Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories

About this book

This collection features a brilliant new translation of the Japanese master's stories, from the source for the movie Rashomonto his later, more autobiographical writings. Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is one of Japan's foremost stylists - a modernist master whose short stories are marked by highly original imagery, cynicism, beauty and wild humour. 'Rashomon' and 'In a Bamboo Grove' inspired Kurosawa's magnificent film and depict a past in which morality is turned upside down, while tales such as 'The Nose', 'O-Gin' and 'Loyalty' paint a rich and imaginative picture of a medieval Japan peopled by Shoguns and priests, vagrants and peasants. And in later works such as 'Death Register', 'The Life of a Stupid Man' and 'Spinning Gears', Akutagawa drew from his own life to devastating effect, revealing his intense melancholy and terror of madness in exquisitely moving impressionistic stories. A WORLD IN DECAY - Rashomon - In a Bamboo Grove - The Nose - Dragon: The Old Potter's Tale - The Spider Thread - Hell Screen UNDER THE SWORD - Dr. Ogata Ryosai: Memorandum - O-Gin - Loyalty MODERN TRAGICOMEDY - The Story of a Head That Fell Off - Green Onions - Horse Legs AKUTAGAWA'S OWN STORY - Daidoji Shinsuke: The Early Years - The Writer's Craft - The Baby's Sickness - Death Register - The Life of a Stupid Man - Spinning Gears