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The Edogawa Rampo Reader
Edogawa Rampo (pseudonym of Hirai Taro, 1894-1965) is the acknowledged grand master of Japan's golden age of crime and mystery fiction. He is also a major writer in the tradition of Japanese Modernism, and exerts a massive influence on the popular and literary culture of today's Japan. The Edogawa Rampo Reader presents a selection of outstanding examples of his short fiction, and a selection of his non-fiction prose. Together, they present a full and accurate picture of Rampo as a major contributor to the Japanese literary scene, helping to clarify his achievements to the English-speaking world. All the content of the Rampo Reader is brand-new to English. His non-fiction work has never been translated into English before. This is the only place to find a comprehensive one-volume introduction to the world of Edogawa Rampo.
292 pages, Paperback
First published December 23, 2008
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About the author
Edogawa Rampo
918 books1,031 followersHirai Tarō (平井 太郎), better known by the pseudonym Rampo Edogawa ( 江戸川 乱歩), sometimes romanized as "Ranpo Edogawa", was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
October 26, 2014
The Edogawa Rampo reader is like a beginner's guide to the man credited with bringing in the Golden Age of crime and mystery fiction in Japan. It contains not only some stellar examples of his ficton work, but also an array of essays that let us get into the mind of the man a little bit.
I found the short stories mostly interesting, though I wonder if something wasn't lost in translation sincec the language sometimes felt a bit clunky. Still, each one kept me reading and left me excited for the next.
But the real gem here for me were the essays. He talks a lot about optics and the sense of unreality or too-much reality they can give - from microscopes to movies. And the play of optics does seem to be a recurring theme in a lot of his more horror-themed stuff. Also, his essay on tricks in mystery fiction reads like a primer to how the mysteries in Detective Conan are formed. :)
If you've ever been interested, this is a great place to start.
I found the short stories mostly interesting, though I wonder if something wasn't lost in translation sincec the language sometimes felt a bit clunky. Still, each one kept me reading and left me excited for the next.
But the real gem here for me were the essays. He talks a lot about optics and the sense of unreality or too-much reality they can give - from microscopes to movies. And the play of optics does seem to be a recurring theme in a lot of his more horror-themed stuff. Also, his essay on tricks in mystery fiction reads like a primer to how the mysteries in Detective Conan are formed. :)
If you've ever been interested, this is a great place to start.
July 8, 2018
A collection of fiction and essays from the Japanese Edgar Allen Poe. The erotic, the mysterious, the grotesque! Each story is weirder and more clever than the last. The essays are insightful about what makes for a good mystery, or a creepy tale, or even what makes us love words themselves. Recommend.
February 10, 2017
Edogawa Rampo is one of the most famous Japanese detective fiction writers, with huge debts to Doyle and Poe (pronounce Edogawa Rampo a few times the Japanese way and you'll find that he named himself Edgar Allan Poe). This Reader collects a few short stories (without the famous Caterpillar!), two of which are more classic detective fiction, the rest is more in the area of Weird Fiction, all very good, even though the detective fiction stretches its logic quite a bit (). Sexuality, taboo, and rebellion are common themes:
or this fun one:
The essays are all over the place, but interesting - some are very impressionistic, it's quaint nowadays how terrified Rampo was of the moving picture, some essays are focused on the 'tricks' a detective fiction writer uses, and I'm a bit sad that his An Itemized Catalog of Tricks hasn't been translated to English (here's Google Translate with the list of tricks from the Japanese Wikipedia). One great essay is all about that one time Poe and Dickens met: how Poe managed to foresee the ending of Dickens' Barnaby Rudge and spoiled it in a newspaper article, both met later and Poe was trying to get Dickens to help him sell more of his books in England, but nothing really ever came of it, even though Dickens tried. Barnaby Rudge features a talking raven, which may have or probably has inspired Poe's famous poem.
Anyway! If you're looking to get into a crime writer with an unique perspective, this Reader should be a good introduction. Sad that there is no comprehensive English translation: the Japanese Edogawa Rampo series is 30 books, but only 3 have been translated.
Human beings are complex creatures. From the moment we're born, we are endowed with certain anti-social traits. It is taboo to act on these desires. Yet taboos are essential for human beings. Or rather, I should say it is the very need for taboos in the first place that proves human beings have an innate tendency to rebel against society. The so-called instinct for crime is another name for it.
or this fun one:
Children are very sensitive to "inhumanity and crude taunts", and though they might walk about expressionless as a Noh mask or put on a riendly facade, underneath they burn with hatred at the real world.
The essays are all over the place, but interesting - some are very impressionistic, it's quaint nowadays how terrified Rampo was of the moving picture, some essays are focused on the 'tricks' a detective fiction writer uses, and I'm a bit sad that his An Itemized Catalog of Tricks hasn't been translated to English (here's Google Translate with the list of tricks from the Japanese Wikipedia). One great essay is all about that one time Poe and Dickens met: how Poe managed to foresee the ending of Dickens' Barnaby Rudge and spoiled it in a newspaper article, both met later and Poe was trying to get Dickens to help him sell more of his books in England, but nothing really ever came of it, even though Dickens tried. Barnaby Rudge features a talking raven, which may have or probably has inspired Poe's famous poem.
Anyway! If you're looking to get into a crime writer with an unique perspective, this Reader should be a good introduction. Sad that there is no comprehensive English translation: the Japanese Edogawa Rampo series is 30 books, but only 3 have been translated.
May 13, 2013
I feel like i have been waiting for this book for all of my life. it has been a slow amount of time to get the Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo translated into English. One of his collections of short stories have been in print for so many years - yet waiting for another title seemed endless. Now we have at least three other books by Rampo, and I bought them all this year.
"The Edogawa Rampo Reader" is a much needed over-all look of his career. The first half of this book is short stories and the second half are essays -mostly regarding the nature of the 'detective' story. i only found one essay the most interesting and that's "The Horror Of Films" dealing with the nature and history of cinema. It's a great piece on what was then a new medium. He wrote it in 1926, and for a short essay it covers a lot of ground. Basically all to do with being the viewer.
The short stories are all in the creepy mode that I love about Rampo's work. It includes the story about a man who spends a lot of time in the attic where he spies on people down below, and also commits a murder. The long introduction by Seth Jacobowitz is pretty perfect in capturing what is so essential about Rampo, his times, and the work itself. A remarkable writer.
"The Edogawa Rampo Reader" is a much needed over-all look of his career. The first half of this book is short stories and the second half are essays -mostly regarding the nature of the 'detective' story. i only found one essay the most interesting and that's "The Horror Of Films" dealing with the nature and history of cinema. It's a great piece on what was then a new medium. He wrote it in 1926, and for a short essay it covers a lot of ground. Basically all to do with being the viewer.
The short stories are all in the creepy mode that I love about Rampo's work. It includes the story about a man who spends a lot of time in the attic where he spies on people down below, and also commits a murder. The long introduction by Seth Jacobowitz is pretty perfect in capturing what is so essential about Rampo, his times, and the work itself. A remarkable writer.
April 16, 2019
My interest in Rampo began with a breadcrumb trail - running behind my own curiosity much alike the renown mystery fiction writer’s protagonists. On my way out the door after a visit to a friend’s house, a bright red spine stood out of an otherwise nondescript shelf. A novel, by Keigo Higashino. Although the name of the novel itself has haemorrhaged out of my memory, I eventually pulled up Higashino’s works online, and just as I was about to select a book, my eyes fixed upon a single achievement, listed among many:
‘He won the Edogawa Rampo Prize, which is awarded annually to the unpublished finest mystery work, in 1985 for the novel Hōkago (After School) at age 27.’
Unpublished finest mystery work? Who the hell was this Edogawa Rampo?
And so it began.
____
Hirai Taro, who published under the pseudonym of Edogawa Rampo was himself a man of shifting complexity, and seemed to, unlike some of the more forlorn contemporaries of his age (think Ozamu Dazai & co.), enjoy this part of his personality. His life and times are exhibited well through the twin efforts of Jacobowitz’s exhaustive introduction and analysis, as well as Rampo’s lucid recounts of his childhood and adolescent obsessions, fears and exploits.
The Reader includes a well-selected list of eight short fiction pieces and ten essays; the result is a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable portrait of the author. It also helps that Rampo is extremely clear and proud of his literary influences; just say the name ‘Edogawa Rampo’ thrice in quick succession, and somewhere in Baltimore, Edgar Allen Poe’s gravestone shudders in acknowledgement. Poe’s work rears it’s head very often while reading Rampo, particularly in his uncanny exploration of instinctual fears - everything from chilling homicides to symmetry, lenses and optical instruments.
My only disappointment with this book is the apparent exclusion of two of Rampo’s most important works; namely ‘The Two-Sen Copper Coin’ which was his debut story, and ‘The Human Chair’, a fantastic example from the ‘ero-guro nansensu’ genre that was adapted nearly a century later by horror mangaka extraordinaire, Junji Ito.
Jacobowitz’s translation is particularly striking, and I find myself extraordinarily thankful for his existence; out of fifteen standalone mystery works, only three have been translated into English.
This is immensely disappointing - a sentiment I’m sure you’ll share once you dive into Rampo’s extraordinary, genre-defining works.
‘He won the Edogawa Rampo Prize, which is awarded annually to the unpublished finest mystery work, in 1985 for the novel Hōkago (After School) at age 27.’
Unpublished finest mystery work? Who the hell was this Edogawa Rampo?
And so it began.
____
Hirai Taro, who published under the pseudonym of Edogawa Rampo was himself a man of shifting complexity, and seemed to, unlike some of the more forlorn contemporaries of his age (think Ozamu Dazai & co.), enjoy this part of his personality. His life and times are exhibited well through the twin efforts of Jacobowitz’s exhaustive introduction and analysis, as well as Rampo’s lucid recounts of his childhood and adolescent obsessions, fears and exploits.
The Reader includes a well-selected list of eight short fiction pieces and ten essays; the result is a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable portrait of the author. It also helps that Rampo is extremely clear and proud of his literary influences; just say the name ‘Edogawa Rampo’ thrice in quick succession, and somewhere in Baltimore, Edgar Allen Poe’s gravestone shudders in acknowledgement. Poe’s work rears it’s head very often while reading Rampo, particularly in his uncanny exploration of instinctual fears - everything from chilling homicides to symmetry, lenses and optical instruments.
My only disappointment with this book is the apparent exclusion of two of Rampo’s most important works; namely ‘The Two-Sen Copper Coin’ which was his debut story, and ‘The Human Chair’, a fantastic example from the ‘ero-guro nansensu’ genre that was adapted nearly a century later by horror mangaka extraordinaire, Junji Ito.
Jacobowitz’s translation is particularly striking, and I find myself extraordinarily thankful for his existence; out of fifteen standalone mystery works, only three have been translated into English.
This is immensely disappointing - a sentiment I’m sure you’ll share once you dive into Rampo’s extraordinary, genre-defining works.
March 23, 2022
as i said before, i shall say again; edogawa ranpo's works are brilliant. this specific book had both his fictional, which i was previously acquainted by, and non-fictional works, which are truly incredible.
my opinion on his fictional works:
like i had mentioned in my previous review for 'japanese tales of mystery and imagination', his descriptions of scenery, gore, people, and objects are unbelievably vivid. i honestly do not think any author of any time could surpass him in that skill. his ideas, as i said before, are incredibly different and new and simply unimaginable. how could someone think of a murder like that or even a plot like that is a thought that is always in my mind whenever i read any of his short stories. out of this selection, my favourites would be 'the daydream', for the entire concept of the story was brilliant, 'the martian canals', for i loved the descriptions used here, they were impressive honestly, and 'the stalker in the attic', as the idea of the story was also quite striking.
my opinion on his non-fictional works:
personally, i do not read much non-fiction, and the reason for that is quite simple; i find them all too boring. edogawa ranpo, much like with his fictional works, is an exception to that statement. his essays are written in a conversational style that i was truthfully unaware of me enjoying. i especially liked 'the phantom lord', 'confessions of ranpo' along with 'my love for the printed word', as i got to know more of the author himself as a person, which was something that i found so simply intriguing. the reason for this is simply because what kind of person is he to imagine all of those incredibly grotesque and horrid things, and i honestly mean this in a positive light for i simply adore his works. finding out more about how he was as a person and how he thinks and what his past was like, which i could find very little information on, his past i mean, when i did research on him, was simply so, so interesting and incredibly delightful.
i could go on in details about why i love this book but i would spoil its entirety, i believe, if i do so. overall, i would definitely recommend this to someone!
my opinion on his fictional works:
like i had mentioned in my previous review for 'japanese tales of mystery and imagination', his descriptions of scenery, gore, people, and objects are unbelievably vivid. i honestly do not think any author of any time could surpass him in that skill. his ideas, as i said before, are incredibly different and new and simply unimaginable. how could someone think of a murder like that or even a plot like that is a thought that is always in my mind whenever i read any of his short stories. out of this selection, my favourites would be 'the daydream', for the entire concept of the story was brilliant, 'the martian canals', for i loved the descriptions used here, they were impressive honestly, and 'the stalker in the attic', as the idea of the story was also quite striking.
my opinion on his non-fictional works:
personally, i do not read much non-fiction, and the reason for that is quite simple; i find them all too boring. edogawa ranpo, much like with his fictional works, is an exception to that statement. his essays are written in a conversational style that i was truthfully unaware of me enjoying. i especially liked 'the phantom lord', 'confessions of ranpo' along with 'my love for the printed word', as i got to know more of the author himself as a person, which was something that i found so simply intriguing. the reason for this is simply because what kind of person is he to imagine all of those incredibly grotesque and horrid things, and i honestly mean this in a positive light for i simply adore his works. finding out more about how he was as a person and how he thinks and what his past was like, which i could find very little information on, his past i mean, when i did research on him, was simply so, so interesting and incredibly delightful.
i could go on in details about why i love this book but i would spoil its entirety, i believe, if i do so. overall, i would definitely recommend this to someone!
June 12, 2025
This is an interesting collection of pieces by the highly regarded Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo (this was a pen name; note the similarity to Edgar Allan Poe). He obviously was influenced by Poe, and by other Western writers as well. The book is divided in half, the first part presents several of his short stories, and the second contains several essays on a number of topics. A lengthy and insightful introduction by Seth Jacobowitz rounds out the book.
I was a little underwhelmed by the first part. What brought me to this book was a superb Japanese film, "The Mystery of Rampo", which is based on his writing. If these are his best stories, well, er, I was not amazed by the depth and quality, but still there is much to be enjoyed here. Included are a few little crime mysteries, and also some experimental writing (e.g. "The Martian Canals"). "The Appearance of Osei" is a chilling and memorable tale about a domestic homicide. My favorite of the group is "The Air Raid Shelter", with its stunning descriptions of the horrible fire bombing of Tokyo during World War II. It takes a person with a special kind of imagination to add a weird, hilarious twist at the end of a story like this.
The essays, which seem like they were written for Japanese periodicals, touch on a number of things: such as the development of the use of fingerprinting in detection and in fiction, and the origins of the mystery story and novel (he traces things back to Dickens, Poe, and Collins). Rampo was an expert on mystery fiction as well as a practitioner. There are some autobiographical sections as well, such as his surprisingly open recollection of a teenage crush on another boy (Rampo was not gay), reflections on a number of jobs that he held, plus his fascinations with things like printing type and lenses. Oh yes, and I could not stop looking at the photo on the cover, it is really something. If you like that photo, this book might be right for you.
I was a little underwhelmed by the first part. What brought me to this book was a superb Japanese film, "The Mystery of Rampo", which is based on his writing. If these are his best stories, well, er, I was not amazed by the depth and quality, but still there is much to be enjoyed here. Included are a few little crime mysteries, and also some experimental writing (e.g. "The Martian Canals"). "The Appearance of Osei" is a chilling and memorable tale about a domestic homicide. My favorite of the group is "The Air Raid Shelter", with its stunning descriptions of the horrible fire bombing of Tokyo during World War II. It takes a person with a special kind of imagination to add a weird, hilarious twist at the end of a story like this.
The essays, which seem like they were written for Japanese periodicals, touch on a number of things: such as the development of the use of fingerprinting in detection and in fiction, and the origins of the mystery story and novel (he traces things back to Dickens, Poe, and Collins). Rampo was an expert on mystery fiction as well as a practitioner. There are some autobiographical sections as well, such as his surprisingly open recollection of a teenage crush on another boy (Rampo was not gay), reflections on a number of jobs that he held, plus his fascinations with things like printing type and lenses. Oh yes, and I could not stop looking at the photo on the cover, it is really something. If you like that photo, this book might be right for you.
June 24, 2018
Interesting and entertaining, and not quite what I thought it would be. I wouldn't give it lower marks for that though. I enjoyed it, but the stories didn't quite do it for me. This is not Poe, nor is it the detective fiction I expected. There is very little in here that feels like a detective story to me, but perhaps his longer works are more in that vein. I'm not sure if it was the original or the translation (My Japanese isn't nearly good enough to read the original), but the flow of the stories felt a little off to me. I liked a lot of the ideas, but felt like they needed retelling. Perhaps that is the nonsense part of the "ero-guro nonsense" that just doesn't appeal to me. And none of them had the heart-pounding, spooky, poetic thrill of Poe. Stuff happened and I'd think, oh that was weird, or that was cool, or that was gruesome, but my pulse never elevated, and I was never reluctant to turn the page.
The essays were a mixed bag as well. They were interesting but rambling. My favorite one was The Phantom Lord because I related to it a lot. In it, he says things that I've always felt, so I had a real connection to it. Dickens vs. Poe also had a lot of interesting bits in it, as did A Desire for Transformation, and An Eccentric Idea was a nice catalog of mystery tropes, some of which to this day get used ad nauseam, and yet still tend to please. But the essays sometimes feel incohesive, as if they were unedited journal entries. That in itself has a kind of charm to it, I suppose.
All in all, I would recommend it, if it sounds interesting to you, and I'll probably pick up a longer work at some point and give it a try.
The essays were a mixed bag as well. They were interesting but rambling. My favorite one was The Phantom Lord because I related to it a lot. In it, he says things that I've always felt, so I had a real connection to it. Dickens vs. Poe also had a lot of interesting bits in it, as did A Desire for Transformation, and An Eccentric Idea was a nice catalog of mystery tropes, some of which to this day get used ad nauseam, and yet still tend to please. But the essays sometimes feel incohesive, as if they were unedited journal entries. That in itself has a kind of charm to it, I suppose.
All in all, I would recommend it, if it sounds interesting to you, and I'll probably pick up a longer work at some point and give it a try.
June 19, 2025
A very good introductory book about Edogawa Rampo. I had not read his works at all before this book but know well that he is considered the pioneer of modern Japanese mystery genre, which I just can't get enough of. The book starts slowly and even tediously with some old-school reads but picks up its speed with the psychological "The Appearance of Osei", the immensely entertaining "The Stalker in the Attic" (despite its rather underwhelming conclusion), and the typical (for old-school mystery/crime short stories) yet nice-to-read "The Air Raid Shelter" or "Doctor Mera's Mysterious Crimes". Surprisingly enough, I enjoy his essays even more, especially "The Phantom Lord" and "My Love for the Printed Word", which were elegantly written and full of melancholic memories of astounding details and a deep sense of nostalgia - a feeling that I always relate to. Except for the few "lows" like "The Martian Canals" or "The Horrors of Film", which feels very "dated" under the eyes of modern readers like me, this book is a highly-recommended read for anyone who loves the mystery genre in general and modern Japanese mystery novels in particular.
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December 30, 2021most of the stories in here are cool, some are kind of dull, some are really good. there's one with a really cute play on crime & punishment at the start where the crime is very similar to raskolnikov's but the guy feels no regret and even implicitly calls himself the kind of great man that raskolnikov spends so much time worrying about. there's also like 3 stories that are basically just variations on the poe story "the sphinx" which is a really dumb story to choose as your basis, but tehy're at least better than that by i think being intentionally funny, rather than the insane self seriousness with which poe treats the story of a man seeing a huge monster but it turns out its just a close bug sorry for spoilers of the sphinx
February 3, 2023
A very nicely-presented book. The preface and introduction are a bit academic for my taste and go into too much detail about the plots of the stories; however, they're well-written and extremely knowledgeable. The first two stories I found a bit underwhelming, but the standard greatly improves from the third story on. The weirdness and grim humour throughout these is great fun and 'The Stalker in the Attic' is worth the price of the book alone. The second half of the book is comprised of Rampo's essays, which are quite light and highly readable. One of these concerns a real-life meeting between Dickens and Poe that I was previously unaware of. All in all, this volume makes an excellent companion piece to the 'Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination' collection.
December 18, 2020
My second Rampo collection cements him as one of my favorite authors of suspense and mystery. A far more diverse (yet somehow more focused) collection than Kogoro Akechis Early Cases, and the one Akechi story that is included here is an absolute barn burner, everything from WWII folk scandal, transgressive circus charades and debauchery abound here.
The essays are also truly excellent, much food for thought, and considering Rampo's initial misgivings about cinema it's ironic (though I think he would approve) just how many of his works have been adapted into classics of the Japanese genre scene.
The essays are also truly excellent, much food for thought, and considering Rampo's initial misgivings about cinema it's ironic (though I think he would approve) just how many of his works have been adapted into classics of the Japanese genre scene.
June 30, 2019
Half of this volume contains eight of Rampo's classic crime stories from the 1920s & 30s. The second half is mostly forgettable magazine essays. There is also a tedious introduction by the translator that gives away the plots of some of the stories. He also details the plots of several stories that are not in this book.
In short, despite its intentions, this reader is not the ideal introduction to the works of Rampo. You would be better off reading Edogawa Rampo: The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro.
In short, despite its intentions, this reader is not the ideal introduction to the works of Rampo. You would be better off reading Edogawa Rampo: The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro.
November 15, 2017
Definitely interesting collection, though of the three collections of Rampo I have read, this one was the least interesting to me. The academic essay at the beginning provided some insight, but came across as long-winded and it spoiled many of the stories. The stories themselves were some of the least interesting I have read by Rampo, and the essays by Rampo are sporadically interesting but seem barely formed and often end abruptly. Disappointing for me anyway.
September 29, 2020
I like how effortlessly he can create a feeling of suspense. Unease. Disgust. Mystery. Misery. The stories are very simple, yet still manage to captivate the reader, each in its own way.
When reading it all side by side - sure, you might start to see the upcoming twists, as you gradually get used to the narrative style. Nonetheless, each story is worth the time. Especially if read just before bedtime in a dimly lit room. Alone.
When reading it all side by side - sure, you might start to see the upcoming twists, as you gradually get used to the narrative style. Nonetheless, each story is worth the time. Especially if read just before bedtime in a dimly lit room. Alone.
February 7, 2022
A fantastic collection of stories by a master of mystery fiction. The influence of Edgar Allan Poe is at the forefront of these stories, much like H.P Lovecraft, but his imagination goes for the psychological rather than cosmic. The essays that form the other half of the collection are extremely interesting and cover many subjects from Cinema, to the nature of detective fiction and biographical works
May 13, 2024
All the short stories are memorable and reminds me a lot of Edgar Alan Poe. I think Edogawa Rampo is the only writer who can successfully capture the essence of Poe. The mystery and imagination behind each story needs to be appreciated.
This book also contains a few of Rampo's well-written essays. We got to know more about the person behind those amazing stories. Overall, a 5 start read as usual.
This book also contains a few of Rampo's well-written essays. We got to know more about the person behind those amazing stories. Overall, a 5 start read as usual.
July 25, 2025
Surprisingly, this was not a great introduction to Rampo’s work. The stories are not as well formed or as interesting as the Tales of Mystery and Imagination collection. The essays were rambling and felt more like diary entries. Some of the texts were surprising, I enjoyed “A desire for transformation” and “Dickens and Poe” but mostly I struggled to finish this book. I would not recommend this collection unless you’re eager to read all of Rampo’s work.
September 25, 2021
Think `The Air Raid Shelter' was my favorite story in this collection of short stories & essays. This book was recommended but I didn't know what to expect. Not what I would typically pick to read as Poe is not a favorite of mine, but I found the essays interesting & even the stories I didn't particularly care for I felt were well written.
June 8, 2020
Well shit. I had no expectations going into this except mild reluctance because I don't care for detective novels that much and so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Might have to read more from Rampo. Hot damn.
December 11, 2020
I honestly love Edogawa Rampo & this book is such a gem! Seth Jacobowitz actually gave a fantastic lecture at my uni which is what prompted me to pick this up - little did I know I'd be using it for my MA dissertation a few years later!
November 15, 2018
Outstanding collection of frequently perverse stories and interesting essays from the "Edgar Allen Poe" of Japan. Eagerly awaiting further translations!
March 5, 2022
Some of the essays were less interesting to me, but this was a great introduction to the short stories. I’ll have to try to track down more English translations, if they exist by now.
March 21, 2024
«бути дослідницею означає вміти відділяти упередження власного "я" від кінцевого аналізу» (стабільно ставить найвищу оцінку кожному з існуючих творів пана хіраї)
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June 13, 2024The Stalker in the Attic
August 25, 2024
4.5–not life changing but pretty fresh
Want to read
September 27, 2024Took his pseudonym in tribute to Edgar Allen Poe
January 11, 2024
Surprised myself by enjoying his essays more than I expected! His stories are just as weird and disturbing as I hoped.
November 17, 2016
Sadly the last of Rampo's works available in English at my library; pain!
The Edogawa Rampo Reader is a brilliant collection of short-stories and essays from Edogawa Rampo (obviously), and something remarkable about the Reader is that it is solely new content from this hugely significant Japanese author who has only had very little translated into English. Applause to the publishers here for being confident in Rampo enough to not include "The Human Chair" in this collection, which is undoubtedly the most popular of Rampo's stories and perhaps the only one to have made a significant splash outside of Japan.
What is here are some engaging short stories and essays which showcase how Rampo was able to blend his most developed styles of writing, Mystery and "Ero-Guru-Nonsense," best summarized as a bizarre style of horror, into one, conjoined form. The stories feel more proximate to the Mystery genre when fast read, but if you spend a bit of time in them you'll find that each of them is as creepy and unsettling as his more famous stories like Human Chair and Caterpillar. Some are outright violent, others significantly more subtle, with their horror element; yet each is truly something to consider. Again, surface-wise they often read like mysteries, but there is a depth of brutal darkness in these stories, and are a delight to uncover.
The essays also are masterfully selected, as there's a bit of everything in them. Biographical sketches, comments on literature and writing, and even some great historical-centric pieces which draw to life the period of time Rampo wrote in. Favorite of the essays is "The Horrors of Film," written in 1926; it's remarkable how astonished, how terrified, Rampo was when theatres begun using 3D tricks in films, requiring those flimsy old blue/red lenses on paper glassed. Reading Rampo's account of that, how he was so shocked he had to tear the glasses off, is not only entertaining, but also enlightening in a lot of different ways also.
Great collection, an absolute must read if you're interested in Edogawa Rampo.
The Edogawa Rampo Reader is a brilliant collection of short-stories and essays from Edogawa Rampo (obviously), and something remarkable about the Reader is that it is solely new content from this hugely significant Japanese author who has only had very little translated into English. Applause to the publishers here for being confident in Rampo enough to not include "The Human Chair" in this collection, which is undoubtedly the most popular of Rampo's stories and perhaps the only one to have made a significant splash outside of Japan.
What is here are some engaging short stories and essays which showcase how Rampo was able to blend his most developed styles of writing, Mystery and "Ero-Guru-Nonsense," best summarized as a bizarre style of horror, into one, conjoined form. The stories feel more proximate to the Mystery genre when fast read, but if you spend a bit of time in them you'll find that each of them is as creepy and unsettling as his more famous stories like Human Chair and Caterpillar. Some are outright violent, others significantly more subtle, with their horror element; yet each is truly something to consider. Again, surface-wise they often read like mysteries, but there is a depth of brutal darkness in these stories, and are a delight to uncover.
The essays also are masterfully selected, as there's a bit of everything in them. Biographical sketches, comments on literature and writing, and even some great historical-centric pieces which draw to life the period of time Rampo wrote in. Favorite of the essays is "The Horrors of Film," written in 1926; it's remarkable how astonished, how terrified, Rampo was when theatres begun using 3D tricks in films, requiring those flimsy old blue/red lenses on paper glassed. Reading Rampo's account of that, how he was so shocked he had to tear the glasses off, is not only entertaining, but also enlightening in a lot of different ways also.
Great collection, an absolute must read if you're interested in Edogawa Rampo.
April 6, 2022
The best and most famous story in this excellent collection is:
"The Stalker in the Attic" ("Yaneura no Sanposha," 1926). In this masterful tale Ranpo combines Ero-Guro and detection elements. It is set in a newly built boarding house, where Goda Saburo - a young man bored with life, who seeks thrills by cross-dressing and going out in disguise like the protagonist in Tanizaki's "The Secret" - discovers that via the large Japanese-style built-in cupboard in his room, he has access to the unused attic which runs above all the rooms of the boarding house. He finds a new voyeuristic thrill by spying through cracks in the floor on his fellow boarders as a Peeping Tom. Also just for a thrill, he decides to murder a fellow boarder, Endo, who has the habit of sleeping with wide open mouth below one such a hole in the wooden ceiling. The method Goda uses is very ingenious, but he is no match for detective Akechi Kogoro.
The various film versions made of this story strongly emphasize the Ero-Guro elements and even introduce new ones (such as the 1976 "pink eiga" version by Tanaka Nobuo) - in comparison Ranpo's story is even rather tame.
"The Stalker in the Attic" ("Yaneura no Sanposha," 1926). In this masterful tale Ranpo combines Ero-Guro and detection elements. It is set in a newly built boarding house, where Goda Saburo - a young man bored with life, who seeks thrills by cross-dressing and going out in disguise like the protagonist in Tanizaki's "The Secret" - discovers that via the large Japanese-style built-in cupboard in his room, he has access to the unused attic which runs above all the rooms of the boarding house. He finds a new voyeuristic thrill by spying through cracks in the floor on his fellow boarders as a Peeping Tom. Also just for a thrill, he decides to murder a fellow boarder, Endo, who has the habit of sleeping with wide open mouth below one such a hole in the wooden ceiling. The method Goda uses is very ingenious, but he is no match for detective Akechi Kogoro.
The various film versions made of this story strongly emphasize the Ero-Guro elements and even introduce new ones (such as the 1976 "pink eiga" version by Tanaka Nobuo) - in comparison Ranpo's story is even rather tame.
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