Chris Baterna’s Reviews > Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories > Status Update

或阿呆の一生 (The Life of a Stupid Man)
This is the most haunting piece of writing I've ever read and I am so not ready to read the final story. Akutagawa's sensitive immersion and poetry in each section is insanely exposing; I think most people would say they 'know' him personally with this.

点鬼簿 (Death Register)
Although it's not a fictional work, this one is just a lyrical and heartbreaking as the others. Really feeling the pull towards death now, and it's hurting.

文章 (The Writer's Craft)
sometimes writing and its worldly conditions do really prohibit a writer like that.

大道寺信輔の半生 (Daidouji Shinsuke: The Early Years) - I’m in tears… this is definitely in my top 5 Akutagawa stories so far. The traces of his own identity are so heartwarming but tragic as Rubin puts it in the notes: “Had he lived longer, Akutagawa might have come to realize that he was far from alone.”

馬の足(Horse Legs) - I, too, would like to gallop away from my responsibilities. Akutagawa is so real for this one

ネギ(Green Onions) - Akutagawa’s tone in this is hilarious but makes me so curious as to what his critics were saying for him to write with such spite and energy. A wildly different pace to his other short stories, but retains the classic Akutagawa irony and clever charm

首が落ちた話 (Story of a Head that Fell Off) - not his best, but still made me sit and stare at a wall in thought about life and universality for like 2 hours.

忠義 (Devotion) - I wonder how much of the symptoms into madness were reflective/didactic of Akutagawa’s own life…
Also, I really appreciate the kanji nuance. 忠 for loyalty, and 義 for righteousness/morality. There’s always a divide since the very start of the story.

おぎん(O-gin)
Honestly felt this one HARD with the “I’d go to hell if that’s where my loved ones are” agenda…Really interesting questions on the nature of religion and its interpretation.

尾形了斎覚え書 (Dr Ogata Ryousai: Memorandum)
Another wonderfully frustrating criticism on the fine line between religious loyalty and fear of foreign practice. I think Shino best understood the paradox at play, choosing to prioritise the tangible and human benefit, over the subjectively enforced religious impositions