March 31, 2024

A collection of Kajii Motojirou's most famous short stories. His ability to condense various aspects of the human experience into the written word and juxtaposing that with beautifully descriptive landscapes makes for an enchanting and emotional read. Those who are searching for a cohesive overarching plot with satisfying resolutions may not enjoy this book. That being said, there are reoccurring themes and the more short stories I read, the more I enjoyed Kajii's writing style.

Kajii's kanji usage is diverse and very playful. If you just read the furigana and are content to ignore the kanji, this may not be so difficult a read. However, if you want to glean a complete understanding of the nuance behind his kanji choices, this is an extremely difficult and rewarding book to read.

Gradings:13
1
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dorod graded
on January 6, 2025
easier than黒死館殺人事件L50??
dorod graded
on October 14, 2024
dorod graded
on October 13, 2024
harder than海と毒薬L37
dorod graded
on October 13, 2024
easier than歌行燈・高野聖L50??
dorod graded
on October 13, 2024
similar in difficulty to羅生門・鼻・芋粥L47
dorod graded
on October 13, 2024
similar in difficulty to黒い雨L48
dorod graded
on September 13, 2024
dorod graded
on August 29, 2024
harder than個人的な体験L44
dorod graded
on March 31, 2024
similar in difficulty to金閣寺L48
dorod graded
on March 31, 2024
similar in difficulty to雪国L46
dorod graded
on March 31, 2024
harder than砂の女L45
dorod graded
on March 31, 2024
harder than人間失格L39
dorod graded
on March 31, 2024
harder thanこころL39