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drifter_reads's review against another edition
4.0
From the writing it's very clear that the short stories are a homage to Rampo's inspiration, Edgar Allan Poe. If you are already familiar with Poe's writings, you will find a striking resemblance in the diction. All the stories center around the themes of ir/rational fear and the deepest human emotions akin to Poe's staple framework. Even being highly inspirational, the stories in this volume retain a stark originality and taste of Edogawa Rampo's writing.
salicat's review against another edition
3.0
There are three 5-star stories in this collection: "The Human Chair," "The Caterpillar" and "The Traveler with the Pasted Rag Picture." About the first story- if you thought a chair was just for sitting...think again. This one had a O'Henry-ish ending that I loved. "The Caterpillar" is a twisted tragedy about a woman's relationship with her veteran husband after the latter is mutilated beyond recognition in the war. The kind of story that stays with you for a long time. The third story ("Traveler") is a bittersweet tale about a man losing his brother in a very unusual way that involves binoculars.
As for the other stories in the collection...couldn't get into them. The writing seemed labored and conceptually, they just didn't measure up to the above three. "The Red Chamber" read like a long-winded Poe knock-off. Still, the collection is worth getting just for the three brilliant tales.
As for the other stories in the collection...couldn't get into them. The writing seemed labored and conceptually, they just didn't measure up to the above three. "The Red Chamber" read like a long-winded Poe knock-off. Still, the collection is worth getting just for the three brilliant tales.
fachrinaa's review against another edition
5.0
What bizarre tales!
Edogawa Rampo is the father of modern Japan mystery, both in the detective sense and the more macabre sense. This collection features four tales of mystery and five tales of imagination.
The four tales of mystery do not follow the usual Western whodunit structure. In fact, in most of them, the culprit is the one telling the story. The tension arises from the way the story unfurls, especially regarding the way the culprit falls and exposes himself.
The five tales of imagination, though, are simply horrifying. There are no ghosts or sinister spirits here. The stories are mundane, everyday life, and it leaves the reader with the feeling that this might very well happen to you. They begin with this subtle unsettling feeling, where something is not quite right but you can't exactly say what it is. And then slowly things get more and more weird, until at the end you are left horrified at humans and their quest to satisfy their obsession.
Read this with the lights on and your back to the wall.
Edogawa Rampo is the father of modern Japan mystery, both in the detective sense and the more macabre sense. This collection features four tales of mystery and five tales of imagination.
The four tales of mystery do not follow the usual Western whodunit structure. In fact, in most of them, the culprit is the one telling the story. The tension arises from the way the story unfurls, especially regarding the way the culprit falls and exposes himself.
The five tales of imagination, though, are simply horrifying. There are no ghosts or sinister spirits here. The stories are mundane, everyday life, and it leaves the reader with the feeling that this might very well happen to you. They begin with this subtle unsettling feeling, where something is not quite right but you can't exactly say what it is. And then slowly things get more and more weird, until at the end you are left horrified at humans and their quest to satisfy their obsession.
Read this with the lights on and your back to the wall.
natasha29singh's review against another edition
4.0
After reading so much literary fiction, it’s nice to read classic mystery and horror. Having some context on the process of translations made the dramatic descriptions so much more enjoyable for me. I noticed a few themes recurring across the stories, which gave me a pleasantly familiar feeling. I think this collection is curated very well – you have your ‘gotcha’ detective stories (The Psychological Test, The Twins) as well as existential horror, which leaves more up to the imagination (The Hell of Mirrors, for example, is the kind of story you can really think about later.) My favorites, however, are the deliberately satirical stories: The Red Chamber in particular, but also The Human Chair to some extent. Nice one & shout-out to Edgar Allen Poe.
themoonreader's review
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
smalefowles's review against another edition
4.0
My expectations were raised a little too high by Rampo's reputation in Japan and comparisons to Poe. The comparison is apt as this collection is a mix of horror stories and detective stories, more in an Arthur Conan Doyle idiom.
The first story in the collection ("The Human Chair") is by far the best, and it's a five out of five story. If the rest of the stories were at that level, this book would be amazing. The rest of the stories are still pretty good (especially "The Pasted Rag Picture" and "The Hell of Mirrors", and I didn't like reading them alone at night.
The first story in the collection ("The Human Chair") is by far the best, and it's a five out of five story. If the rest of the stories were at that level, this book would be amazing. The rest of the stories are still pretty good (especially "The Pasted Rag Picture" and "The Hell of Mirrors", and I didn't like reading them alone at night.