Rashomon and 17 Other Stories

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.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Publication date: 18/11/2006
Series: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition