The Essential Akutagawa: Twenty-Two Short Stories by the Japan's Master Storyteller by Akutagawa, Ryunosuke

The Essential Akutagawa: Twenty-Two Short Stories by the Japan's Master Storyteller (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9784805317990)

Vendor: Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Product type: Books
Format: Paperback
$16.99
$16.99
$16.99
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The Essential Akutagawa: Twenty-Two Short Stories by the Japan's Master Storyteller by Akutagawa, Ryunosuke

The Essential Akutagawa: Twenty-Two Short Stories by the Japan's Master Storyteller

$16.99
The Essential Akutagawa: Twenty-Two Short Stories by the Japan's Master Storyteller by Akutagawa, Ryunosuke

The Essential Akutagawa: Twenty-Two Short Stories by the Japan's Master Storyteller

$16.99
Format: Paperback
Description
Description
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"Akutagawa displays an insightful and keenly creative intelligence in prose so lucid its sophistication is hardly visible." --Chris Power, The Guardian

Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is known as "the Father of the Japanese short story" --he wrote 150 stories during his brief career and is widely acclaimed as Japan's master storyteller. This new anthology contains the most complete collection of Akutagawa stories ever published in English, including new translations of well-known classics as well as many lesser-known and never-before-translated works:

  • Rashomon: An unemployed servant in old Kyoto has to choose whether to starve or become a thief to survive
  • An Odd Tale: Encounters with a mysterious station porter prey on a young woman's nerves while her husband is away fighting in World War I
  • The Shadow: A merchant receives anonymous letters warning that his wife is having an affair, but encounters his own doppelganger when he seeks to investigate
  • In a Grove: Recounting a samurai's violent death--the inspiration for the famous Kurosawa film, Rashomon
  • Hell Screen: Akutagawa's reworking of an ancient tale, examining the gruesome consequences of one man's artistic obsession
  • Momotaro: In this never-before-translated story, Akutagawa converts a classic fairy tale into a damning satire of militarism and war
  • Plus 16 other major works by the Japanese master!

This is an absolute "must-have" volume for every serious fan of Japanese literature!

Author: Ryunosuke Akutagawa
ISBN-10: 480531799X
ISBN-13: 9784805317990
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Language: English
Published: 09/02/2025
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback
By Ryunosuke Akutagawa
By Ryunosuke Akutagawa
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Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is one of the biggest names in Japanese literature, recognized for his mastery of the short story form. He was a contemporary of Osamu Dazai, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and Soseki Natsume. In the West, he is best known for his short story In a Grove, adapted by Akira Kurosawa in his award-winning movie Rashomon. Many of his stories highlight a fascination with supernatural and transformational phenomena while others have vivid historical backdrops and display influences from classic Japanese and Western fiction. In 1927, at the age of 35, he killed himself.

Richard Medhurst was born in the UK and lives in Yokohama. His translation of Akutagawa's An Odd Tale was published in Kyoto Journal in 2018, and his translation of Eiji Suzuki's Lingering Fragrance was published in the anthology Strokes of Brush and Blade (Kurodahan Press, 2018). He has worked as a translator, editor and writer for the online magazine Nippon.com for over a decade, specializing in literature and history. He has also written a popular series of articles about studying Japanese which have received tens of thousands of page views. His article on Japan's 72 microseasons helped popularize the concept in the English-speaking world.

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