06/11/22
Short stories by an author that led a short life, and yet what they both lack in length they have enough of in depth. Here you will get to know the son of a madwoman, chronic insomniac and a sinner ridden with guilt, now referred to as “the father of short story”, and his many works. They start of as stories full of imagination and history, that easily transfer you into times of Shoguns, then switch into some curious, even funny ones, only to end in heavy paranoia and incoming madness when they finally turn personal and Akutagawa, however unreliable his narrator stays, shows us finally something from his life, his sins and thoughts and pains, only to make it final, when he takes that very life away.
For me, reading a book – the atmosphere and stories that surround it – is often as important as the book itself. And here, I've enjoyed both. The very next day I got this book, new and shiny, the water in my bag started leaking and so now it has dried-up wrinkled pages that make it look vintage already. I still see the morning mist behind the train window while I was reading the first pages and letting it dry. And all the autumn evenings that followed, all of them covered in thick mists as well, as if they and the book belonged together. Blurring the familiar view, letting me imagine that something else may lie behind - maybe Japan from another time.
And the reading itself… many of these stories were very different from each other and yet, they all captured my attention in the same way. It was as if Akutagawa's writing could be applied to anything and make it captivating. I was always curious to read the next sentence and then the next story and it even made me stop sometimes and try to remember if that always happens to me with authors – for all their stories to keep my attention in the same way, however different they are. I don't think so. I do believe that his craft was very refined and I could see why he is called the father of short stories. And when you, for a moment, realise the times in which he wrote them and don't apply today's standards to them, they are very often revolutionary. Some writing techniques are supposed to even be applied for the first time ever and that really deserves admiration. As a bonus, it made me, once again, very curious about the history of Japan and I had to restrain myself from jumping into some history book right after - the stories from those times were interesting and very alive, I felt like Akutagawa opened some window and let me have a look into some random stories that took place then.
Already some days have passed since I've read the book and I still remember a lot from it. Some stories will stick with me not only throughout days but years as well, and some feelings from them as well – especially the last story, that was hitting home for me with some thoughts and managed to create a powerful anxiety in me while doing so. Anxiety that was mostly his but some of it was mine and then it merged and it was hard to separate. I remember closing the book, taking a few deep breaths and being like “well damn”.
And however fitting or unfitting that is, I would sum up the whole book in those two words - well damn.
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