\u003cb\u003e\"Clear-eyed glimpses of human behavior in the extremities of poverty, stupidity, greed, vanity\u0026hellip; Story-telling of an unconventional sort, with most of the substance beneath the shining, enameled surface.\" \u0026#8212;\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Widely acknowledged as \"the father of the Japanese short story,\" Ryunosuke Akutagawa remains one of the most influential Japanese writers of all time. \u003ci\u003eRashomon and Other Stories\u003c/i\u003e, a collection of his most celebrated work, resonates as strongly today as when it first published a century ago. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e This volume includes:\u003c/b\u003e \u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e \u003ci\u003eIn a Grove\u003c/i\u003e: An iconic, contradictory tale of the murder of a samurai in a forest near Kyoto told through three varying accounts\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e \u003ci\u003eRashomon\u003c/i\u003e: A masterless samurai contemplates following a life of crime as he encounters an old woman at the old Rashomon gate outside Kyoto\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e \u003ci\u003eYam Gruel\u003c/i\u003e: A low-ranking court official laments his position all the while yearning for his favorite, yet humble, dish\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Martyr\u003c/i\u003e: Set in Japan's Christian missionary era, a young boy is excommunicated for fathering an illegitimate child, but not all is as it seems\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e \u003ci\u003eKesa and Morito:\u003c/i\u003e An adulterous couple plots to kill the woman's husband as the situation threatens to spin out of control\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Dragon\u003c/i\u003e: A priest concocts a prank involving a dragon, but the tall tale begins to take on a life of its own\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e With a new foreward by noted Akutagawa scholar Seiji Lippit, this updated version of a classic collection is a an excellent, readable introduction to Japanese literature.
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