I’m not much of a fan of short stories….I just find they are either underdeveloped and unable in their short format to deliver a story with sufficient narrative depth or they are like a joke with a punchline….Once you know the ending you don’t need to really dwell on it.
The only exceptions to this are the writing of Somerset Maugham, one of my favorite novelists but also my favorite writer of short stories, and Japanese writers who have a gift for fitting a novel’s worth of characterization and meaning into a shorter format.
Case in point of the latter is RASHOMON AND OTHER STORIES by Ryunosuke Akutagawa….The six stories here are all use an economy of prose to invoke deep emotions as well as communicate almost parable-like lessons in morality coupled with a Zen detachment….Not an easy task!
My favorite is YAM GRUEL about how one desires to get his fill of something that really satisfies him as opposed to just the taste he is usually given….When he finally gets it, he discovers the wanting is better than finally getting the amount he desires….I often feel the same when I think about Western food and then when I finally go for a steak or a banana split I’m full very quickly….This can apply to anything in life….A very sharp analysis of how the human mind functions.
One confusing aspect of this book is the classic movie RASHOMON by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa is actually based on the first story in the book IN A GROVE not the second story RASHOMON which is the creepiest tale in the book….Still this does not detract from the pleasure of reading either story.
The only exceptions to this are the writing of Somerset Maugham, one of my favorite novelists but also my favorite writer of short stories, and Japanese writers who have a gift for fitting a novel’s worth of characterization and meaning into a shorter format.
Case in point of the latter is RASHOMON AND OTHER STORIES by Ryunosuke Akutagawa….The six stories here are all use an economy of prose to invoke deep emotions as well as communicate almost parable-like lessons in morality coupled with a Zen detachment….Not an easy task!
My favorite is YAM GRUEL about how one desires to get his fill of something that really satisfies him as opposed to just the taste he is usually given….When he finally gets it, he discovers the wanting is better than finally getting the amount he desires….I often feel the same when I think about Western food and then when I finally go for a steak or a banana split I’m full very quickly….This can apply to anything in life….A very sharp analysis of how the human mind functions.
One confusing aspect of this book is the classic movie RASHOMON by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa is actually based on the first story in the book IN A GROVE not the second story RASHOMON which is the creepiest tale in the book….Still this does not detract from the pleasure of reading either story.
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