Rashomon and Other Stories

The edition of Rashomon is a collection of six short stories: "In a Grove," "Rashomon," "Yam Gruel," "The Martyr," "Kesa and Morito," "and "The Dragon." The first two are apparently the short stories on which Kurosawa's famous film, "Rashomon," is based.Short stories are not my usual cup of tea; however, I greatly enjoyed these. They are clearly older stories, but Akutagawa is extremely talented at evoking emotion in the reader. Of the six stories, "Yam Gruel" was my favourite. "In a Grove" and "Kesa and Morito" consider the notion of truth by observing a story from multiple perspectives, and "Rashomon" closely looks at empathy, but "Yam Gruel" was the most successful in portraying a character for whom my heart moved.Of the stories, my least favourite was "The Martyr." I won't give much away from the story, except to say that the notion of martyrdom bothers me -- a community singing the praises for someone whom they have caused great suffering isn't particularly useful once that person has passed. I hope that this is the emotion that Akutagawa intended to evoke.These stories aren't plot-driven, and they're not for someone who wants a quick hit of adrenaline. I recommend them to anyone who is interested in literary classics, and to those who enjoy slower stories that drive the reader to reflection.Started: January 8, 2016Finished: January 8, 2016Rating: 9/10

I saw the movie in Japan in 1960. It is a classic that all attorneys should see before they ever go to court. It is an example of how a point of view by a witness can confound a story from their point of view or cunning misrepresentation. It is a must that you should read, enjoy.and remember for the rest of your life. The lesson is profound. The movie is masterful.

This is only the second authentic Japanese work I have ever read. It was prompted by reading Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Both books I thought superb and both are page turners. They seemed similar in sharing the qualities of character development, a sombre tone for the most part, and intricate plotting- and yet all this is done in a well paced, almost short story format.I am too much of a novice to know if the styles are characteristic of Japanese literature but I was left wishing Amazon had more to offer by the same authors. It seems there is a supply if you know the language, which I don't.By the way, the complex characterization still leaves you room to draw your own conclusions about the protagonists. Well worth trying.

I saw the movie when it first came out and I really enjoyed it. It is required reading for most literature majors at our university. When I read the book I kept thinking to myself 'where is the gate'. Then I realized that the movie is actually based on 3 different stories written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. I loved the book so much that I tried to get all of his stories to read. Unfortunately I wash unable to find an English translation. I did however order the book of 17 stories. A couple of them are repeats from what I read in Rashomon but I really am looking forward to reading that book. His writings have so many twists and turns that I am always surprised at the end. What seems to be true is not or is it?

After ordering this book, I sat completely transfixed while reading due to the absolute simplicity of Akutagawa's writing style. All 6 stories flow beautifully fast as you quietly become emotionally wrapped up in them. The deceptive sheen of these stories almost antagonizes you into finding something amiss, only that you'll discover later, after some thought, that there was yet another unseen perspective or line of thought within the work.'In A Grove' is a very unsetteling story, and obviously the most well-known, but I felt that 'The Matyr' and 'Kisa and Morito' are both very witty, and also my favourites. I imagine, that a lot of people will now get a chance to read this book due in part to the media coverage that came from the movie 'Ghost Dog', with Forest Whittaker, where the book itself played a supporting role. It's not hard to understand, after reading, why. This book gives you insight into persepctive, humiliation, accepting fate - even if it is not a good one, and following the path you've chosen.This book conatins some great uses of fantasy, realism, symbolism surrealism, and in a time and place where a Western reader might not expect it.

I didn't finish this book because it's just not my cup of tea. I guess it's well written and if someone likes this type of writing, it's undoubtedly well done, but the oriental mind, I believe, is somewhat different from the occidental and our different cultures lead to different likes and dislkies and vastly different stories.

I read on of these a day, and every single one of them gave a look into different sides of humanity. In A Grove, probably the most famous, is definitely a must-read (especially for my fellow film fans) and oddly enough, another of my favorites was The Martyr because of how it presented such a morally grey story and ended both happily and quite sorrowfully.Definitely give this a read if you’re into Japanese classics or just short stories in general about humanity.

Many of you have probably seen the movie "Rashomon" - certainly, an unforgettable movie. The script combines two of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's stories. I bought this copy as a present for a friend who has never read any of R.A.'s stories, and it unfortunately contains only a few of them. I own an old French (Livre de Poche ed.) version of his collected short stories, about three times as many, each and every one of them a little masterpiece, going from grotesque, to good-natured funny, to tragic, to philosophical... An amazing Japanese writer, who should be a lot better known.

Akutagawa's stories are great but this Kindle edition is not - it looks like a plain text document has just been converted to Kindle format, no page breaks or anything so it all just runs together (though there are at least no obvious OCR errors). Better to spend a few pounds more and get "Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories" instead, where somebody has actually put a bit of effort into formatting it for the Kindle... plus it has more stories.This edition is only potentially worth getting because it contains three stories not in the +17 book:Yam GruelThe MartyrKesa and MoritoYam Gruel in particular is definitely worth a read, and it's a shame it's not included in the better book.The version of The Dragon included here is also slightly longer, including a framing device that was omitted in the other translation. It doesn't really add anything to be honest, and the translation of the main story flows a little better in the other book.

Good book. Arrived promptly.

short stories with many hidden meanings that can change depending on how you are feeling at the time. intriguing book.

v good,

I never had opportunities to read something what was written by non European author. Despite of typical Japanese themes the human reactions and thought associations I had feeling that I'm reading something from Japanese Franz Kafka. *** On the technical side; the book in the Kindle format should be better laid up. It is difficult to see individual stories as they go behind each other. But for $0.90 per the book, I should not complain at all.