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Using fantastical elements to roast Japanese society in the early 20th century, this sharp satire may be 'of an era,' but just like Dante's Inferno or Voltaire, the evisceration of society is nonetheless impactful and meaningful.

Akutagawa’s magical final work is a short novel with a magic spell all its own—poignant, fantastical, wry, melancholic, and witty

The Kappa is a creature from Japanese folklore known for dragging unwary toddlers to their deaths in rivers: a scaly, child-sized creature, looking something like a frog, but with a sharp, pointed beak and an oval-shaped saucer on top of its head, which hardens with age.

Akutagawa’s Kappa is narrated by Patient No. 23, a madman in a lunatic asylum: he recounts how,...

From the B&N Reads Blog

What to Read Next: Japanese Literature Edition

What to Read Next: Japanese Literature Edition

One of the best parts of a bookseller’s gig is building store displays, and it’s clear that Ehani Schneiderman had an absolute ball creating her Japanese Literature display at our new store in Bridgehampton, New York. She included some of the best new fiction — fans of Sally Rooney, Ottessa Moshfegh and Lauren Groff, do we […]
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