RASHOMON is a collection of 18 short stories written by Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa, starting in the year 1915 and ending with two stories published posthumously in the late 1920's.  They are preceded by a very thorough and informative introduction by Japanese novelist Haurki Murakami as well as a set of reference notes and lead-ins by the translator of the pieces, Jay Rubin.  The collection is split into four sections, meant to delimit the various stages of the author's life in time with the appropriate historical stage of Japan itself.  In A World In Decay, the stories begin with tales that carry a fable like quality, so much so that even without first hand knowledge of Japanese folklore it is tell that they were based on even older stories themselves.  Some, like The Nose, carry light sense of humor with its moral while the final story in the section, The Hell Screen, presents its message in a much darker and sinister tone.  The second set, Under The Sword, the stories become more political and religious.  The first two Dr. Ogata Ryosai: Memorandum and O-Gin, speak directly of the impact of Christianity on the turn of the century Eastern World while the final story, Loyalty, touches on issues of social politics and, in a trend that will factor in heavily into the final stories of the collection, madness.  In the Modern Tragicomedy, the author turns his pen back to the lighter side of fiction, writing three tales that are meant to poke fun at the world around him and make light of even the darkness presented.  This is most prevalent in the first and last of the three tales, The Story Of A Head That Fell Off and Horse Legs.  The final set of tales, Akutagawa's Own Story, are the most autobiographical and heaviest of the entire collection.  It begins with stories that seem to be merely slices of life, such as The Baby's Sickness and The Writer's Craft, which speak to moments in the lives of fictional characters that hold similarity to the author.  However, the final two stories, The Life Of A Stupid Man and Spinning Gears, feel more like exposes into Akutagwa's continual battle with his own morality, madness and, finally, suicide.

As a fan of classical literature, I was excited to read this collection.  All the experience I had thus far was in American or English literature so I thought it would be interesting to have a look into the literature of a culture I knew little about.  For the most part, I enjoyed it.  Akutagawa's imagery, even translated to English, is fluid and colorful.  Even at its darkest, its depth is surprising and breathtaking.  That being said, I think a lot is lost in translation as well.  Many of the references, as with any classic literature, is either location or time specific and so is lost without the notations which, in my opinion, detract from the experience to stop and read.  Some of the stories, such as The Green Onion and Daidoji Shinsuke: The Early Years, did not sit as well with me.  I appreciated the writing but the content itself didn't speak to me.  Overall, though, I enjoyed the book.  Even if not all the stories spoke to me, the collection as a whole gave me a view into Japan at the turn of the century and allowed me an interesting perspective into the life and last days of a tortured, talent writer.  I would heartily recommend this collection to anyone interested in classic literature thought I would warn that a good portion of it does carry a darkness that not everyone will be comfortable with.