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Patient X: The Case-Book of Ryunosuke Akutagawa
The acclaimed author of Occupied City, Tokyo Year Zero, and The Red Riding Quartet now gives us a stunning work of fiction in twelve connected tales that take up the strange, brief life of the brilliant twentieth-century Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
Haunting and evocative, brutal and surreal, these twelve connected tales evoke the life of the Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927), whose short story "In the Grove" served as an inspiration for Akira Kurosawa's famous film Rashōmon, and whose narrative use of multiple perspectives and different versions of a single event influenced generations of storytellers. Writing out of his own obsession with Akutagawa, David Peace delves into the known facts and events of the writer's life and inner world--birth to a mother who was mentally ill and a father who died shortly thereafter; his own battles with mental illness; his complicated reaction to the beginnings of modernization and Westernization of Japan; his short but prolific writing career; his suicide at the age of thirty-five--and creates a stunningly atmospheric and deeply moving fiction that tells its own story of a singularly brilliant mind.
Haunting and evocative, brutal and surreal, these twelve connected tales evoke the life of the Japanese writer Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927), whose short story "In the Grove" served as an inspiration for Akira Kurosawa's famous film Rashōmon, and whose narrative use of multiple perspectives and different versions of a single event influenced generations of storytellers. Writing out of his own obsession with Akutagawa, David Peace delves into the known facts and events of the writer's life and inner world--birth to a mother who was mentally ill and a father who died shortly thereafter; his own battles with mental illness; his complicated reaction to the beginnings of modernization and Westernization of Japan; his short but prolific writing career; his suicide at the age of thirty-five--and creates a stunningly atmospheric and deeply moving fiction that tells its own story of a singularly brilliant mind.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 2018
38 people are currently reading
1307 people want to read
About the author
David Peace
36 books540 followersDavid Peace was born in 1967 and grew up in Ossett, near Wakefield. He left Manchester Polytechnic in 1991, and went to Istanbul to teach English. In 1994 he took up a teaching post in Tokyo and now lives there with his family.
His formative years were shadowed by the activities of the Yorkshire Ripper, and this had a profound influence on him which led to a strong interest in crime. His quartet of Red Riding books grew from this obsession with the dark side of Yorkshire. These are powerful novels of crime and police corruption, using the Yorkshire Ripper as their basis and inspiration. They are entitled Nineteen Seventy-Four, (1999), Nineteen Seventy-Seven (2000), Nineteen Eighty (2001), and Nineteen Eighty-Three (2002), and have been translated into French, Italian, German and Japanese.
In 2003 David Peace was named by Granta magazine as one of twenty "Best Young British Novelists." His novel GB84, set during the 1984 miners' strike, was published in 2005.
from contemporarywriters.com
His formative years were shadowed by the activities of the Yorkshire Ripper, and this had a profound influence on him which led to a strong interest in crime. His quartet of Red Riding books grew from this obsession with the dark side of Yorkshire. These are powerful novels of crime and police corruption, using the Yorkshire Ripper as their basis and inspiration. They are entitled Nineteen Seventy-Four, (1999), Nineteen Seventy-Seven (2000), Nineteen Eighty (2001), and Nineteen Eighty-Three (2002), and have been translated into French, Italian, German and Japanese.
In 2003 David Peace was named by Granta magazine as one of twenty "Best Young British Novelists." His novel GB84, set during the 1984 miners' strike, was published in 2005.
from contemporarywriters.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
January 6, 2021
As he did with his novels about football managers Brian Clough and Bill Shankly, David Peace selects defining episodes from the life of someone he clearly admires and gives us an imaginative probing portrait of his subject, here the Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa, only known to me as the author of the story which inspired Kurosawa's brilliant film Rashomon. To a large extent Peace has abandoned his former highly stylised incantatory prose style with its insistence on rhythm through repetition which, though tremendously successful in his earlier novels, began to seem like he was caricaturing himself in the disappointing Red or Dead. Here the prose is more conventional though still steeped in poetic sensibility.
This book consists of thirteen pieces, all inspired by Akutagawa's works and biography. A couple were truly brilliant, most notably the depiction of Akutagawa wandering the streets of Tokyo in search of his friends after the devastation of the 1923 earthquake when xenophobic vigilantes are beating to death anyone they don't like the look of. And there's a hallucinogenic encounter with Jack the Ripper in a fabulously evoked grim and sinister fog-bound London recounted to him by his friend Sensei. There are a lot of mystical encounters, sometimes with doppelgangers or figments of imagination and we are given a haunting portrait of a tortured soul who will eventually commit suicide at the young age of thirty-five.
I'd rate this at about 3.6 stars.
This book consists of thirteen pieces, all inspired by Akutagawa's works and biography. A couple were truly brilliant, most notably the depiction of Akutagawa wandering the streets of Tokyo in search of his friends after the devastation of the 1923 earthquake when xenophobic vigilantes are beating to death anyone they don't like the look of. And there's a hallucinogenic encounter with Jack the Ripper in a fabulously evoked grim and sinister fog-bound London recounted to him by his friend Sensei. There are a lot of mystical encounters, sometimes with doppelgangers or figments of imagination and we are given a haunting portrait of a tortured soul who will eventually commit suicide at the young age of thirty-five.
I'd rate this at about 3.6 stars.
January 7, 2020
Rated 2.5 stars - rounded up out of respect for the author.
When I mentioned I was reading this book to a family member they exclaimed! David Peace is the author of both The Damned Utd and Nineteen Seventy Four - both apparently fantastic. So I felt bad when I didn't enjoy this one very much.
I wanted to learn about Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the namesake the Akutagawa prize, and I did a little. But the book was hard to read and very, very hard to follow. I can't deny it's beautifully written. Thoughtful and evocative, yet it jumps around a lot. It introduces characters then discards them in the next page and above all seems to be unsure of it's own sense of narrative and identity.
Someone else mentioned in an earlier review that they'd have loved this as an audiobook and I tend to agree!
One key section I adored was the story in "Jack the Ripper's Bedroom", but this one like some of the others, didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. I suppose you can make a connection that Akutagawa is one of the most famous short story writers of all time. The story itself is full of mystery and suspense, echoing the book as a whole. But this little passage (and many others) just felt uncomfortable.
Like I said, this is a 2.5 star rating because clearly the author is talented. I just struggled!
When I mentioned I was reading this book to a family member they exclaimed! David Peace is the author of both The Damned Utd and Nineteen Seventy Four - both apparently fantastic. So I felt bad when I didn't enjoy this one very much.
I wanted to learn about Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the namesake the Akutagawa prize, and I did a little. But the book was hard to read and very, very hard to follow. I can't deny it's beautifully written. Thoughtful and evocative, yet it jumps around a lot. It introduces characters then discards them in the next page and above all seems to be unsure of it's own sense of narrative and identity.
Someone else mentioned in an earlier review that they'd have loved this as an audiobook and I tend to agree!
One key section I adored was the story in "Jack the Ripper's Bedroom", but this one like some of the others, didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book. I suppose you can make a connection that Akutagawa is one of the most famous short story writers of all time. The story itself is full of mystery and suspense, echoing the book as a whole. But this little passage (and many others) just felt uncomfortable.
Like I said, this is a 2.5 star rating because clearly the author is talented. I just struggled!
January 28, 2022
David Peace ha escrito un libro ambicioso e imaginativo en lo formal, oscuro y tajante en su fondo. Doce relatos que componen una novela retrato del escritor japonés Ryunosuke Akutagawa, el escritor modernista que alguna vez aspiró a conciliar Occidente y Oriente y que fue aplastado bajo la losa de la locura... y la desesperación.
Bajo la forma mutante de estos relatos, basándose en sus textos, en su correspondencia y otros escritos de sus coetáneos, también retrata tiempos de desesperación, de incertidumbre y oscuridad, que no hicieron otra cosa que echar sal en las heridas psicológicas del escritor. Lo hace de forma descarnada, con un vivo interés de aproximarse a la figura del escritor, si bien no se trata de un retrato psicológico, más bien artístico. Además, Peace describe la psicología de sus personajes, las fórmulas de cortesía conversacional, los manierismos sociales y en general representa Japón como un autóctono (no en vano reside en ese país desde hace décadas). Mientras lees, a veces tienes que recordarte que el libro no ha sido escrito por un japonés, en absoluto es el típico libro ambientado en Japón y producido por un occidental que no se ha desprendido de su visión turística.
Relatos dentro de relatos, de género fantástico, religioso, viajes a la China colonial... a veces Akutagawa es el centro del relato, otras veces el retratado sólo aparece forma oblicua para a cambio centrarse en elementos del trasfondo (una visita a un templo, por ejemplo, desencadena una serie de relatos de los mártires cristianos en Japón)... es incuestionable que no se trata de una obra previsible, Peace se propuso escribir un libro que no se pareciera a nada y que no resultara predecible. Se podría dar por satisfecho: estos procedimientos empleados, como ahora la narración biográfica mediante compartimentos estancos, adaptaciones y pastiches de la obra del sujeto retratado, etcétera, sólo podrían recordar a la película Mishima del gran Paul Schrader.
La única pega que le encuentro es que en varios pasajes el ritmo decae, incluso tienes la sensación que la deriva es un poco arbitraria y que el periplo se alarga un poco más de lo necesario. En todo caso vale reconocer que estas peguitas no tienen demasiado peso al lado de sus enormes virtudes. Es uno de esos libros que da para ser estudiado de forma exhaustiva en las facultades de letras y, por supuesto, también para ser devorado por cualquier lector interesado en Japón o en la narrativa más audaz y refrescante.
June 11, 2018
I think David Peace is one of the best writers out there. Style and substance. The Red Riding Quartet was phenomenal. The Damned UTD is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Even Tokyo Year Zero and Occupied City (two novels about Japan) were much better than I anticipated and I really enjoyed them. David Mitchell (another Anglo author stationed in and writing about Japan) states this recent work in one of Peace’s best. Unfortunately I’ll have to respectfully disagree. I’m still trying to figure out what it was even about. Supremely plotless. Just sort of a mishmash of apparent autobiography. Disjointed narrative. Long stretches of inactivity. A title that is esoteric and potentially unrelated to the content. I found that even Peace’s style didn’t lend itself to this novel. And since one star is the only GoodReads option for “Didn’t Like It”; I have to go with one star on this one. Sorry Mitchell, but this is one of his worst.
October 29, 2019
Pearce parte de datos biográficos y de la obra enigmática del escritor Akutagawa para ir mucho más allá de una biografía o de un ensayo interpretativo. El escritor británico compone una novela que es una suma de relatos o cuadros en el que se conjuga la indagación y lo fantástico, el terror y la angustia de vivir. Los episodios del encuentro de Soseki con Jack el Destripador en Londres o el viaje del protagonista a Shangai son ejemplos de lo exquisito de este libro.
April 30, 2018
Review included in review round up video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOu6t...
December 24, 2019
More incantation than any conventional bio, Patient X allows David Peace to fully inhabit the fractured psyche of Ryunosuke Akutagawa and tell his uniquely affecting story.
August 10, 2020
En Paciente X tenemos por delante 352 páginas que han sido inspiradas por las narraciones de Akutagawa. ¿Os suena el autor japonés? He hablado ya de él en el pasado cuando os dejé la reseña de las dos obras que he leído: Vida de un loco y Rashomon y otros cuentos.
Así pues, David Peace, ha escrito en doce capítulos una novela de relatos centrada en la figura del autor nipón, mostrándonos partes de su vida personal y profesional, abarcando des de antes de su nacimiento hasta su suicidio. A veces puede parecer una autobiografía del autor pues en muchas ocasiones se recurre a la primera persona pero en otros momentos encontramos otros narracores y en algunos relatos se mezcla la primera persona con la tercera.
Hay algunos detalles de la vida de Akutagawa que ya conocía pero a través de los relatos podemos ver como le afectan a lo largo de su vida y en su muerte. Por ejemplo, la esquizofrenia de su madre o el suicidio de su cuñado.
Es un libro lleno de escenas y de detalles, situaciones narradas con una prosa poética que hará las delicias de cualquier lector que decide adentrarse en ella.
Paciente X no es un libro fácil de leer, no es una lectura ligera de verano de esas que podemos llevarnos a la playa y si nos saltamos partes no pasa nada. No es el caso, por ello no creo que sea un libro apto para cualquier momento ni para cualquier lector pero tampoco considero que Akutagawa sea un autor apto para cualquiera, no todos los lectores lo apreciarán o querrán leerlo, así pues, quizá pasa lo mismo con este libro del que estoy hablando.
Tanto a Akutagawa como a Piece debemos darles el tiempo que sus obras requieren. No podemos empezarlo con una fecha de finalización en la mente pues no creo que lo logremos ya que a veces es necesario dejarlo reposar e ir retomándolo poco a poco.
Aquellos que disfrutan con la obra de Akutagawa puede ser que vean esta novela con cierta aprensión, pero creo que no tienen nada que temer, Peace por lo que se ve al final se ha documentado muchísimo para escribir y nos ha dejado una buena ambientación y cronología de la vida del japonés.
Akutagawa es considerado uno de los grandes escritores japoneses de la literatura moderna y supongo que de ahí parte la idea de Peace, de ahí y supongo que de la admiración que siente por él pues esta obra es un claro homenaje a su vida y sus creaciones literarias.
Paciente X mezcla novela biográfica y novela de relatos, como también hacia el japonés. Ninguno de los dos autores es fácil de leer y los dos nos plantean un desafío. Adentrarnos en sus obras es un ejercicio complejo pero que si no nos lo tomamos con prisas, disfrutaremos de principio a fin.
Y que fin, no puedo decir que sorprenda pero tanto en la obra de Akutagawa (sobretodo en Vida de un loco) como en la de Piece, vamos notando como sus pensamientos vas derivando hacia sus obsesiones, miedos y sueños recurrentes. Vamos entrando en una mente dañada que acabará con su sufrimiento de la peor manera, pues el autor japonés acabó suicidándose con Veronal, por ello el final de esta novela no puede sorprendernos pues creo que desde el inicio tenemos claro el final.
El libro es una novela en sí misma pues sigue la vida del japonés pero está a la vez formado por un conjunto de capítulos que son relatos ya que pueden considerarse de forma independiente. Aunque el contexto se lo da el conjunto y la distancia.
En definitiva, este año he disfrutado doblemente, por un lado por fin me adentré en la obra de Akutagawa y por otro lo he complementado todo con Paciente X de David Peace. Conociendo así a un autor nuevo y por cierto, a una editorial nueva pues es la primera vez que leo algo de Armaenia Editorial.
Esta novela es un homenaje al autor pero también un ejemplo de elegancia en la escritura. Recomendado totalmente a pesar de ser una lectura compleja.
Podéis leer mi reseña completa en el blog: https://www.resibooks.com/2020/07/dav...
Así pues, David Peace, ha escrito en doce capítulos una novela de relatos centrada en la figura del autor nipón, mostrándonos partes de su vida personal y profesional, abarcando des de antes de su nacimiento hasta su suicidio. A veces puede parecer una autobiografía del autor pues en muchas ocasiones se recurre a la primera persona pero en otros momentos encontramos otros narracores y en algunos relatos se mezcla la primera persona con la tercera.
Hay algunos detalles de la vida de Akutagawa que ya conocía pero a través de los relatos podemos ver como le afectan a lo largo de su vida y en su muerte. Por ejemplo, la esquizofrenia de su madre o el suicidio de su cuñado.
Es un libro lleno de escenas y de detalles, situaciones narradas con una prosa poética que hará las delicias de cualquier lector que decide adentrarse en ella.
Paciente X no es un libro fácil de leer, no es una lectura ligera de verano de esas que podemos llevarnos a la playa y si nos saltamos partes no pasa nada. No es el caso, por ello no creo que sea un libro apto para cualquier momento ni para cualquier lector pero tampoco considero que Akutagawa sea un autor apto para cualquiera, no todos los lectores lo apreciarán o querrán leerlo, así pues, quizá pasa lo mismo con este libro del que estoy hablando.
Tanto a Akutagawa como a Piece debemos darles el tiempo que sus obras requieren. No podemos empezarlo con una fecha de finalización en la mente pues no creo que lo logremos ya que a veces es necesario dejarlo reposar e ir retomándolo poco a poco.
Aquellos que disfrutan con la obra de Akutagawa puede ser que vean esta novela con cierta aprensión, pero creo que no tienen nada que temer, Peace por lo que se ve al final se ha documentado muchísimo para escribir y nos ha dejado una buena ambientación y cronología de la vida del japonés.
Akutagawa es considerado uno de los grandes escritores japoneses de la literatura moderna y supongo que de ahí parte la idea de Peace, de ahí y supongo que de la admiración que siente por él pues esta obra es un claro homenaje a su vida y sus creaciones literarias.
Paciente X mezcla novela biográfica y novela de relatos, como también hacia el japonés. Ninguno de los dos autores es fácil de leer y los dos nos plantean un desafío. Adentrarnos en sus obras es un ejercicio complejo pero que si no nos lo tomamos con prisas, disfrutaremos de principio a fin.
Y que fin, no puedo decir que sorprenda pero tanto en la obra de Akutagawa (sobretodo en Vida de un loco) como en la de Piece, vamos notando como sus pensamientos vas derivando hacia sus obsesiones, miedos y sueños recurrentes. Vamos entrando en una mente dañada que acabará con su sufrimiento de la peor manera, pues el autor japonés acabó suicidándose con Veronal, por ello el final de esta novela no puede sorprendernos pues creo que desde el inicio tenemos claro el final.
El libro es una novela en sí misma pues sigue la vida del japonés pero está a la vez formado por un conjunto de capítulos que son relatos ya que pueden considerarse de forma independiente. Aunque el contexto se lo da el conjunto y la distancia.
En definitiva, este año he disfrutado doblemente, por un lado por fin me adentré en la obra de Akutagawa y por otro lo he complementado todo con Paciente X de David Peace. Conociendo así a un autor nuevo y por cierto, a una editorial nueva pues es la primera vez que leo algo de Armaenia Editorial.
Esta novela es un homenaje al autor pero también un ejemplo de elegancia en la escritura. Recomendado totalmente a pesar de ser una lectura compleja.
Podéis leer mi reseña completa en el blog: https://www.resibooks.com/2020/07/dav...
May 19, 2021
One star for Japan. Two for Japanese writers. However, the constant repetition, repeating, repeating of a word, a phrase, over and over again, on and on, in a mannerism, yes, a mannerism, that annoys the reader, tearing at the reader, the reader taunted over and over and over until no longer able to read, to read another word. For those who can bear this burden, and have a knowledge and care of Japanese writers, writers who thankfully, yes thankfully, don’t repeat words and phrases, repeat phrases and words, to try and make the reader feel the feelings of these flat, listless characters, then, this book has some merit. This makes the work long, long, twice as long as it, this fictional account of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, the man Akutagawa, the inside life and mind and art of Akutagawa, the spiritual struggles of Akutagawa, needs to be.
January 11, 2020
Soy alguien al que le cuesta muchísimo escribir sobre lo que le apasiona... incluso diría que cuanto más me gusta sobre lo que escribo, más sufro haciéndolo. Lo noté cuando le dediqué un artículo a Yasunari Kawabata y cuando reseñé "Tango Satánico" (László Krasznahorkai, Acantilado). Es por ello que valoro enormemente cuando un autor sale airoso en el siempre dificultoso terreno de los homenajes.
No había leído nada de Peace antes de esta obra y lo cierto es que mi atracción por el libro residía sobre todo en mi filia por la literatura japonesa en general y mi admiración por Akutagawa en particular.
Y el resultado es asombroso. Peace no solo logra un homenaje a la altura del sujeto, uno de los más grandes autores de las letras japonesas, sino que lo hace con una originalidad y elegancia de altísimo nivel. El libro se divide en doce maravillosos relatos que creeríamos una autobiografía velada del propio japonés sino fuera porque están escritos por el autor británico, quien se mimetiza en la literatura nipona y evidencia el trabajo de bibliografía realizado.
Basándose en los escritos (relatos, poemas, cartas, diarios...) que legó el propio Akutagawa, Peace nos ofrece un ambicioso, complejo, imaginativo y fascinante artefacto literario que hará las delicias tanto de los fieles de Akutagawa, como también de todos los lectores que quieran descubrir una de las mentes más deslumbrantes del Japón del siglo XX.
No había leído nada de Peace antes de esta obra y lo cierto es que mi atracción por el libro residía sobre todo en mi filia por la literatura japonesa en general y mi admiración por Akutagawa en particular.
Y el resultado es asombroso. Peace no solo logra un homenaje a la altura del sujeto, uno de los más grandes autores de las letras japonesas, sino que lo hace con una originalidad y elegancia de altísimo nivel. El libro se divide en doce maravillosos relatos que creeríamos una autobiografía velada del propio japonés sino fuera porque están escritos por el autor británico, quien se mimetiza en la literatura nipona y evidencia el trabajo de bibliografía realizado.
Basándose en los escritos (relatos, poemas, cartas, diarios...) que legó el propio Akutagawa, Peace nos ofrece un ambicioso, complejo, imaginativo y fascinante artefacto literario que hará las delicias tanto de los fieles de Akutagawa, como también de todos los lectores que quieran descubrir una de las mentes más deslumbrantes del Japón del siglo XX.
August 18, 2019
Brilliant, evocative writing! The jumps in time, theme and style work almost magically well. Ryunosuke is a fascinating character pretty solidly based in the actual Ryunosuke Akutagawa's life as far as I can tell. Peace is not Japanese and hasn't lived there extensively as far as I can tell but clearly did serious research.
Now of course I want to read a nonfictional biography of him and read good translations of his works.
Highly recommended to fans of literary fiction, biographical and historical fiction based on a real person, and lovers of Japanese literature and culture.
Now of course I want to read a nonfictional biography of him and read good translations of his works.
Highly recommended to fans of literary fiction, biographical and historical fiction based on a real person, and lovers of Japanese literature and culture.
November 8, 2019
"From on the bridge
as i through away the cucumber,
the water sounds and thus i see,
a bobbed head."
-for Owaka-san,by drunken-Gaki.
as i through away the cucumber,
the water sounds and thus i see,
a bobbed head."
-for Owaka-san,by drunken-Gaki.
April 18, 2020
*I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway in 2018.*
This book is a fictional autobiography of a Japanese writer named Ryunosuke Akutagawa. I read about the writer through a page on Wikipedia but I’ve never read anything by him and I didn’t know anything about him before I started reading this so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book or not but I wanted to read something different. I decided to listen to this on Audible. The narrator did a good job narrating. This book was written in a weird way. It kept my attention and I was interested but I had to try really hard to understand what was going on. I don’t recommend reading this book unless you want to put forth a lot of effort to understand what’s going on in the book and it might help to know some background information about the Japanese writer that this book is talking about because I started reading this book not knowing anything about him. I listened to it all the way until the end because I wanted to know how it was going to end but it wasn’t worth my time.
This book is a fictional autobiography of a Japanese writer named Ryunosuke Akutagawa. I read about the writer through a page on Wikipedia but I’ve never read anything by him and I didn’t know anything about him before I started reading this so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book or not but I wanted to read something different. I decided to listen to this on Audible. The narrator did a good job narrating. This book was written in a weird way. It kept my attention and I was interested but I had to try really hard to understand what was going on. I don’t recommend reading this book unless you want to put forth a lot of effort to understand what’s going on in the book and it might help to know some background information about the Japanese writer that this book is talking about because I started reading this book not knowing anything about him. I listened to it all the way until the end because I wanted to know how it was going to end but it wasn’t worth my time.
December 9, 2023
This book can only be read by an Akutagawa fan, and even then there’s parts that try a bit too hard to do something that doesn’t amount to too much. Still, as an Akutagawa fan I did enjoy once again going through his life in this fictionalised manner and feeling the dread he was feeling throughout. I enjoyed reminiscing over his works, but I wonder if appropriating them to the extend that Peace has is entirely appropriate… Still, I learned lots about Akutagawa through this book, and I’m sure I’ll think of it often. A book for all Akutagawa fans by a fan who understood the author well.
March 17, 2021
This book really blew me away. I'd never read any David Peace or Ryunosuke Akatagawa before and that's something I'm really going to have to fix. An immaculately written set of stories that intertwine and echo each other to construct a life.
February 14, 2020
My experience with the book was weird. The writing style is poetic and evocative, but it gets SO convoluted that I struggled to follow. Although beautiful, a lot of the different images painted by the author felt awkwardly artificial and disconnected from one another. A good deal of it was beautifully written, and clearly the author is a talented writer, but the lack of a cohesive thread and the constant repetition of phrases and adjectives ("He was in the rain. Alone. Alone, alone in the rain. In the rain. All alone") were driving me crazy. Much to my frustration, I just could not finish this book.
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June 7, 2018The most surprising thing about David Peace's latest is that it's almost easy to read. Yes, it opens with the protagonist in Hell, before flashing back to him not wanting to be born, and proceeds to take in ghosts, monsters, madness, catastrophe, and harbingers of worse (I don't know why I even bothered looking online to check whether the time at which a clock in Nagasaki always stops is a foreshadowing of the atom bomb - this is David Peace, of course it is). Oh, and suicide, obviously. Lots of it, ritual and otherwise, and one framed by a shaggy dog story which even I was almost embarrassed to find as funny as I did. But that harsh, percussive effect you expect from his prose, the way it feels like you're being slapped around the face? That's gone. I didn't read Red or Dead, because while I enjoyed The Damned Utd there are fucking limits, but apparently it was a sort of endpoint for that style. Happily, then, Peace turns out to have other tricks up his sleeve, and can still haunt you even with a more fluid manner.
Our subject is Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, 'father of the Japanese short story' and most famously the writer of 'Rashōmon', though if you don't know that coming in, Peace isn't going to hold your hand and have people helpfully exposit about it. On the other hand, apparently if you do know Ryūnosuke's work well, that has its own problems, as large chunks of this are pretty much paraphrase. Given I had the basics but no intimate knowledge of the work, this may make me the ideal reader. And the main impression I got was that this was a deeply autobiographical story: the boy that books built, growing into the writer forever distracted by other responsibilities*, always worried that he's neglecting his family or his art or both, forever terrified that he's lost the knack. Hell, even the degree to which the Japanese writer is fascinated by the West, its culture, its crime and its cult, mirrors the way in which Peace has himself been transfixed by Japan. It's been particularly interesting reading this while watching the wonderful Ancient Magus' Bride, a Japanese cartoon set in Britain, and watching from both sides as these two tradition-bound, ruthlessly modern, hidebound, kinky islands at either end of the world continue their awkward dance**.
*Indeed, the back cover flap faithfully promises that we'll see the finale to the Tokyo Trilogy next year, so you could even consider this novel, in progress for six years at least, to itself be one of those curious examples of a displacement activity with its own artistic validity.
**I imagine there are probably hot takes floating around somewhere denouncing Patient X as 'cultural appropriation'. A concept which I find deeply problematic in general, but particularly when it treats another G7 economy with an imperialist past as somehow equivalent to the developing world simply because the inhabitants aren't white.
Our subject is Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, 'father of the Japanese short story' and most famously the writer of 'Rashōmon', though if you don't know that coming in, Peace isn't going to hold your hand and have people helpfully exposit about it. On the other hand, apparently if you do know Ryūnosuke's work well, that has its own problems, as large chunks of this are pretty much paraphrase. Given I had the basics but no intimate knowledge of the work, this may make me the ideal reader. And the main impression I got was that this was a deeply autobiographical story: the boy that books built, growing into the writer forever distracted by other responsibilities*, always worried that he's neglecting his family or his art or both, forever terrified that he's lost the knack. Hell, even the degree to which the Japanese writer is fascinated by the West, its culture, its crime and its cult, mirrors the way in which Peace has himself been transfixed by Japan. It's been particularly interesting reading this while watching the wonderful Ancient Magus' Bride, a Japanese cartoon set in Britain, and watching from both sides as these two tradition-bound, ruthlessly modern, hidebound, kinky islands at either end of the world continue their awkward dance**.
*Indeed, the back cover flap faithfully promises that we'll see the finale to the Tokyo Trilogy next year, so you could even consider this novel, in progress for six years at least, to itself be one of those curious examples of a displacement activity with its own artistic validity.
**I imagine there are probably hot takes floating around somewhere denouncing Patient X as 'cultural appropriation'. A concept which I find deeply problematic in general, but particularly when it treats another G7 economy with an imperialist past as somehow equivalent to the developing world simply because the inhabitants aren't white.
November 3, 2018
British writer David Peace is most well known for the Red Riding series about the Yorkshire murderer, and has followed it up with a series of novels based on postwar crimes in Tokyo. These novels are notable for Peace’s experimental style that is rhythmically similar to jazz with much repetition. His latest book, Patient X: The Case-Book of Ryunosuke Akutagawa (2018) also has something of an experimental style, as a sort of literary biography of Japan’s master modern short story writer. Peace’s approach to the Taisho era writer is that of an anthology approach not unlike the film 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould in that it is 12 short stories about Akutagawa. These stories range from the ethereal, “Hell Screens,” which takes place from beyond the grave in hell as Akutagawa rails against the many tragedies that will take place in his lifetime such as the Great Kanto earthquake and other more personal tragedies, to the conventional biographical sketch found in “Bare Bones.” Some of the other standout sections include “Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom,” which consists of Akutagawa’s literary mentor Natsume Soseki recounting his gloomy days in London to his prodigy. Several of these stories touch on his affinity to Christianity, Buddhism, and a fateful trip to Nagasaki that inspires these musings. Another interesting trip to Manchuria before the war with China is the central action in “After the War, Before the War.” These stories coalesce and give the reader a better understanding of the brief life and career of an influential writer who took his own life at the age of 35.
December 5, 2018
One of the two best novels of 2018, Patient X by David Peace is among the immortal classics of world literature, the books we'll still be reading in a thousand years.
David Peace delivers a magnificent reimagination of the life and authorial presence of Akutagawa , independent originator of Japanese Surrealism and his documentation of his struggle against madness. Akutagawa attempted in his writing to heal himself using the method described by Shakespeare in Hamlet; to restore balance through enacting madness.
Though in the end he lost this epic battle, his stories remain as a testament to the nobility of doomed resistance to unfathomable forces. And like Hemingway ' s Old Man of the Sea, bearing back stories instead of the bones of an impossible fish, he will forever live in our imagination , unconquered.
Far more than a tragic hero, Akutagawa revolutionized psychology as well as literature, creating his own version of the talking cure independently from Freud, out of extreme personal need, with survival at stake, and bequeathed it to the world in his books, a triumph won from suffering and horror, a transcendent act of compassion. And Peace' s work is the tribute he has long deserved, beautifully written and splendidly researched; in entitling it Patient X, the origin case of modern man, he has recognized Akutagawa as the founder of our age and the creator of us all.
David Peace delivers a magnificent reimagination of the life and authorial presence of Akutagawa , independent originator of Japanese Surrealism and his documentation of his struggle against madness. Akutagawa attempted in his writing to heal himself using the method described by Shakespeare in Hamlet; to restore balance through enacting madness.
Though in the end he lost this epic battle, his stories remain as a testament to the nobility of doomed resistance to unfathomable forces. And like Hemingway ' s Old Man of the Sea, bearing back stories instead of the bones of an impossible fish, he will forever live in our imagination , unconquered.
Far more than a tragic hero, Akutagawa revolutionized psychology as well as literature, creating his own version of the talking cure independently from Freud, out of extreme personal need, with survival at stake, and bequeathed it to the world in his books, a triumph won from suffering and horror, a transcendent act of compassion. And Peace' s work is the tribute he has long deserved, beautifully written and splendidly researched; in entitling it Patient X, the origin case of modern man, he has recognized Akutagawa as the founder of our age and the creator of us all.
March 30, 2020
I'm kind of torn with this one. I've read a bit of Akutagawa, so was probably better placed than some to approach this novel-cum-(auto)biography of the great Japanese writer. Peace is an excellent writer, and some of his sentences and imagery were just sublime. The fragmentary experience of the book was indeed suitable for what he was trying to achieve: a sideways look, almost as if it was in the shadows, at the life of the great man. It will have you reaching for your normal reference source on the internet to try and find out if a particular character is real or imagined, which is fine. This is the kind of book where the overall impression is the thing, not any specific 'did this happen or not?' It's a re-imagining, not a biography.
However, it just lacked something for me. As ever, with books like this, my reference point is Alex Pheby's astonishing 'Lucia', a fictional/biographical 'excavation' of James Joyce's daughter, which was published, funnily enough, pretty much at the same time as 'Patient X' in 2018. For me, that does things that 'Patient X' does not, and so as much as I enjoyed David Peace's book, and as much as it gives a reader a wider perspective of the man behind the work, it just doesn't quite reach the heights to which it aspires. 3.5 stars.
However, it just lacked something for me. As ever, with books like this, my reference point is Alex Pheby's astonishing 'Lucia', a fictional/biographical 'excavation' of James Joyce's daughter, which was published, funnily enough, pretty much at the same time as 'Patient X' in 2018. For me, that does things that 'Patient X' does not, and so as much as I enjoyed David Peace's book, and as much as it gives a reader a wider perspective of the man behind the work, it just doesn't quite reach the heights to which it aspires. 3.5 stars.
December 27, 2024
This is one of those rare cases where I should have looked into the book more before buying it.
I was falsely under the impression that this would be non-fictional; instead it feels like I'm reading fanfiction about one of my favourite authors, who has been dead for nearly 100 years. Felt really inappropriate to me, especially how the author of this book "addresses" Akutagawa and seems to put words or feelings in his mouth. I'm sure we can infer lots of things about how Akutagawa felt about aspects of his life or how he was doing in general, but still, having that put into little stories (adapted from stories Akutagawa wrote) like this as if we know for certain felt... presumptuous, and again, inappropriate. DNF
I was falsely under the impression that this would be non-fictional; instead it feels like I'm reading fanfiction about one of my favourite authors, who has been dead for nearly 100 years. Felt really inappropriate to me, especially how the author of this book "addresses" Akutagawa and seems to put words or feelings in his mouth. I'm sure we can infer lots of things about how Akutagawa felt about aspects of his life or how he was doing in general, but still, having that put into little stories (adapted from stories Akutagawa wrote) like this as if we know for certain felt... presumptuous, and again, inappropriate. DNF
October 2, 2019
A fictional biography of the famous Japanese author that has some memorable and poignant passages on books and the publishing world, but unfortunately tapers off to a rather bland finish in the second half.
November 4, 2018
This was difficult to read with no plot or true characters. It was an interesting experience, but not one I truly enjoyed.
November 11, 2019
Paciente X - Una NOVELA en mayúsculas
Que David Peace es un autor especial, que no escribe para todos los públicos, es algo obvio para todos los que en algún momento hayan tenido un libro suyo entre las manos o sepan algo de sus costumbres a la hora de escribir (ver mi anterior post al respecto). Y, sin embargo, la novela que, a priori, debía ser su obra menos accesible, se me antoja la más próxima.
Desde luego, escribir una novela-ficción sobre la vida de un escritor japonés de principios de siglo que, a pesar de ser conocido, ni mucho menos lo es tanto como Sōseki, por poner un ejemplo, en su prosa complicada, poética y complicada, no deberían haber originado un libro cercano al lector.
Y sin embargo lo hace.
En todo momento, la ficción basada en las experiencias reales de Ryūnosuke Akutagawa se antoja cercana porque toca sentimientos y lo hace de la mejor forma posible, con una prosa cercana, pero también sobrecogedora.
Desde los pasajes donde se explica su infancia y su pasión por su lectura hasta su enfermedad, pasando por sueños, aspiraciones, amistades y crónica de la época, Patient X —que así se llama esta maravilla— nos hace vivir todos los estados de ánimo del protagonista. Además, el libro conjuga la primera y la tercera persona de forma magnífica, de tal forma que en ningún momento sentimos monotonía o aburrimiento.
La edición —aunque sea de bolsillo— es muy cuidada y contiene bocetes, dibujos y fotos que adornan muy bien las distintas secciones del libro según el tema que van a tratar. Alguna de sus citas son maravillosas:
“If you want to love a comparatively peaceful life, it is best not to be a novelist”.
En definitiva, todo el conjunto hace que la novela merezca la pena desde un punto de vista tanto de trama —la vida de Ryūnosuke Akutagawa— como para personas interesadas en el Japón de entreguerras y, también por qué no, solo por la calidad de su lietaratura.
En mi caso, me he decidido por la versión original en inglés, pero los que no domináis el idioma podéis lanzaros a por la edición que acaba de publicar Armaenia Editorial.
Que David Peace es un autor especial, que no escribe para todos los públicos, es algo obvio para todos los que en algún momento hayan tenido un libro suyo entre las manos o sepan algo de sus costumbres a la hora de escribir (ver mi anterior post al respecto). Y, sin embargo, la novela que, a priori, debía ser su obra menos accesible, se me antoja la más próxima.
Desde luego, escribir una novela-ficción sobre la vida de un escritor japonés de principios de siglo que, a pesar de ser conocido, ni mucho menos lo es tanto como Sōseki, por poner un ejemplo, en su prosa complicada, poética y complicada, no deberían haber originado un libro cercano al lector.
Y sin embargo lo hace.
En todo momento, la ficción basada en las experiencias reales de Ryūnosuke Akutagawa se antoja cercana porque toca sentimientos y lo hace de la mejor forma posible, con una prosa cercana, pero también sobrecogedora.
Desde los pasajes donde se explica su infancia y su pasión por su lectura hasta su enfermedad, pasando por sueños, aspiraciones, amistades y crónica de la época, Patient X —que así se llama esta maravilla— nos hace vivir todos los estados de ánimo del protagonista. Además, el libro conjuga la primera y la tercera persona de forma magnífica, de tal forma que en ningún momento sentimos monotonía o aburrimiento.
La edición —aunque sea de bolsillo— es muy cuidada y contiene bocetes, dibujos y fotos que adornan muy bien las distintas secciones del libro según el tema que van a tratar. Alguna de sus citas son maravillosas:
“If you want to love a comparatively peaceful life, it is best not to be a novelist”.
En definitiva, todo el conjunto hace que la novela merezca la pena desde un punto de vista tanto de trama —la vida de Ryūnosuke Akutagawa— como para personas interesadas en el Japón de entreguerras y, también por qué no, solo por la calidad de su lietaratura.
En mi caso, me he decidido por la versión original en inglés, pero los que no domináis el idioma podéis lanzaros a por la edición que acaba de publicar Armaenia Editorial.
December 30, 2021
Al sinds ik "Confessions of a mask" van Yukio Mishima las, heb ik een zwak gehad voor Japanse literatuur. Verschillende auteurs zijn Mishima gevolgd, waaronder de onvermijdelijke Haruki Murakami.
Maar nu kwam ik toevallig bij "Patient X" terecht, een "biografie" van Ryunosuke Akutagawa... en ik zet "biografie" tussen aanhalingstekens omdat ik tijdens het lezen mij voortdurend aan het afvragen was of ik hier geen autobiografie aan het lezen was.
David Peace levert hier een echte "tour de force"... alles wat een Japans werk zo typisch maakt, het vormelijke zowel als het inhoudelijke, is hier aanwezig. Het magisch-realisme dat altijd zo aanwezig is bij Japanse schrijvers, de verstrengeling van droom en werkelijkheid, het in elkaar vloeien en op elkaar inwerken van beide werelden, wordt door Peace zo krachtig verwerkt in de twaalf stukken waaruit dit werk bestaat, dat je je afvraagt of Akatugawa hier niet zelf de pen van Peace vastgehouden heeft.
Dit is een indrukwekkend werk... van begin tot einde... wanneer Yasukuchi de fatale zelfmoord van Ryunosuke Akutagawa verneemt uit een krantenkop, totaal overstuur het luciferdoosje dat hij in zijn handen houdt laat vallen en David Peace de onthutsende zin neerpent: "The woman put the box back on the shelf, then returned to her seat and the newspaper, and turned the page."
We draaien de bladzijde om... daar word je wel even stil van.
Maar nu kwam ik toevallig bij "Patient X" terecht, een "biografie" van Ryunosuke Akutagawa... en ik zet "biografie" tussen aanhalingstekens omdat ik tijdens het lezen mij voortdurend aan het afvragen was of ik hier geen autobiografie aan het lezen was.
David Peace levert hier een echte "tour de force"... alles wat een Japans werk zo typisch maakt, het vormelijke zowel als het inhoudelijke, is hier aanwezig. Het magisch-realisme dat altijd zo aanwezig is bij Japanse schrijvers, de verstrengeling van droom en werkelijkheid, het in elkaar vloeien en op elkaar inwerken van beide werelden, wordt door Peace zo krachtig verwerkt in de twaalf stukken waaruit dit werk bestaat, dat je je afvraagt of Akatugawa hier niet zelf de pen van Peace vastgehouden heeft.
Dit is een indrukwekkend werk... van begin tot einde... wanneer Yasukuchi de fatale zelfmoord van Ryunosuke Akutagawa verneemt uit een krantenkop, totaal overstuur het luciferdoosje dat hij in zijn handen houdt laat vallen en David Peace de onthutsende zin neerpent: "The woman put the box back on the shelf, then returned to her seat and the newspaper, and turned the page."
We draaien de bladzijde om... daar word je wel even stil van.
April 9, 2024
"... Esas son las historias que te cuentas, que tú mismo escribes, en el espejo del baño, en el escritorio de tu estudio; todo el tiempo te las cuentas, todo el tiempo escribes esas historias, esos relatos que no se sostienen, que nunca se sostendrán, que se desmoronan, que se hacen añicos...".
.
Los 12 relatos que componen esta novela están inspirados y basados en los cuentos los ensayos y las cartas de Ryunosuke Akutagawa en incidentes de su propia vida y en los recuerdos y los escritos de las personas que lo conocieron.
.
Son relatos que mezclan lo biográficos y lo onírico durante la internación de Akutagawa, en la que se van mostrando, no solo retazos sueltos de sus recuerdos así como sus defectos.
.
Durante el primer relato, quedará en claro cómo se desarrollarán las historias: Akutagawa está en el infierno y no puede volver a subir a la superficie por el peso de sus otros yo, pesados de defectos y malos sentimientos, que le impiden ser perdonado por Dios (el dios occidental, del cual se apropió en uno de sus tantos viajes al exterior de Japón).
.
Me hizo mucha ilusión leer este libro pero me costó un poco terminarlo por dos motivos: e me cruzaron lecturas más largas, y creo que se hace necesario leer la narrativa y la epístola del autor para tener más claro en qué retazos de su vida y su ficción se van basando estos relatos.
.
Los 12 relatos que componen esta novela están inspirados y basados en los cuentos los ensayos y las cartas de Ryunosuke Akutagawa en incidentes de su propia vida y en los recuerdos y los escritos de las personas que lo conocieron.
.
Son relatos que mezclan lo biográficos y lo onírico durante la internación de Akutagawa, en la que se van mostrando, no solo retazos sueltos de sus recuerdos así como sus defectos.
.
Durante el primer relato, quedará en claro cómo se desarrollarán las historias: Akutagawa está en el infierno y no puede volver a subir a la superficie por el peso de sus otros yo, pesados de defectos y malos sentimientos, que le impiden ser perdonado por Dios (el dios occidental, del cual se apropió en uno de sus tantos viajes al exterior de Japón).
.
Me hizo mucha ilusión leer este libro pero me costó un poco terminarlo por dos motivos: e me cruzaron lecturas más largas, y creo que se hace necesario leer la narrativa y la epístola del autor para tener más claro en qué retazos de su vida y su ficción se van basando estos relatos.
August 23, 2023
Walt Whitman decía que él contenía multitudes. Pessoa, al mismo tiempo, hizo de sí mismo y de sus heterónimos un viaje por buena parte del paisaje humano. Akutagawa, a su manera, sometido por una enfermedad mental degenerativa y heredada de su madre, creó una telaraña de historias en las que la realidad, la ilusión y el delirio se entretejían con su autopercepción. Sin concesiones, sin regresiones ni tránsitos lineales, David Peace crea una novela tremenda; una que deambula por la vida del escritor japonés más grande que haya habido.
Pero no es sólo eso, pues esta novela también crea una de las ficciones góticas más increíbles que pueda haber. Aquí, por ejemplo, Jesús y Budha conversan mientras una araña ayuda un hombre a ir del cielo al infierno; al mismo tiempo, un hombre corre por el barrio de las librerías de segunda escarbando entre los libros que ya ha dejado en prenda un rastro de sí, una ayuda, un soporte para aguantar un día más con vida. Acá la vida de Ryonosuke Akutagawa se ennoblece bajo el artificio de la ficción. Una novela de esas para releer y extraer todo lo que uno pueda sobre el oficio de la escritura y la pasión por las letras.
Pero no es sólo eso, pues esta novela también crea una de las ficciones góticas más increíbles que pueda haber. Aquí, por ejemplo, Jesús y Budha conversan mientras una araña ayuda un hombre a ir del cielo al infierno; al mismo tiempo, un hombre corre por el barrio de las librerías de segunda escarbando entre los libros que ya ha dejado en prenda un rastro de sí, una ayuda, un soporte para aguantar un día más con vida. Acá la vida de Ryonosuke Akutagawa se ennoblece bajo el artificio de la ficción. Una novela de esas para releer y extraer todo lo que uno pueda sobre el oficio de la escritura y la pasión por las letras.
February 8, 2021
The three highlights of this book were (for me) Jack the Ripper's Bedroom, the Western Gentleman and the aftermath of the Tokyo Earthquake. The best writing here has a shimmering quality to it and is worth reading for pure pleasure.
The lightest in tone of Peace's Japan-set novels to date, this homage to his author-hero doubles as a cultural guide to the early 20th century of that country through the Japanese author's eyes, curiously devoid of what we in the West have been conditioned to believe would have been dominant themes of his country's culture between the world wars, militarism and nationalism. There is an interesting current running through the novel, about Roman Catholicism in Japan.
Primarily intended to awaken interest in Akutagawa, it seems, each of the episodes invites further reading, for better understanding. There is, though, finally, an element to Peace's writing that is him exploring what interests himself, that eludes the reader with little or no prior experience of Japan or Japanese culture.
The lightest in tone of Peace's Japan-set novels to date, this homage to his author-hero doubles as a cultural guide to the early 20th century of that country through the Japanese author's eyes, curiously devoid of what we in the West have been conditioned to believe would have been dominant themes of his country's culture between the world wars, militarism and nationalism. There is an interesting current running through the novel, about Roman Catholicism in Japan.
Primarily intended to awaken interest in Akutagawa, it seems, each of the episodes invites further reading, for better understanding. There is, though, finally, an element to Peace's writing that is him exploring what interests himself, that eludes the reader with little or no prior experience of Japan or Japanese culture.
June 6, 2020
So it's a David peace book about a person who has lived . So normal . This is different yes most of not all the peace ticks are on display but it feels slightly more mellow more wider focussed.
The text jumps in style from peace to akutagawaesque and back . The book hints at the inner life without feeling that it nails it's colours to the mast . It's an interesting stylistic novel (non fiction ) and lacks much of the sense of psychosexual drama that is prominent in his works
Still think his best is gb84 but it's definitely worth a read and probably is just short of a 4 star read
The text jumps in style from peace to akutagawaesque and back . The book hints at the inner life without feeling that it nails it's colours to the mast . It's an interesting stylistic novel (non fiction ) and lacks much of the sense of psychosexual drama that is prominent in his works
Still think his best is gb84 but it's definitely worth a read and probably is just short of a 4 star read
August 22, 2021
This is a very eccentric book - but I loved it. I started with an audio version which was fabulous and it got to a place where I just had to see the text. I have always loved the movie Rashamon so to find this ‘biography’ of the story’s author was great. Akutagawa was writing around the turn of the twentieth century - he was very innovative just as Peace’s biography in turn is innovative. If you are expecting a narrative line , you will be disappointed - if you are prepared to be carried by evocative writing and a mix of reality, dreams and spirits you too will love it.
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