Attain The Oxford Book Of Japanese Short Stories Narrated By Theodore W. Goossen Conveyed As Booklet

DECAPITATED HEAD PLAYTIME!!! "Sansho the steward" by sitelinkŌgai Mori
One of his historical things, Fun.

"The third night" by sitelinkNatsume Sōseki
Soseki wrote a collection of short stories based around weird dreams, I gather it freaked everyone out, This one is based around a Zen koan: "What did your face look like before your parents were born"

"The bonfire" by sitelinkDoppo Kunikida
I really enjoyed this.
Kids on the beach with their bonfire,

"Separate ways" by sitelinkIchiyō Higuchi
Woman and the boy from the umbrella shop,

"The peony garden" by sitelinkKafū Nagai
"'Are these the Honjo peonies Are these all'
'Famous places are always disappointments, '
'Let's go back. '
'Yes, let's go back, '"

"Night fires" by sitelinkNaoya Shiga
Couple at leisure with a friend, sharing interesting stories,

"Aguri" by sitelinkJun'ichirō Tanizaki
Effeminate dilettante outfitting his goodtime girl in Western clothes,

"Blowfish" by sitelinkTon Satomi
Chap dies after eating blowfish,

"Portrait of an old geisha" by sitelinkOkamoto Kanoko
Old geisha and her dilettante lodger,

"In a grove" by sitelinkRyūnosuke Akutagawa
Yep,

"The bears of Nametoko" by sitelinkKenji Miyazawa
Little bit of magic, Cute.

"Spring riding in a carriage" by sitelinkYokomitsu Riichi
Wife's dying,

"Carp" by sitelinkMasuji Ibuse
Friend gave him a fish, Friend died. Memory of the fish lives on,

"The Izu dancer" by sitelinkYasunari Kawabata
Still love this,

"Lemon" by sitelinkMotojiro Kajii
Fruit vs bookshop, Cute.

"The accordion and the fish town" by sitelinkFumiko Hayashi
"'Those people are out of their minds, What's so great about cherry blossoms' Mother snorted"
This was amongst my favourites sad but adorable itinerant family bouncing around a new town,

"The flowereating crone" by sitelinkFumiko Enchi
"'who says we should only look at flowers, and not eat them It's natural: you see a flower you consider especially lovely, and you want to get as close to it as possible.
But after a while, looking is not enough you want to touch it with your hands, pluck it off, crush it, force it open, Finally, you become so consumed with desire, you want to fuse with it, make it part of you, That's why you end up cramming it into your mouth, '"

"'But a flower won't last forever, you know, You have to gobble it up the moment you get the desire, '"

"Blind Chinese soldiers" by sitelinkTaiko Hirabayashi
On a train in the war, Prince Takamatsu's car and another filled with blind Chinese soldiers,

"In the forest, under cherries in full bloom" by sitelinkAngo Sakaguchi
Historical fantasy of bandits and shedevils,

"But the woman's desire was endless, and so now he was bored with that, too, Her desire was like a bird flying straight across the sky with no end in sight: flying on and on without a rest, never tiring, slicing cleanly through the wind.

The man himself was but an ordinary bird perhaps an owl that hopped from branch to branch, stopping to doze now and then, maybe crossing a valley if it had to.
Physically, he was quick and athletic, He moved well, he walked well, with great vitality, But his heart was a lumbering bird, Flying in an infinite straight line was out of the question for him, "

"Passage to Fudaraku" by sitelinkYasushi Inoue
Historical fiction about monks submitting to being nailed into tiny cabins on tiny boats and being sent off to paradise.


"Merry Christmas" by sitelinkOsamu Dazai
"Tokyo is still the same, It hasn't changed a bit, "

"The expert" by sitelinkAtsushi Nakajima
Funny "Chinese" fairytale about becoming an expert in archery,

"The rifle" by sitelinkNobuo Kojima
Young soldier's not enjoying war so much after committing a war crime,

"Unzen" by sitelinkShūsaku Endō
Christians,

"The bet" by sitelinkKōbō Abe
Pomo stuff from Abe,

"Three policemen" by sitelinkJunnosuke Yoshiyuki
Transgender fun in a Tokyo nightclub,

"Onnagata" by sitelinkYukio Mishima
Woop!

"Toddlerhunting" by sitelinkKōno Taeko
Love this,

"Mr Carp" by sitelinkKuniko Mukōda
Japanese "Fatal Attraction": spurned lover leaves an angry carp in husband's kitchen and, . . is never seen again.

"The duel" by sitelinkTakeshi Kaikō
Read before, Skipped so I could get to, . .

"Prize stock" by sitelinkKenzaburō Ōe
My favourite Japanese short story of all time

"A very strange, enchanted boy" by sitelinkYūko Tsushima
I really can't remember reading this.
. . which isn't a great sign,

"The elephant vanishes" by sitelinkHaruki Murakami
Quite cute,

"Desert dolphin" by sitelinkMasahiko Shimada
Something of Ryu Murakami's "Coin Locker Babies" in this,

"Dreaming of kimchee" by sitelinkBanana Yoshimoto
Very Banana Yoshimoto, personal faves:
aguri tanizaki junichiro
spring riding in a carriage yokomitsu riichi !!!
the flowereating crone enchi fumiko
in the forest, under cherries in full bloom sakaguchi ango
merry christmas dazai osamu
the bet abe kobo
mr carp mukoda kuniko
dreaming of kimchee yoshimoto banana When we judge anthologies of short stories by how original they are, then this Oxford Book of Japanese Stories does not rate very high: it doesn't contain any new translations, and except for one or two stories that were buried in inaccessible magazines, most of them are available in books which are still print.
As expected, the selection is also rather conservative, although that has the advantage the book can be used as a teaching medium, But that is not what I was looking for I still givestars, as the stories themselves are good and they can't help it, On top of that, OUP has seen fit to use substandard paper, My copy fromis so deeply brown discolored, with ugly spots and stains, that it seems to date from at leastyears back, It is true that the weather in Japan is rather humid, but still, . . well, that are two good reasons to buy almost only Kindle eBooks, . . I picked this up entirely to read "Desert Dolphin" apage story by Masahiko Shimada so, the rating is for the story, rather than the anthology, It was absolutely worth it, This definitive book presents stories fromto the present day, Its an incredible selection, and is a book that I return to again and again,
The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories offers a varied overview of Japan's finest literary talents ranging from the late nineteenthcentury to the presentday, Be prepared to expand that reading list of yours upon completion of this collection one taste guarantees the need for another hit,

Standout pieces include:

Okamoto Kanoko's "Portrait of an Old Geisha": An older woman offers to 'keep' a young man, allowing him to pursue his dream of inventing however, the gift of easy gold does not always equate to success.


Hayashi Motojiro's "The Accordion and the Fish Town": A complex vignette about one girl and the implications of settling in a small town after a life on the road with her hustler parents.


Hirabayashi Taiko's "Blind Chinese Soldiers": A startling piece blending the horrific consequences of war with the quiet, unconscious life of plainclothes citizens,

Mishima Yukio's "Onnagata": A beautiful piece about kabuki theatre and one man's breathless experience with a powerful onnagata, a man who portrays female characters on stage.


Each writer dedicates ample space to creating exceptional atmospheric description, one that rivals the Canadian fascination with dense geographic read: snow passages, Also, readers be warned that narrative techniques differ quite a bit between Japan and the Western world endings are never concrete throughout these stories, We are offered a brief window into another world, but the opening is never sealed tight, Brilliant and beautiful, all in one,

Ideal for: Short story nerds readers seeking some international cred commuters aiming to lure that cute, intellectual type sitting in the seat across from them, . . Excellent collection of mostly twentieth century short fiction, each story a visitation, each one a treasure, This book has been sitting around my home for some time now, I started it back in March and since then have been trying to get through it, Japanese literature is a new area of writing for me having not read anything remotely similar before, Despite this the book gave some amazing and beautifully written short stories, Each story took a different perspective and angle in what was being portrayed which meant you couldnt possibly get bored,

For anyone whos interested in more classically written books then this is definitely one for you, I also found that unlike other books of short stories that Ive read I could easily keep going with this one, Normally I need another book to read alongside to break everything up, Overall I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to try something new, This compliation was very good and provided a wide range of different Japanese authors, Since it covers a lot of different genres I didn't enjoy all of the stories, Nevertheless, I would recommend it,.stars

Reading itsstories in “The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories” edited by Theodore W, Goossen, I think, should be a relative delight to those

readers keen on reading this amazing Japanese genre, From the introduction, they would better understand on its literary developments and uniqueness as written by their eminent writers who have long revealed their stature to Japan and the world.
Arranged chronologically from the birth year, the list starts with Mori OgaiSancho the Steward, Natsume SosekiThe Third Night, Kunikida DoppoThe Bonfire, etc, and ends with Murakami HarukiThe Elephant Vanishes, Shimada MasahikoDesert Dolphin and Yoshimoto BananaDreaming of Kimchee,

As a fan of Oe Kenzaburo, Ive read and enjoyed most of his books however, Im not sure how many short stories hes written because Im surprised to read such a longish story, that is, his “Prize Stock”.
pages selected to include in this anthology, Presumably, his other stories might not have interested the editor for the best choice, Stories Read

“The Third Night,” sitelinkNatsume Soseki
“In The Grove,” sitelinkAkutagawa Ryunosuke basis of Rashomon
“Night Fires,” sitelinkShiga Naoya see his excellent novel, A Dark Nights Passing
“Unzen,” sitelinkEndo Shusaku theme reminiscent of his novel sitelinkSilence mixed bag, feel like some of the translations have a lot to be desired but the first story especially was very emotional.
interesting overall “The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories” edited by Theodore W, Goossen is a phenomenal collection ofmodern and contemporary short stories, of which the two oldest ones were written in the last decade of theth century, Many are by such famous authors as Natsume Soseki, Tanizaki Junichiro, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Hayashi Fumiko, Dazai Osamu, Abe Kobo, Mishima Yukio, Ōe Kenzaburo or Yoshimoto Banana, but I was also able to become familiar with the authors previously unknown to me like Inoue Yasushi, Kunikida Doppo, Shiga Naoya or Sakaguchi Ango.


Compared with Europeans, the Japanese have a completely different tradition of a short story, which historically has been held in higher esteem than a novel, There is much more emphasis on lyricism, on atmosphere and beauty, on nature and seasons, and much less on the plot or character development, Some of the stories are mere reflections on everyday events “Lemon” by Kajii Motojiro or a description of an ordinary scene, albeit wrapped in nostalgia and mono no aware “Night Fires” by Shiga Naoya.
Some border on mysticism and include kami or ghosts beautiful, eerie “The Third Night” by Natsume Soseki”,

I was moved most, I think, by Kenzaburo Ōes “Prize Stock” the longest story in the collection, Its a deeply humanist tale, taking place during the WW, about capturing a black soldier by Japanese villagers and keeping him captive for days while waiting for a decision about his fate from the authorities.
The story is told from the perspective of children, first scared of the darkskinned giant, gradually warming up to him, A deeply moving perspective on the notion of “the Other”,

Japanese history, socioeconomic context and cultural changes are all reflected in the selected stories, Many refer to the WW, patriotism/nationalism and poverty, endured by the Japanese before and after it, Fascination with the West, increasing consumerism and the greed for entertainment can all be found in the stories, In the second half of theth century more Japanese writers were familiar with Western literature and one can see its influences in the way the Japanese stories were written and the way characters were portrayed.


The stories of romantic love resembling the Western ones appeared for the first time in theth century, As Goossen wrote: “Although love was on everyones lips, however, it could never be spoken of in a crude and direct manner instead, it had to be evoked through natural images.
. . ” the Japanese were perplexed by the words “I love you” because there is no direct equivalent of this phrase in Japanese language, There are two stories in this collection which feature a carp, as the word for this fish in Japanese, koi, can be written with a character being one of the oldest words for love.
Stories of sexual obsession emerged, as well as those about the water trade, as nighttime entertainment industry of which sex industry is a huge part is called in Japan,

This anthology is a perfect starting point to anyone who has never read Japanese literature before, though many avid readers of Japanese authors will still be able to discover something new.
The stories represent the best Japanese literature has to offer and show how varied the themes, trends and styles of writing are, Not all stories were to my liking but I appreciate the diversity, the language and how much they widened my horizons, .