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loukazoo's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sophia_a_a's review against another edition
4.0
second time reading this book and i just love it all the more
rashomon:
a really simple concept but i, for some reason, like to dig really deep into hidden meanings that probably arent actually there and so i believe that the pimple could represent his sense of morality (he picks at it when hes questioning if its morally correct to become a thief/attack the old woman) and i also think that the rashomon being in disrepair represents the servants state of mine and how he has lost his purpose in life (lost his job, has nowhere to go) just how the rashomon is no longer being used and is falling apart because of that. anyways i like this story, i wish it was longer. quite honestly though, im surprised that THIS is his most famous story, like theres SO many that are way better. have you read the spider thread?? spinning gears? moving on.
in a bamboo grove:
me and this story are dating i love it so so much its so mysterious and silly. it also makes me angry because im not smart enough to actually figure out who was telling the truth. akutagawa pls come back from the dead and tell me.
the nose:
this makes me upset. they laugh at him because of his appearance, so he changes it, and they STILL laugh. people are never satisfied, some just get pleasure out of hurting others and its upsetting. i feel like im taking this story a little too to the heart. erm.
dragon: the old potters tale:
oh nooooo guys oh no its the effects of GOSSIP. not a big fan of this story but its not bad. just neutral on it. guy with long nose wants revenge, starts a rumor to get said revenge, rumor comes true, guy is shocked. i dont see the lure of it.
the spider thread:
oh my god. this is my FAVORITE story by akutagawa and its only like 3-4 pages long. it is just so mwah mwah hwmhwaha kis kiss smoooch mwahwamhajmm i cant even put it into words this story is so beautiful. when he was describing the sinners just floating in a sea of blood???? i shivered in my boots and felt an overwhleming urge to cry. yeah i have weird emotional reactios ok well im neurodivergent deal with it. he was NOT being selfish, but rather, he was SCARED of spiralling back down into hell and never being able to escape again. im reading into this REALLLLYYYYLYLYLY deeply but i think its very deep and allegorical.
hell screen:
not a favorite but i still enjoyed it. it was a really emotional story and i think the bonds between yoshihide and his daughter we really interesting.
dr ogata ryosai: a memorandum:
personally i think that the doctor was an asshole for refusing to treat the womans daughter. its literally his job to help sick people and he wouldnt do it just because of her religion. he forces her to give up her religion and then CANT EVEN SAVE HER DAUGHTER. its an interesting story i really liked it.
o-gin:
on the last page it says something like this event was the single most humiliating event in all of christian martyrdom but I DISAGREE. i love this story sososo much. i think satan materializing into inanimate objects and/or other people was really similar to nikolai gogols writing style in a few of his short stories that feature satan. this is a really powerful story <33
loyalty:
this short story is absolutely DELICIOUS. if i could eat it i WOULD. i think the story of shuri's spiral into insanity was very interesting and how the people around him reacted evoked a lot of emotion in me. shuri despising peoples worry for him but not being able to stop them from worrying because their worry is actually justified is so me!! when he said that cuckoos will sometimes rob nightingales of their nests... i FIRMLY BELIEVE tHIS IS A METAPHOR. shuri is the nightingale and his nest is in danger of being robbed (when rin'emon tries to force him into retirement and replace him and when everyone believes hes no longer fit for leading). the last line says something like "what did he talk about during interrogation? cuckoos! maybe he believed he was killing a cuckoo!" and ties it all together. he kills a "cuckoo" to defend his nest. AAAA I JUST LOVE THIS STORY.
the story of a head that fell off:
i know i said that the spider thread was my favorite but THIS one is. spider thread is a very very close second tho!! the difference is, you coud say, about the width of a spider thread hauahh... hahauha..haahhheh.. anyways. first time reading this, i wasnt that into it i genuinely didnt remember like anything from it. but now that ive read it again i was rolling around on the floor jaw dropped eyes popped out of sockets laying in a puddle on the ground toes clenched fingers gripping the floorboards nails digging into the wood head slamming into ground.
green onions:
story want anything special but i enjoyeed it and akutagawas comments while wriiting!!
horse legs:
feels like a heavy metaphor and im in loveee this is one of m favoigr stories from akutagawa. i really love the themes shown and the plot and agrhsgdjf i ust loved hhhe whole time i find it relatable in metaphorical way (no i actualy have horsllllegs!!)
daidoji shinsuke:
i liked the friends section and the beginning and ok i liked all of it im sucker for semi-autobiographies
the writers craft:
not that special but it was okaaay and i enjoyed it. i liked reading his inner
the babys sickness:
not a big favorite. loved the little family moment they had but aside from that it wasnt sxceptional. i honestly just love his writing style and enjoy everything he wwrites even if it int isssanely interesting
death register:
didnt read this i actually ate it and its digesting in my stomach rn!!
the life of a stupid man:
this is SO beautiful i absolutelt adore this stoory and its one of my all time favorites. i devoured thiss story and its currently insixe of m brain grooves !! it was surgicallg implanted there
spinning gears:
kissing sound effects thats all i gotta say about thhis (ILOVEITILOVEITILOVEITILOVEITILOVEIT) i think it perfectly showcases akutagawas mental state in the later years of his life and the entire story had my jaw dropped
rashomon:
a really simple concept but i, for some reason, like to dig really deep into hidden meanings that probably arent actually there and so i believe that the pimple could represent his sense of morality (he picks at it when hes questioning if its morally correct to become a thief/attack the old woman) and i also think that the rashomon being in disrepair represents the servants state of mine and how he has lost his purpose in life (lost his job, has nowhere to go) just how the rashomon is no longer being used and is falling apart because of that. anyways i like this story, i wish it was longer. quite honestly though, im surprised that THIS is his most famous story, like theres SO many that are way better. have you read the spider thread?? spinning gears? moving on.
in a bamboo grove:
me and this story are dating i love it so so much its so mysterious and silly. it also makes me angry because im not smart enough to actually figure out who was telling the truth. akutagawa pls come back from the dead and tell me.
the nose:
this makes me upset. they laugh at him because of his appearance, so he changes it, and they STILL laugh. people are never satisfied, some just get pleasure out of hurting others and its upsetting. i feel like im taking this story a little too to the heart. erm.
dragon: the old potters tale:
oh nooooo guys oh no its the effects of GOSSIP. not a big fan of this story but its not bad. just neutral on it. guy with long nose wants revenge, starts a rumor to get said revenge, rumor comes true, guy is shocked. i dont see the lure of it.
the spider thread:
oh my god. this is my FAVORITE story by akutagawa and its only like 3-4 pages long. it is just so mwah mwah hwmhwaha kis kiss smoooch mwahwamhajmm i cant even put it into words this story is so beautiful. when he was describing the sinners just floating in a sea of blood???? i shivered in my boots and felt an overwhleming urge to cry. yeah i have weird emotional reactios ok well im neurodivergent deal with it. he was NOT being selfish, but rather, he was SCARED of spiralling back down into hell and never being able to escape again. im reading into this REALLLLYYYYLYLYLY deeply but i think its very deep and allegorical.
hell screen:
not a favorite but i still enjoyed it.
Spoiler
i think that his lordship chose yoshihides daughter to go in the carriage to spite him for having the audacity to ask for someone to die just so he could finish a painting.dr ogata ryosai: a memorandum:
personally i think that the doctor was an asshole for refusing to treat the womans daughter. its literally his job to help sick people and he wouldnt do it just because of her religion. he forces her to give up her religion and then CANT EVEN SAVE HER DAUGHTER. its an interesting story i really liked it.
o-gin:
on the last page it says something like this event was the single most humiliating event in all of christian martyrdom but I DISAGREE. i love this story sososo much. i think satan materializing into inanimate objects and/or other people was really similar to nikolai gogols writing style in a few of his short stories that feature satan. this is a really powerful story <33
loyalty:
this short story is absolutely DELICIOUS. if i could eat it i WOULD. i think the story of shuri's spiral into insanity was very interesting and how the people around him reacted evoked a lot of emotion in me. shuri despising peoples worry for him but not being able to stop them from worrying because their worry is actually justified is so me!! when he said that cuckoos will sometimes rob nightingales of their nests... i FIRMLY BELIEVE tHIS IS A METAPHOR. shuri is the nightingale and his nest is in danger of being robbed (when rin'emon tries to force him into retirement and replace him and when everyone believes hes no longer fit for leading). the last line says something like "what did he talk about during interrogation? cuckoos! maybe he believed he was killing a cuckoo!" and ties it all together. he kills a "cuckoo" to defend his nest. AAAA I JUST LOVE THIS STORY.
the story of a head that fell off:
i know i said that the spider thread was my favorite but THIS one is. spider thread is a very very close second tho!! the difference is, you coud say, about the width of a spider thread hauahh... hahauha..haahhheh.. anyways. first time reading this, i wasnt that into it i genuinely didnt remember like anything from it. but now that ive read it again i was rolling around on the floor jaw dropped eyes popped out of sockets laying in a puddle on the ground toes clenched fingers gripping the floorboards nails digging into the wood head slamming into ground.
Spoiler
guys head gets sliced off (i think it was hangig on by like just a little piece of skin, it wasnt a full slice), hes on the verge of dead and thinks about everything he wants to do in life and he prays that he can get another chance to fix everything and atone for his past and then he actually gets that second chance (brought to infirmary)!! and then he messes it up and gets into a bar fight and his neck wound reopens and his head falls off and aaahhhh. then some guys are talking about it because it was in the newspaper and one of them said that he probably experienced everything that he did the first time like seeing old memories in the sky and clouds and wishing he couldve done things differently, but this time he doesnt get thta second chance. its not that he was lying about wanting to change its just that human beings cant even trust themselves.green onions:
story want anything special but i enjoyeed it and akutagawas comments while wriiting!!
horse legs:
feels like a heavy metaphor and im in loveee this is one of m favoigr stories from akutagawa. i really love the themes shown and the plot and agrhsgdjf i ust loved hhhe whole time i find it relatable in metaphorical way (no i actualy have horsllllegs!!)
daidoji shinsuke:
i liked the friends section and the beginning and ok i liked all of it im sucker for semi-autobiographies
the writers craft:
not that special but it was okaaay and i enjoyed it. i liked reading his inner
the babys sickness:
not a big favorite. loved the little family moment they had but aside from that it wasnt sxceptional. i honestly just love his writing style and enjoy everything he wwrites even if it int isssanely interesting
death register:
didnt read this i actually ate it and its digesting in my stomach rn!!
the life of a stupid man:
this is SO beautiful i absolutelt adore this stoory and its one of my all time favorites. i devoured thiss story and its currently insixe of m brain grooves !! it was surgicallg implanted there
spinning gears:
kissing sound effects thats all i gotta say about thhis (ILOVEITILOVEITILOVEITILOVEITILOVEIT) i think it perfectly showcases akutagawas mental state in the later years of his life and the entire story had my jaw dropped
hideousheart1's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
yiiiivhen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
wundini's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Read it with great interest and joy. Some of the stories I would classify as masterpieces, that are unforgettable
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Death
sebastianhafner's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
martina_xx's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0