Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Tuttle Pub (1971), Paperback, 142 pages
Description
"The Kappa is a creature from Japanese folklore known for dragging unwary toddlers to their deaths in rivers: a scaly, child-sized creature, looking some- thing 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, while out hiking in Kamikochi, he spots a Kappa. He decides to chase it and, like Alice pursuing the White Rabbit, he tumbles down a hole, out of the human world and into the realm of the Kappas. There he is well looked after, in fact almost made a pet of: as a human, he is a novelty. He makes friends and spends his time learning about their world, exploring the seemingly ridiculous ways of the Kappa, but noting many - not always flattering - parallels to Japanese mores regarding morality, legal justice, economics, and sex. Alas, when the patient eventually returns to the human world, he becomes disgusted by humanity and, like Gulliver missing the Houyhnhnms, he begins to pine for his old friends the Kappas, rather as if he has been forced to take leave of Toad of Toad Hall.."--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mich_yms
Kappa is a very amusing book. Right at the beginning, we are introduced to the book by way of an ‘author’s preface’, where the ‘author’ tells us that he is merely writing down the story as narrated by a certain Patient No. 23 in a mental asylum. Patient No. 23 will tell his story, it is
His story is about this one time when he was out by himself on a summer’s day. There he had a surprise encounter with an odd creature that had a tiger’s face and a sharp beak. Chasing after this creature (most probably out of curiosity), he managed to land himself into a hole, where he became unconscious.
When he finally came to his senses, he was surrounded by many Kappas, and thus began his story about his time in Kappaland.
The story is a very short one, a few pages shy of 100. But within the covers I found a tale that was both funny and sad at the same time. It has been described as a ‘brilliant satire’, and I don’t think I would disagree.
There were passages within Kappa that seemed so completely absurd, and yet evoked this feeling of gloom. I could smile and laugh while reading the book, but between the lines, I couldn’t help but wonder at the possible accusations he was making. In one hand, life can be crazy and impossible to comprehend, while on the other hand, the same life could be one of utter misery and completely worthless.
Show More
said, to anyone who is willing to listen.His story is about this one time when he was out by himself on a summer’s day. There he had a surprise encounter with an odd creature that had a tiger’s face and a sharp beak. Chasing after this creature (most probably out of curiosity), he managed to land himself into a hole, where he became unconscious.
When he finally came to his senses, he was surrounded by many Kappas, and thus began his story about his time in Kappaland.
The story is a very short one, a few pages shy of 100. But within the covers I found a tale that was both funny and sad at the same time. It has been described as a ‘brilliant satire’, and I don’t think I would disagree.
There were passages within Kappa that seemed so completely absurd, and yet evoked this feeling of gloom. I could smile and laugh while reading the book, but between the lines, I couldn’t help but wonder at the possible accusations he was making. In one hand, life can be crazy and impossible to comprehend, while on the other hand, the same life could be one of utter misery and completely worthless.
Show Less
LibraryThing member DoskoiPanda
A fascinating look at early 20th century Japanese society (and humanity in general) through a satirical shory story. Others have likened it to Swift's Gulliver's Travels, but there are definite hints of A Modest Proposal and the morose feelings of Victorian fin de siecle literature. The narrator is
This edition has a helpful biography of Akutagawa Ryunosuke, whose numerous short stories are still in print today - Rashomon, in particular, is widely available as a modern classic of Japanese literature. The biography helps illuminate the importance of the notes of fear, the long shadow of heredity, suicide, and the burden of family; Akutagawa's mother was schizophrenic and his fears that he had inherited her madness were a large factor in his suicide at age 35.
Show More
interviewing a mental patient (Patient 23) who is convinced that he is visted by Kappa at the hospital, and relates his time spent in Kappaland, which is a satirical, and rather dark, take on Japanese society, only populated instead by the folkloric Kappa. (Kappa are small, scaley humanoid creatures with beaks and webbed hands, and are known for attacking/taking/drowning unwary children and small animals in watery places. They can move about out of water only so long as the saucer/indent on their head is filled with water.) This edition has a helpful biography of Akutagawa Ryunosuke, whose numerous short stories are still in print today - Rashomon, in particular, is widely available as a modern classic of Japanese literature. The biography helps illuminate the importance of the notes of fear, the long shadow of heredity, suicide, and the burden of family; Akutagawa's mother was schizophrenic and his fears that he had inherited her madness were a large factor in his suicide at age 35.
Show Less
LibraryThing member antiquary
To me, disappointingly feeble satire on Japanese society as seen through the parallel society of the kappa (a form of Japanese mythical creature)
LibraryThing member Michael.Rimmer
I enjoyed Kappa, although I'm not sure that I entirely "got it". Maybe I don't know enough about Japanese society in the 1920s to recognise the social mores Akutagawa is satirising. That said, there was enough universally relevant stuff to keep me interested: swipes at capitalism and greed;
There is an obvious poignancy about the suicide scene and the knowledge that Akutagawa took his own life a few months after writing this book.
As has been said by another reviewer, I found the introduction and its brief biography to be more interesting than the work it prefaced.
Kappa has left me wanting to delve deeper into Akutagawa's work. I'll have to read some more of his stuff and then come back to this again, I think.
Show More
artistic pretension, et al.There is an obvious poignancy about the suicide scene and the knowledge that Akutagawa took his own life a few months after writing this book.
As has been said by another reviewer, I found the introduction and its brief biography to be more interesting than the work it prefaced.
Kappa has left me wanting to delve deeper into Akutagawa's work. I'll have to read some more of his stuff and then come back to this again, I think.
Show Less
LibraryThing member renardkitsune
Without the preface of this edition, the story reads as a flat, mildly amusing fairy tale. I agree with some of the other reviewers, that the introduction was more interesting than the story itself, and it allows for at least a biographical reading of the text that gives the story a little depth. I
Show More
wish the introduction had given us a little more bearing on some of the aspects of Japanese society that Akutagawa is potentially satirizing, as I feel like this has turned into a research project because I don't understand it. I enjoyed some of his other short stories better. Show Less
LibraryThing member RBeffa
Wanting to read more Japanese literature I selected this book from my unread shelf. I've had this for an extraordinary long time - got it as an import at Stacey's books in San Francisco one December. That bookstore was one of the great ones and like so many great ones it got washed away by the
I remember reading the long (40 pagish) introduction to this book which is quite impressive in giving us a short biography of the author (and his interactions with contemporaries) and how that life was reflected in the book. What I don't remember is reading the actual story. The author was clearly descending into drug abuse and madness from the information in the introduction and the book was written not long before his suicide at 35. The intro really improves ones' appreciation of the story which otherwise might come across as a Japanese fairytale but instead can be seen as that and something more. It is a satire on society. However, this would not be a fairytale for children. It is surreal in bizarre and sometimes graphic ways. I wonder how much the author's use of opium influenced this.
I can't rave about this story but I am very glad I read (or re-read) this.
Show More
changes in the world and has been gone now for almost ten years. It was one of several books stores in San Francisco that I just loved to browse through earlier in life. There were a couple other locations around the Bay Area and I probably visited them more often. Just sad that this independent is gone.I remember reading the long (40 pagish) introduction to this book which is quite impressive in giving us a short biography of the author (and his interactions with contemporaries) and how that life was reflected in the book. What I don't remember is reading the actual story. The author was clearly descending into drug abuse and madness from the information in the introduction and the book was written not long before his suicide at 35. The intro really improves ones' appreciation of the story which otherwise might come across as a Japanese fairytale but instead can be seen as that and something more. It is a satire on society. However, this would not be a fairytale for children. It is surreal in bizarre and sometimes graphic ways. I wonder how much the author's use of opium influenced this.
I can't rave about this story but I am very glad I read (or re-read) this.
Show Less
LibraryThing member potds1011
An interesting read, I do think the introduction (although perhaps not all of it) gives some very necessary context to the story. Satire is definitely one of those genres that can get lost as time moves on and context is lost, which makes some history a necessity to actually understand where the
Show More
author is trying to go and what they are doing. I do not regret this book, but I also do not find myself eager to pick it up again. Show Less
Language
Original language
Japanese
Original publication date
1928
Physical description
142 p.; 7.09 inches
ISBN
0804809941 / 9780804809948