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aureliaurita's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
ruinedbyreading's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lecturesbuissonnieres's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
mx_remy's review against another edition
5.0
These stories are beautiful. I understand how fine a line the translator must walk for stories like these; he mentions as much in the introduction, as well as his particular approach and its justification. Just as an example of the difficulty, Akinari largely did without any punctuation or structure, and it's unclear how much one can change that without harm. Although I can't speak for its adherence to the original, I would call this book overwhelmingly successful in terms of its beauty and readability in English. Previous translations apparently have done too much to accommodate the reader, losing much of Akinari's grace in the process. This version seems like a much more even compromise, although only to my untrained eye.
On to the text itself; I was enraptured. Indeed, I finished it in all likelihood well before I should have. An optimal reading of a collection like this would involve long bouts of contemplation between each story, or possibly between each book (it's split up into 5 books of mostly 2 stories each). I, however, am not much for literary criticism, and am most emphatically for simple enjoyment, which was to be had in spades. Fans of Lafcadio Hearn will enjoy this, although now I suspect reading Akinari first would be a more natural progression.
I do agree with a previous reviewer that some of the translator's prefaces to the individual stories are best suited to scholarly pursuits. Their suggestion was to skip these spoilers and come back afterwards. I had read this advice before the book itself, but could not bring myself to follow it. Although the beforehand comments did not significantly detract from the stories, some of the key details would have been better left to the afterwards section. Only that information which provided needed context for the story, and would not color one's reading of it, should have come first.
On to the text itself; I was enraptured. Indeed, I finished it in all likelihood well before I should have. An optimal reading of a collection like this would involve long bouts of contemplation between each story, or possibly between each book (it's split up into 5 books of mostly 2 stories each). I, however, am not much for literary criticism, and am most emphatically for simple enjoyment, which was to be had in spades. Fans of Lafcadio Hearn will enjoy this, although now I suspect reading Akinari first would be a more natural progression.
I do agree with a previous reviewer that some of the translator's prefaces to the individual stories are best suited to scholarly pursuits. Their suggestion was to skip these spoilers and come back afterwards. I had read this advice before the book itself, but could not bring myself to follow it. Although the beforehand comments did not significantly detract from the stories, some of the key details would have been better left to the afterwards section. Only that information which provided needed context for the story, and would not color one's reading of it, should have come first.
Spoiler
Also, I have to wonder if I was in the minority when I hoped the giant serpent would get her man; in Akinari's time or mine.elicia_95's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
erickabdz's review against another edition
3.0
Long ago you may have dwelt, my lord, in jeweled splendor, but what good is that to you now?
Ah! This was a very demanding read. For me, I mean, I'm definitely not qualified enough to enjoy these stories; you learn a lot of Japanese history, and quite a bit of everything behind the translation, which is rather good if you're looking for that. Personally, I was only looking for creepy folk tales, and it became tedious to read all the annotations -which is a shame because they were good, just not for me. I'm actually rounding up because I really liked the translations and saw the effort behind them.
My favourite stories were The Chrysanthemum Vow and A Serpent's Lust. Some of them had a lot of history within them and took more time to go through, but overall they're a nice collection and especially interesting if you're into history or translation.
iguanka's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
addie_elena's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
puzumaki's review against another edition
3.0
I thought I would find this to be quite gruesome, but it's like many old gothic tales - a spiritual or supernatural phenomena that is meant to unsettle more than startle or "thrill". It's set up academically, with setting, characters, history, etc described. Some of the short stories I really enjoyed, but a good number I found to be a bit dull. Regardless, it was a fascinating trip into Japanese writing. One would likely enjoy or appreciate this more if they had a stronger education in Japanese history and culture (where mine is mostly based on Japanese pop culture).
ishta24's review against another edition
5.0
Nove bellissimi racconti di spettri e demoni rielaborati con grande originalità.
L'appuntamento dei Crisantemi, il Cappuccio Blu e la Passione del Serpente sono i miei preferiti.
« Non far crescere mai nel tuo giardino i salici che mettono germogli verdi all'arrivo della primavera. Non legarti a una persona dal cuore volubile. I salici crescono subito, ma non resistono al primo soffio del vento d'autunno; le persone volubili si legano con facilità, ma se ne vanno presto, e se i salici rinnovano il colore a ogni primavera, una persona infedele non farà più ritorno. »
L'appuntamento dei Crisantemi, il Cappuccio Blu e la Passione del Serpente sono i miei preferiti.
« Non far crescere mai nel tuo giardino i salici che mettono germogli verdi all'arrivo della primavera. Non legarti a una persona dal cuore volubile. I salici crescono subito, ma non resistono al primo soffio del vento d'autunno; le persone volubili si legano con facilità, ma se ne vanno presto, e se i salici rinnovano il colore a ogni primavera, una persona infedele non farà più ritorno. »