Book Review: Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

Ryunosuke Akutagawa is one of Japan’s most influential writers, regarded as the “father of the Japanese short story”. He’s most famous for the short stories, Rashomon, In a Bamboo Grove, and The Nose.

The book I borrowed contained a timeline of Akutagawa’s life leading up to his suicide in 1892, which helped me understand his life more. The book also has an introductory chapter by Haruki Murakami. I was really surprised to see that. As you may know, I like Murakami a lot.

Akutagawa has written a lot of short stories, and the book I borrowed contained both his famous and lesser-known works. I liked that because it provided me with a more holistic understanding of his writing.

I won’t talk about all the short stories but the ones that left a deep impression on me, good or bad.

In a Bamboo Grove

This is by far my favourite short story in the book. The story is told from various characters’ points of view as they recount a murder. Even the ghost of the deceased shares his point of view. What’s fascinating is that the characters’ accounts contradict, so you’re left debating who the killer was.

Rashomon

Rashomon is about a man who is contemplating whether to become a robber, and he encounters a woman in the middle of stealing from a corpse. This story shows irony and hypocrisy really well. One thing I love about Akutagawa’s stories is that there’s a lot to reflect upon and think about once you’re done reading the story.

The Nose

I didn’t resonate with The Nose too much. I thought that Akutagawa’s writing in this story was too negative.

Hell Screen

This story is about a painter who is tasked with the challenge of painting hell, but he cannot paint what he has not seen. This is my second favourite story in the book. It reminds me a bit of Edogawa Rampo’s horror stories (See my review here). This story has macabre elements and is quite dark. I like it very much.

The style of Akutagawa’s stories changed a lot in his writing career. He has some stories on Christianity, some thought-provoking stories, some autobiographical stories, and some more horrifying stories such as this one. I like his macabre stories the most.

The Head That Fell Off

This story made me think a lot. When a person faces a near-death situation, will they change their ways, or will they fall back to their old bad habits? It’s easy to think about how badly most people fail with new years resolutions, but those aren’t in life or death situations.

Horse Legs

I did not like this story. However, it’s worth mentioning because of how uncanny it is. I can appreciate this aspect, but again, I did not like this story because it was too weird and creepy. I felt uncomfortable reading it.

Spinning Gears

I felt that I knew Akutagawa personally because of this autobiographical story. If you check the timeline of his life, the events are just about identical. This was one of the last stories he wrote before he died by suicide.

Closing thoughts

Read this book! It was such a journey, especially with how the book is divided into three parts. I can see why Ryunosuke Akutagawa is a renowned writer, and I’ll be thinking about his works for a long time.

Book Review: Monkey [Part 1]

Monkey, also known as Journey to the West 西游记 or Sun Wukong 孫悟空, was written in 1592 by Wu Cheng’en. It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Most Chinese people know the story because it became enormously popular through its television adaptations and plays. It influenced some of the earliest Chinese and Japanese animation. It also influenced many series like Dragon Ball. 

I’m reading an English translation by Arthur Waley. Waley only translated 30 chapters out of 100. However, it’s still one of the best English translations out there. He omitted most of the poetry. If you like poetry, hopefully you can find a version that includes it. There is poetry in this one, but very little of it. 

Page count: 350

Synopsis: Monkey is “born” and becomes the Monkey King. He then trains under a Master and learns the secrets of immortality. Monkey then becomes very cocky in his abilities and creates havoc in Heaven. He challenges Buddha and loses terribly.

The above synopsis is only on the first part of the book. I wrote broadly because I didn’t want to spoil too much. The rest of the book will be on the pilgrimage to the West. Monkey travels with Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy to retrieve sacred scriptures and enlighten people about Buddhism. They face many adverse monsters and bodhisattvas along the journey.

I’m writing about the parts in isolation because there’s too much content to cover in the first quarter of the book. I divided the book in my own way: Part 1 ends when Monkey is punished by Buddha, before he begins the pilgrimage. Other people include Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy’s stories into the first part but I think those stories make up its own part.

There are lots of flaws, but it’s understandable because it was written in 1592. What I perceive to be “flaws” are:

• Fights are not detailed at all. For example, “x and y battled z many times and then y fled.” (I’m using my own words here, but that’s the gist of it.)
• No character descriptions. I know what Kuan-yin looks like because I’ve seen television adaptations and because of my culture, but not everyone has the same experience as me.
• The epic part of Monkey challenging Buddha is only told in a mere three pages.

I believe that television adaptations do a better job at these. However, nothing can compare to the book in my opinion, because so much happens in every page. No adaptation can possibly cover every single detail, whether it’s showing hundreds of thousands of men fighting against Monkey, or all the events that happen. Expect “ten years passed” thrown around every few pages.

One of the biggest reasons, in my opinion, why this story is so successful is because of Monkey. He is so clever, witty, confident and funny. Although he disturbs Heaven and so many characters, he’s so likable.

I recommend this classical novel to everyone.