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Hell Screen (Penguin Mini Modern Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
'He had the Ten Kings of Hell and their minions over in one small corner, and everything else - the entire screen - was enveloped in a firestorm so terrible you thought the swirling flames were going to melt the mountain of Sabres and the Forest of Swords.'
One of the towering figures of modern Japanese writing, Akutagawa's early career was distinguished by imaginative, beautifully crafted stories of medieval Japan, rich with period detail. These two stories include his great masterpiece of that period, 'Hell Screen', and the parable of a thread-thin chance of escape for a sinner in the Pool of Blood.
This book includes Hell Screen and The Spider Thread.
About the Author
Ryunosuke Akutagawa, short-story writer, poet, and essayist, one of the first Japanese modernists translated into English. He was born in Tokyo in 1892, and began writing for student publications at the age of ten. He graduated from Tokyo University in 1916 with an English Literature degree and worked as a teacher before becoming a full time writer in 1919. His mother had gone mad suddenly just months after his birth and he was plagued by fear of inherited insanity all his life. He killed himself in 1927.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An interesting read, Akutagawa's story of the painter charged with capturing hell may seem unusual at first, but the excellent vivid description throughout turn a tedious morality tale into something dark and brooding.
The translation is good, enabling the story to flow well. I've never read Akutagawa before, and I found his narration style very unusual with various jumps ahead and back again in the story's timescale.
Sadly I didn't find any of the characters endearing as such, a shame, as a story to me becomes considerably more difficult to enjoy when not one character can be epathised with. Hell Screen is still an interesting read, though I am not sure whether I would recommend it. If you've read a few of the new Penguin series (mini modern classics) and enjoy this type of fiction, then for the price, it is worth an attempt.
The translation is good, enabling the story to flow well. I've never read Akutagawa before, and I found his narration style very unusual with various jumps ahead and back again in the story's timescale.
Sadly I didn't find any of the characters endearing as such, a shame, as a story to me becomes considerably more difficult to enjoy when not one character can be epathised with. Hell Screen is still an interesting read, though I am not sure whether I would recommend it. If you've read a few of the new Penguin series (mini modern classics) and enjoy this type of fiction, then for the price, it is worth an attempt.
Format:Paperback
'Hell Screen' is a superb piece of storytelling. A renowned artist is given the task of depicting hell by the local ruler and throws himself into the work rather too literally. The story is narrated conversationally by an unnamed court bystander and the author winds up the tension as the story progresses. I disagree with the view that there are no characters to empathise with; one can easily identify with the situation of the artist's daughter.
'Hell Screen' comes in a pocket-sized 50-page book with the very short cautionary tale, 'The Spider Thread' tacked on after it. I bought it as part of the Penguin Mini Modern Classics 50-volume boxed set which, at about 1.50 per volume halved the cost of the cover price of individual volumes.
'Hell Screen' comes in a pocket-sized 50-page book with the very short cautionary tale, 'The Spider Thread' tacked on after it. I bought it as part of the Penguin Mini Modern Classics 50-volume boxed set which, at about 1.50 per volume halved the cost of the cover price of individual volumes.
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