Japanese Short Stories Author:Ryunosuke Akutagawa Ryunosuke Akutagawa, through translations of his highly successful "Rashomon and Other Stories" and his novel "Kappa", has provided Western readers with an insight into his own variation on the theme that happiness exists only in contemplation and imagination, ie, the pursuit of contentment through detachment. He successfully emiminates all tha... more »t is not vital to the structure and atmosphere of a story, and indicates that man's own will triumphs over destiny to determine the degree of man's happiness.
Akutagawa mentions in his reminiscences that he tried to find in historical data an escape from the snares of his desires and to attain enlightenment. "I simply wanted to write novels divorced from reality," he said, and in this and much more he succeeded brilliantly.
As we read this and other stories by Akutagawa, a medieval ghost seems to peer over our shoulder and read with us.
At the age of thirty-five, Akutagawa had already written more than a hundred striking tales. Brilliant, sensitive, cynical, and neurotic, he lived in Tokyo, taught briefly, and joined the literary staff of a newspaper. His temperament led him to describe the world in a sardonic fashion, and the discerning reader will admire the finesse with which he scored off his fellow man. No doubt the reader will also come to understand why this admirable writer chose to end his own life at that very age of thirty-five and at the height of his successful career.« less
If you're studying Japanese literature, you might as well read this. It might be osmething interesting. However, if you're someone who normally doesn't read Japanese or Asian literature, this might be boring for you.