"Murder in the Age of Enlightenment: Essential Stories" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa presents a collection of seven tales, each revolving around themes of death and mortality. While the titular story may not be the highlight, the collection as a whole offers a compelling and thought-provoking array of fiction.

Highlights include "In a Grove," the basis for Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, which intricately explores multiple perspectives on a murder. "Hell Screen" delves into disturbing depths as a painter is consumed by his quest to depict Hell, while "Cogwheels" stands out as a haunting narrative with parallels to Akutagawa's own struggles.

While some stories may feel dated in their portrayal of characters and themes, the collection excels in its ability to evoke disquieting imagery and explore complex emotions. However, it's worth noting the limited representation of women in the stories, often relegated to voiceless victims. Despite this, "Murder in the Age of Enlightenment" remains a captivating read.

I know they say not to judge a book by its cover, but this cover was so striking with its clean lines, that I was immediately interested. I’ve also been trying to read more translated works, so this was a win win.

I’ve never read Akutagawa’s work before and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this collection of short stories. Collections like this are usually a hit or miss for me, and it’s rare

These stories deal with some dark subjects. Murder, assault, betrayal, war. And yet each story has almost a dreamlike quality to them, as if being recounted by someone who remembers the strong emotions of an event, but not the particulars. The writing is atmospheric, and works well with the stories.

I intend to seek out more of Akutagawa’s writing. Thank you to NetGalley for this arc.

This is an attractive, occasionally disconnected, but also a very different collection of stories dating from post-WWI Japan. These stories echo Japanese, Classical Greek mythological, and international literary influences. And additional effects of both Buddhism and Christianity.

When I first came across this title I thought: Well, it seems it will be my first time reading Akutagawa but it turns out that a few years ago (2015) I bought an anthology of strange tales in my favorite second hand bookstore. This edition had "In a Grove" so that's why the style of these stories in Murder in the Age of Enlightenment kind of resonated with me.

Short story aside, this ARC automatically captivated my attention due to its tittle, as I said before, I haven't read much of Akutagawa and only know a little bit of his life but it's always nice to expand our reading horizons. "Murder in the Age of Enlightenment" presents: The Spider's Thread, In a Grove, Hell's Screen, Murder in the Age of Enlightenment, The General, Madonna in Black & Cogwheels. My favorite by far is Hell's Screen. I haven't felt this alive in some time, this tale of madness it's both equally tragic and beautiful. I also liked a lot reading the fascinating and eerie "Madonna in Black", there's something unsettling about the way the narration just flows effortlessly even with the fixation on an object. While these tales share a similar atmosphere, when it comes to style, In a Grove is an instant classic due to the elements of irony as well as mystery.

I really enjoyed reading this collection, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to feel immersed in the narration of oddly and yet captivating stories. Thanks to NetGalley for providing me this ARC.

Really loved this short stories collection written with such masterful writing. I was pleasantly surprised at these stories and the themes of historican fiction woven into them. I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy this genre. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

An interesting, occasionally confusing, but also very different collection of stories dating from post WWI Japan. These stories reflect Japanese, Classical Greek mythological and international literary influences known to the author. And additional influences of both Buddhism and Christianity.

Perhaps my favorite is Cogwheels, the final story, which appears to be a somewhat autobiographical tale given that we know the author died by suicide. The first person narrative is immediate, intense, jarring, scary in his increasing lack of control, his growing confusion and self questioning. The descriptions beg for intervention of some kind.

But lack of self control of various kinds is a motif that turns up in other stories too as various narrators or protagonists seem unable to prevent the activity they know will come to no good end for themselves or others.

Another series of stories under the title “The General” begins during the Russian-Japanese War of the early 20th century as we encounter a squad selected for a battle that cannot be won or survived. The following stories of the cycle all show some aspect of the same General who ordered the men on their “glorious” way for their emperor. An interesting view of soldiers thoughts many years before WWII.

I will not attempt to summarize all of the stories here. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy Japanese writing and/or short stories, I think you will enjoy reading these.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

My first encounter with one of Japan’s most stellar classic writers, “Murder in the Age of Enlightenment” (Essential Stories), by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (yes, the prestigious Akutagawa prize is named after him) and translated by Bryan Karetnyk, is a collection of seven short stories, some of which have not previously been translated into the English language. The seven stories are “The Spider’s Thread”, “In a Grove”, “Hell Screen”, “Murder in the Age of Enlightenment”, “The General”, “Madonna in Black”, and “Cogwheels”. The stories are also prefaced by a short, interesting introduction shining some light on Akutagwa’s literary style, influence, and early death. Common themes across multiple stories are the artist’s struggle and descend into madness, mental torment, multiple perspectives of the same event, and some magical realism and religious themes. The stylistic aspect of the prose was reminiscent of Poe and Dostoyevsky (perhaps others also, but I am not that well versed in the classics).

I enjoyed all the stories, and I think they were all quite memorable. My favorite ones were “Cogwheels”, “Murder in the Age of Enlightenment”, and “Hell Screen”. All three dealt with mental torment and were longer, with more character development. “In a Grove” and “Madonna in Black” were close to them in personal rank, but I felt they needed to be a bit longer for me personally to get that favorite status. Overall thought, the collection in its entirety is a very good one and I look forward to reading more of the previously translated stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. If you are a fan of Japanese literature, classics, and/or short stories, definitely check this one out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Murder in the Age of Enlightenment: Essential Stories is a collection of seven stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. While the titular story is my least favorite, its title suits the collection well as each story hinges on death—either murder or suicide. On the whole, it’s an excellent collection of creative and disquieting fiction. The following stories are included.

"The Spider’s Thread"
A short fable with a lesson on compassion.

"In a Grove"
I first read this story in a Japanese Literature course over a decade ago. It had everyone up and chatting at 9 a.m., which is a tremendous endorsement because 9 a.m. classes were always a little sleepy. In this story, a body is found in the woods and multiple people are interviewed to identify the killer. In an unusual twist, each person claims to be the guilty party and each confesses a different motive. This story is the basis of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, and is a true classic.

"Hell Screen"
This story is about a painter commissioned to create an image of Hell. The painter, Yoshihide, goes to increasingly disturbing lengths to create his masterpiece. While Yoshihide is a fairly unnuanced character, and the outcome is obvious, I admire Akutagawa’s ability to describe things that are so horrific as to be indescribable. The way he depicts the screen with its graphic depictions of Hell and suffering is genuinely eerie.

"Murder in the Age of Enlightenment"
Despite being the titular story, this was my least favorite. The way its characters are written feels dated and dry, but I don’t think it’s the fault of the writer or translator, per se. It doesn’t help that the action is narrated in retrospect from a letter, in which a man laments his unrequited love and vacillates between love and hate for his rival.

"The General"
I had to read this story twice because it’s so different in style from the others. Rather than a conventional story with a beginning, middle, and end, “The General” is a series of snapshots that gradually reveal a character set against a wartime backdrop.

"Madonna in Black"
Another unsettling story. This story details the curious events around a statuette of the Virgin Mary—Maria-Kannon. Unlike other figurines, this one is carved from ebony and wears a cruel smile instead of the usual look of benevolence.

"Cogwheels"
By far the strongest and most interesting story in the collection. The narrator—who is at least partially based on Akutagawa himself—is invited to a wedding and becomes increasingly unsettled by a number of hallucinations and coincidences. As he becomes more anxious, the parallels that he sees between objects and events grow increasingly tenuous. It’s hard not to connect the narrator’s discomfort and misery to Akutagawa himself because “Cogwheels” was written shortly before his own suicide. Regardless of how autobiographical this story actually is, the last paragraph lands with disturbing weight when set against the author’s death.

—
Overall: 4.6 (out of 5.0)
I don’t think it’s fair to hold old fiction to modern standards, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that women aren’t well-represented here. They’re largely voiceless and often victims. I don’t expect to see women in roles with agency they’d be unlikely to have at the time these stories were written, but it’d be nice if they had more dimension.

NB: This book was provided for review by the publisher, Pushkin Press.

“After all, to examine my past and set it down in writing means nothing less than to relive a past life.”

This collection of seven short stories (translated from Japanese) was an absolutely dark and twisted delight to read. I am so glad to have stumbled across Akutagawa’s work.

In Murder in the Age of Enlightenment, we encounter: a parable of escaping Hell, an amusing whodunit with a murder recounted from several conflicting perspectives, a story of a disturbing painted screen with even more disturbing consequences for the painter, a suicide note, a recounting of the horrors of war, a story of a figurine that may or may not have special powers (my favorite of the bunch), and a tale of a man’s travels through madness.

From “The General”:

“Whenever I see a man decked in medals, I cannot help thinking how many cruelties he must have committed in order to be given such reward . . .”

From my favorite story, “Madonna in Black”:

‘“Cease to hope that the decrees of Heaven can bend to prayer.” With an instinctive sense of fear, I beheld the Madonna—the very embodiment of fate. Clad in blackest ebony, she wore a look of eternal indifference, her beautiful ivory face crossed by a cruel smile tinged with malice.”

Thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the review copy!

Dark, elegant, and wildly unconventional portraits of desire and madness. Loved the writing style & the cohesion of the collection, especially as the narratives converged in the final (painfully autobiographical) piece.

Diversely atmospheric, the first few gripped me most and struck me as reminiscent of Poe in their unsettling angles of the human mind. Special mentions to "In a Grove" & "Hell Screen" for being unlike any short stories I've ever read, and absolutely magnificent for their time. Many in the second half built on references to specific Japanese history that went over my head, but all still unfolded with originality.

A series of short stories with desire and madness, love, death and illusion as their common thread, and which can be read like a novel, by a Japanese author who combines the all in all formal style, echoes of which can be found in the later Mishima, with a different sensitivity, mixing the classical themes of Japanese religiosity with Christianity. An unusual, obscure and disturbing text, whose highest point is certainly the cruel story "Hell screen".

With Murder in the Age of Enlightenment Pushkin Press gathered seven stories of the "father of the Japanese short story" in one concise volume. These stories are almost as bleak as Ryunosuke Akutagawa's own life.
Ryunosuke Akutagawa was a Japanese author during the Taishō period and one of the first pre-war Japanese writers who eventually found a foreign readership.

Shortly after his birth his mother started to suffer from serious mental health issues and throughout his life he feared that he too would inherit his mother’s illness. Unfortunately his mental health did start to deteriorate and he committed suicide at 35 by drinking the barbiturate Veronal. Nonetheless Akutagawa wrote more than 150 short stories during his short life.

When reading Akutagawa’s short stories with this background it’s easy to recognise his own torment in them. Most include references to madness, murder and hell and are unconventional, even surreal at times. Even popular contemporary writer, Haruki Murakami, admits to being influenced by Akutagawa’s writing.

Of the seven stories Hell Screen is the most haunting and unsettling. First published in newspapers in 1918 is tells the story of the artist Yoshihide who is considered to be the greatest painter in the country. When he is commissioned to paint a screen for the Lord of Horikawa he goes to extreme and tragic measures to produce the perfect artwork. Much like Akutagawa’s other short stories here there’s also a lesson to be learnt about man’s obsession with his own ego.

I can certainly appreciate Akutagawa’s poetic writing style and his skilful way of blending harsh reality with the bizarre – especially in the time period he lived in. I prefer my Japanese crime writing more modern, but if you are a lover of the more traditional, this will be a worthy addition to your collection.

Akutagawa was a writer who lived in the 1920ies in Japan and died by suicide in his thirties. He is hailed as an important writer and I can see why, but for me it just did not work as a collection. It was more of an “this is an interesting read” rather than a read I loved. I am not sure if it is the fact that he is a man of his time, or the fact that he clearly was mentally ill for most of his life, or that his Christianity interpretation was strange, but these stories are the most unreflective, self-absorbed writing I read in a while. Very clearly inspired by Western writers as well, so I am not surprised that he was read internationally even back then: the leap for Western readers would have been insignificant.

I feel like I was perhaps not the target audience for this book. I don't generally like the voice of historical fiction, especially when the plot isn't fast paced. I got about 35% in and had to DNF because I was just not returning to it. The writing itself is not bad, it just wasn't for me.

Akutagawa references western culture and literature a lot in his work so this mix of Japanese and West makes this rather cosmopolitan. Stylistically I was reminded of other western 1920's work, same feeling.

I liked some of the stories more than others. Not because of the themes because let's admit that murder remains murder but some of the stories flowed much better than others. Although I liked the premise of The General for example, it got rather lost or I did. Murder in the Age of Enlightenment was then tightly told, murder so nicely justified until the final look in the mirror. Hell Screen made me angry as it should have. The truth that some people's self importance takes them to that level is unfortunately true and that is what makes me angry. The Spider's Thread had me just nodding my head, what can you expect. The Grove - was a great one for perspectives, for how truths are different for different people and how finding an absolute single truth in this big jigsaw puzzle is I'd say rather impossible. Cogwheels', deep foreshadowing of Akutagawa's fate left me hopeless and helpless, not a nice feeling but so truly conveyed by Akutagawa himself.

An ARC gently given by the publishers via Netgalley.

*CONTENT WARNING: MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, INCLUDING SUICIDE*

For me, Japanese literature is a sort of comfort read, something I turn to when I am looking for something entertaining but deep, familiar but eerie. Murder in the Age of Enlightenment was no exception.

This volume is a collection of seven short stories set in a Japanese landscape across different decades and different regions of the country.
Every story has a dark angle to it and they all explore some deep unsettling corner of the human mind, taking the reader down a rabbit hole made of sadness, depression, suicidal thoughts and mental instability.

Not every story is easy to digest. I found Hell Screen and Cogwheels particularly unsettling but masterfully written, and In a Grove is quite brilliant as well. The two stories that, on the contrary, will not stick with me are The Spider’s Thread and The General: I found them less impressive compared to the rest of the stories but enjoyable nonetheless.

In line with the most canonical Japanese literature, Akutagawa’s work is difficult to explain or to place under specific definitions. Either you love it or you hate it but certainly it will not leave the reader unresponsive to the narrative.

If you love Japanese literature, you will love Murder in the Age of Enlightenment as well. If this is your first approach to a Japanese author, then give it a go with an open mind and be ready to take in whatever comes your way – you will not regret it.

Wow, eerie, strange, unsettling and atmospheric. I have always loved reading translated stories especially Japanese tales. This is a beautiful and marvellous collection of stories with what I consider his last story being a sort of goodbye letter. Utterly tragic and beautiful.

A really modern feeling set of short stories. Told in a range of styles, from court transcripts to letters, a thoroughly interesting set of tales

The collection of short stories served as a good initiation to the works of this author - wondrous stories, interesting cases, and thought-provoking takeaways. However, I was not in the right mood to completely absorb it all, hence, found it a bit underwhelming. Thank you Pushkin Press and Netgalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Often Mesmerising, Often Disturbing....
A collection of seven lyrical short stories, translated from the Japanese, well crafted, often mesmerising and often extremely disturbing. A talented, original writer and a natural born storyteller.