A review by mysafe_place
The Life of a Stupid Man by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The rating I gave to this book is not directly accurate I have to confess as I am not certain how I should feel about it. Certainly, it made me think quite a lot, rethink my own perceptions and question just how or to what extent society contributes to me finding the meaning of my life (if it does influence that search at all or whether that is a good thing or a bad thing,  as long as you can individualise it). The author does have a very unique writting style which I surprisingly liked more than I expected. The objectivity allowed me to have that thinking process and to form any kind of unbiased opinion on the uttered thoughts put out here. 
"Why did this one have to be born - to come into the world like all the others, this world so full of suffering?", is it really so that in the end we will come back to this: "(...)he often thought of the peace that death would give him (us)."?