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Hello and welcome! My name is Emma and I've been a bookseller for over a decade. I also write fantasy under the name E. M. Epps. This blog features my Two-Paragraph Book Reviews. One paragraph from me. One from the book. Here's why I keep it short.

You are here: Home > Review: “Kappa” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

Review: “Kappa” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

Image Emma 27 August 2010

Kappa

Thumbs up for Kappa by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Literature.

When one of my favorite customers asked me what I was reading, I answered, “Lots of Japanese literature.” She responded, “Oh, how wonderful! I have a degree in Japanese literature! Who’s your favorite?” Her favorite was Akutagawa. I had no Akutagawa. She being the delightful person she is, she gave me one. Kappa is in fact a short story masquerading as a book, with the help of a long introduction that deals with the fascinating life of Akutagawa himself – something well worth reading on its own. The story itself has a beautiful, elegant simplicity of style that I admire. I do admit that much of the social satire does not have a referent for me, as it pertains to 1920’s Japan. Nevertheless, good reading, and I’m looking forward to Rashomon and Other Stories, to extend my acquaintance with the author.

“As you may have gathered from the reply of Bag’s unborn foetus, Kappa babies can walk and talk from the very moment of birth. Chak once told me the story of a child giving a public address on the subject of the existence of God when it was only twenty-six days old. But the poor thing was dead and buried before it was two months old.”


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My bookstore is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, so we will earn a commission if you click through my links and make a purchase. I, personally, am also an affiliate of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and will likewise make a commission if you click through those links and make a purchase. Having to use Amazon doesn’t fill me with joy, but they’re the only good affiliate program for used books available right now. So…that’s the way it is.

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