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Murder in the Age of Enlightenment

Essential Stories

Part of Pushkin Press Classics

Author Ryonosuke Akutagawa
Translated by Bryan Karetnyk
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Paperback
$16.95 US
Steerforth Press | Pushkin Press Classics
5.1"W x 7.78"H x 0.63"D   | 7 oz | 24 per carton
On sale Jul 02, 2024 | 208 Pages | 9781805330295
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Madness, murder and obsession: a stylishly original and fantastical collection of stories from an iconic Japanese writer

A collection of the 7 essential Akutagawa short stories, in a vivid and elegant translation – the perfect introduction to this master of prose

“A born short-story writer. . . one never tires of reading and re-reading his best works” – Haruki Murukami

From a nobleman's court, to the garden of paradise, to a lantern festival in Tokyo, these 7 shrot stories offer dazzling glimpses into moments of madness, murder and obsession.

  • A talented yet spiteful painter is given over to depravity in pursuit of artistic brilliance.
  • In the depth of hell, a robber spies a single spider's thread being lowered towards him.
  • When a body is found in an isolated bamboo grove, a kaleidoscopic account of violence and desire begins to unfold.

These are short stories from an unparalleled master of the form. Sublimely crafted and stylishly original, Akutagawa's writing is shot through with a fantastical sensibility. This collection, in a vivid translation by Bryan Karetnyk, brings together the most essential works from this iconic Japanese writer.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world’s greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.
"One never tires of reading and re-reading his work. Akutagawa was a born short-story writer." - Haruki Murakami

"The quintessential writer of his era." - David Pearce

"Extravagance and horror and in his work but never in his style, which is always crystal-clear." - Jorge Luis Borges

"He was both traditional and experimental and always compelling and fearless... There is no writer quite like him." - Howard Norman
RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA was one of Japan's leading literary figures in the Taisho period. Regarded as the father of the Japanese short story, he produced over 150 in his short lifetime. Haunted by the fear that he would inherit his mother's madness, Akutagawa suffered from worsening mental health problems towards the end of his life and committed suicide aged 35 by taking an overdose of barbiturates.

BRYAN KARETNYK is a British writer and translator. His translations for Pushkin Press include several works by Gaito Gazdanov, Irina Odoevtseva and Rynunosuke Akutagawa. He is also the editor of the Penguin Classics anthology Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky.
Ryonosuke Akutagawa View titles by Ryonosuke Akutagawa
One day, brothers and sisters, Lord Buddha Shakyamuni was strolling alone by the banks of the Lotus Pond in Paradise. The blossoms on the pond were each a perfect white pearl, and from their golden centres wafted unceasingly a wonderous fragrance surpassing all description. It must have been morning in Paradise, brothers and sisters.
By and by, Lord Shakyamuni paused at the edge of the pond, and He looked down through the carpet of lotus leaves to behold the spectacle below. For you see, directly beneath the Lotus Pond in Paradise lay the lower depths of Hell, and as He peered through the crystalline waters, He could see the River of Three Crossings and the Mountain of Needles as clearly as if He were viewing pictures in a peep box.
Soon His eye came to rest on the figure of a man named Kandata, who was writhing around in those hellish depths with all the other sinners. This great robber, this Kandata, had wrought all manner of evil and misdeeds—murder, arson, and more besides. For all that, however, he had, it seemed, performed one single act of kindness in his time. Passing through a deep wood one day, he noticed a tiny spider creeping along the wayside. His instinct was to trample it to death, but as he raised his foot, he had a sudden change of mind. “No, no,” he thought. “Tiny though this creature is, it’s still a living thing. To take its life on a whim would be too cruel an act, no matter how you look at it.” And so he let it go unharmed.
Lord Shakyamuni recalled, as He looked down on this spectacle of Hell, that Kandata had saved that spider, and so He decided to reward this singular good deed by rescuing the man from Hell if He could. As chance would have it, He turned to see a heavenly spider spinning a beautiful silver thread atop a lotus leaf with the brilliance of kingfisher jade. Taking the spider’s thread carefully in His hand, Lord Shakyamuni lowered it among the pearl-white lotus blossoms, straight down into the far-distant depths of Hell.
Copyright © 2021 by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About

Madness, murder and obsession: a stylishly original and fantastical collection of stories from an iconic Japanese writer

A collection of the 7 essential Akutagawa short stories, in a vivid and elegant translation – the perfect introduction to this master of prose

“A born short-story writer. . . one never tires of reading and re-reading his best works” – Haruki Murukami

From a nobleman's court, to the garden of paradise, to a lantern festival in Tokyo, these 7 shrot stories offer dazzling glimpses into moments of madness, murder and obsession.

  • A talented yet spiteful painter is given over to depravity in pursuit of artistic brilliance.
  • In the depth of hell, a robber spies a single spider's thread being lowered towards him.
  • When a body is found in an isolated bamboo grove, a kaleidoscopic account of violence and desire begins to unfold.

These are short stories from an unparalleled master of the form. Sublimely crafted and stylishly original, Akutagawa's writing is shot through with a fantastical sensibility. This collection, in a vivid translation by Bryan Karetnyk, brings together the most essential works from this iconic Japanese writer.

Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: outstanding classic storytelling from around the world, in a stylishly original series design. From newly rediscovered gems to fresh translations of the world’s greatest authors, this series includes such authors as Stefan Zweig, Hermann Hesse, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Gaito Gazdanov.

Praise

"One never tires of reading and re-reading his work. Akutagawa was a born short-story writer." - Haruki Murakami

"The quintessential writer of his era." - David Pearce

"Extravagance and horror and in his work but never in his style, which is always crystal-clear." - Jorge Luis Borges

"He was both traditional and experimental and always compelling and fearless... There is no writer quite like him." - Howard Norman

Author

RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA was one of Japan's leading literary figures in the Taisho period. Regarded as the father of the Japanese short story, he produced over 150 in his short lifetime. Haunted by the fear that he would inherit his mother's madness, Akutagawa suffered from worsening mental health problems towards the end of his life and committed suicide aged 35 by taking an overdose of barbiturates.

BRYAN KARETNYK is a British writer and translator. His translations for Pushkin Press include several works by Gaito Gazdanov, Irina Odoevtseva and Rynunosuke Akutagawa. He is also the editor of the Penguin Classics anthology Russian Émigré Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky.
Ryonosuke Akutagawa View titles by Ryonosuke Akutagawa

Excerpt

One day, brothers and sisters, Lord Buddha Shakyamuni was strolling alone by the banks of the Lotus Pond in Paradise. The blossoms on the pond were each a perfect white pearl, and from their golden centres wafted unceasingly a wonderous fragrance surpassing all description. It must have been morning in Paradise, brothers and sisters.
By and by, Lord Shakyamuni paused at the edge of the pond, and He looked down through the carpet of lotus leaves to behold the spectacle below. For you see, directly beneath the Lotus Pond in Paradise lay the lower depths of Hell, and as He peered through the crystalline waters, He could see the River of Three Crossings and the Mountain of Needles as clearly as if He were viewing pictures in a peep box.
Soon His eye came to rest on the figure of a man named Kandata, who was writhing around in those hellish depths with all the other sinners. This great robber, this Kandata, had wrought all manner of evil and misdeeds—murder, arson, and more besides. For all that, however, he had, it seemed, performed one single act of kindness in his time. Passing through a deep wood one day, he noticed a tiny spider creeping along the wayside. His instinct was to trample it to death, but as he raised his foot, he had a sudden change of mind. “No, no,” he thought. “Tiny though this creature is, it’s still a living thing. To take its life on a whim would be too cruel an act, no matter how you look at it.” And so he let it go unharmed.
Lord Shakyamuni recalled, as He looked down on this spectacle of Hell, that Kandata had saved that spider, and so He decided to reward this singular good deed by rescuing the man from Hell if He could. As chance would have it, He turned to see a heavenly spider spinning a beautiful silver thread atop a lotus leaf with the brilliance of kingfisher jade. Taking the spider’s thread carefully in His hand, Lord Shakyamuni lowered it among the pearl-white lotus blossoms, straight down into the far-distant depths of Hell.
Copyright © 2021 by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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