The Life of a Stupid Man: Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Penguin Little Black Classics)

I loved this little book. There is a simplicity in the telling that is refreshing.

I am a great lover of Japanese literature, mainly of Dazai Osamu. With an Amazon book order of just under £10, I decided to add in The Life of a Stupid Man to my basket in order to get free shipping, as Akutagawa is an author I have wanted to read for some time now. I finally managed to read it last night, and gladly read it in one sitting. I absolutely adored this writing. Akutagawa was a man skeptical about living, but too nervous, or scared, to die. Within the two autobiographical pieces within this, Death Register, and The Life of a Stupid Man, we can see this coherently throughout his works. There's the fear there, the skepticism of what life is, but when it comes down to it, he is struck by fear, and cannot bring himself to do it. Against the seeming popular opinion for this book, I actually didn't like the first story, In a Bamboo Grove. I wasn't keen on it, I felt it read too much into he said she said, and I skimmed through it mostly. Perhaps this will change upon a second reading of it? I hope so. But Death Register and The Life of a Stupid Man are two works that really made me realise just how mortal I really am. That's the tone of these works. Morality. Death. How we succumb, no matter if we want to or not. Death doesn't differentiate from the rich and poor, old and young, deserving or not. These are so prevalent throughout Akutagawa's two works, that I actually felt something that felt like dread creeping up my spine as I read through them, almost as if Death itself was stood behind my as I devoured page after page. There's something scary about that. Words written in 1927 are so prevalent to today that it gives me chills, and makes me shudder as I glance around a half darkened room, reading by candle light. This is a book I think I'm going to read at least once a week. It's short, only 55 pages, and of course, the sheer morality of it definitely has me thinking of many questions, wondering what life is, am I on the right path, are we all just destined to die no matter what. It's a bit of an illusion breaker - surprise, our lives aren't perfect. We don't really have control over our own lives at all. Even if we think we do, there's still the fact that we all die at some point, that we have to take into consideration. Akutagawa definitely has all of this portrayed well throughout Death Register and The Life of a Stupid Man. This has definitely made me much more excited to not only read more works by Akutagawa, but to read more of the Penguin's Little Black Classics collection. A stunning start to this series for me, I'm super glad I started with this one. I cannot wait to buy another eleven. I definitely recommend this to modernist lovers - although maybe not considered modern today, Akutagawa was definitely ahead of the game within Japanese literature of his time, and I definitely recommend this to those who enjoy foreign literature. This has a lot of little hidden gems within it that definitely make it worth the £1 purchase.

a sort of literature-ified autobiography (it seems), and very posey and elegant rather than passionate and sincere, but despite this and because it's short, where beauty and elegance can work as melancholy, it somehow does manage to be a good version of 'i was a bit superficial and then got pierced by love and now i'm an old/er man with regrets' and is so beautifully written (and foreign enough) that it is a different enough working of the topic and worth reading. Best of the Penguin 80p books (unless you want one of the poetry ones exactly that size or are a devout Buddhist looking for a pocket dhammapada).

so confusing 😭 im not really into short stories but i found these pleasant, ik there's probably some deep meaning behind everything but i just understood the main ideas like death god and depression, although for me a longer book wouldve had bigger effect on me

Awesome book and great price

Great book

This book is split into three short stories. The best way to describe them is a very Japanese melancholy, which is both insightful and a little bit depressing. I would certainly recommend this as a good short read.

👌

i really enjoy reading as much as possible about Japanese literature because of my studies (master's degree) and this work can be enjoyed also with a distracted lecture, really love it

Veio bem rápido e sem nenhum defeito,a história é muito boa

When the book arrived, its small size surprised me; I probably should've researched more before I purchased it. However, this does not mean I regret buying it. The package was transported smoothly and did not encounter any problems.

Really good I like how he kinda hates his mother

A very cute and tiny book for less than $7. Managed to read it all within an hour. A good read for those who prefer thinner and shorter books, especially for an easily-distracted person like me. Delivery was incredibly quick too. Ordered on the 7th, arrived on the 9th.