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A review by egilmore
Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
5.0
Akutagawa’s (translated) writing itself is probably a 4 for me, but the care with which this collection was translated, curated, organized, and explained was exceptional. I read everything: the head notes, foot notes, Murakami’s introduction, the translator’s note, and Akutagawa’s chronology. Together they make for a really rich reading experience. Truly excellent presentation.
As for Akutagawa: Prior to this, I had only read “In a Bamboo Grove” and it has stuck with me since high school. There are many enjoyable and interesting shorts in here, but my favorites were:
—the succinct, evocative, and POV-ambitious historical pieces Rashomon and In a Bamboo Grove
—the very weird, funny, and ominous contemporaries Horse Legs and Green Onions
—the poetic, ruminative, and revealing The Life of a Stupid Man,
—and the two standout pieces: Hell Screen and Spinning Gears.
Murakami and Rubin acknowledge these are the knockouts, and they’re not wrong. Hell Screen took my breath away and is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. Spinning Gears is the less showy but no less impressive autofiction accomplice: a dark side to Hell Screen’s moon. Taken in tandem with Akutagawa’s biography, they will haunt you with their stylistic acumen and probes into artistry, madness, and domestic reckoning.
As for Akutagawa: Prior to this, I had only read “In a Bamboo Grove” and it has stuck with me since high school. There are many enjoyable and interesting shorts in here, but my favorites were:
—the succinct, evocative, and POV-ambitious historical pieces Rashomon and In a Bamboo Grove
—the very weird, funny, and ominous contemporaries Horse Legs and Green Onions
—the poetic, ruminative, and revealing The Life of a Stupid Man,
—and the two standout pieces: Hell Screen and Spinning Gears.
Murakami and Rubin acknowledge these are the knockouts, and they’re not wrong. Hell Screen took my breath away and is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. Spinning Gears is the less showy but no less impressive autofiction accomplice: a dark side to Hell Screen’s moon. Taken in tandem with Akutagawa’s biography, they will haunt you with their stylistic acumen and probes into artistry, madness, and domestic reckoning.