I didn't know... To quote from the book (31n): "The 'Rashomon' was the largest gate in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. It was 106 feet wide and 26 feet deep, and was topped with a ridge-pole; its stone-wall rose 75 feet high. This gate was constructed in 789 when the then capital of Japan was transferred to Kyoto. With the decline of West Kyoto, the gate fell into bad repair, cracking and crumbling in many places, and became a hide-out for thieves and robbers and a place for abandoning unclaimed corpses."

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

d.b.

A must-read Japanese writer

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2010

Verified Purchase

Many of you have probably seen the movie "Rashomon" - certainly, an unforgettable movie. The script combines two of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's stories. I bought this copy as a present for a friend who has never read any of R.A.'s stories, and it unfortunately contains only a few of them. I own an old French (Livre de Poche ed.) version of his collected short stories, about three times as many, each and every one of them a little masterpiece, going from grotesque, to good-natured funny, to tragic, to philosophical... An amazing Japanese writer, who should be a lot better known.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

ObsidianKay

Loved it

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

I bought this for a friend who’s a big fan of Akutagawa and she absolutely loved it! The book itself was in really good shape for being used and had minimal writing inside

Reviewed in Japan on October 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

The stories themselves were interesting, but the layout made it difficult to follow.
Also why was the Table of Contents at the end?
Were the stories all supposed to be connected?

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