Reviews

Three Japanese Short Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Kafū Nagai, Koji Uno

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vik96's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-paced

4.0

Lovely prose and scene-setting in the first story, and some strange and funny irony in the second. Third story was more of a fantasy parable that felt a little out of place next to the first two stories.

zoebasson's review against another edition

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4.0

“i will probably be here, doing nothing, for the time being. indeed, i may have to spend the rest of my life like this.”

these stories were really interesting, definitely very bleak, but often relatable, and i actually quite enjoyed them. i’m glad the little penguin books are broadening my reading <3

cauchemarlena's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a nice short read, introducing the works of three Japanese authors. The only familiar author to be was Akutagawa. The most enjoyable story was Nagai's "Behind the Prison" which charmed me with its beautiful prose. The other stories were okay, although I didn't really enjoy them.

frizzbee's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cat_thecatlady's review against another edition

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4.0

this was an enjoyable little book!

Behind the Prison was filled with beautiful descriptions. Closet LLB was strangely humorous and ironic. but General Kim was my least favorite, as it felt too short to really convey anything. I liked the fantasy aspects in it, though.

overall, a good collection to be acquainted with this older kind of japanese literature

pandagopanda's review against another edition

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2.0

If I had to throw a dart at one common theme across the three stories featured in this volume, it would be “terrible men being terrible” - granted, each in more and less malevolent ways. Covering cultural changes, generational differences, politics, and empire they certainly hit on the big themes of this period in Japanese culture. I enjoyed the very florid descriptive passages in Akutagawa’s story, though the narrator was fairly insufferable, almost to the point of parody.

As a part of the Penguin Modern Classics series of small books, this is an underwhelming volume for me. I don’t mind a couple of short stories bound together to make up a book, but this is more successful when they are all the work of one writer. This volume seems to be primarily an advertisement for “the forthcoming Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories” mentioned in the cover pages, rather than a solid standalone publication like others in the series.