Kappa
In Japanese folklore the Kappa is a scaly, child-sized creature with a face like a tiger and a sharp, pointed beak. In the hands of Ryunosuke, one man's journey to `Kappaland' becomes the vehicle for a critique of Japanese life and customs in the tradition of Swift and Kafka. A perfectly formed...
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In Japanese folklore the Kappa is a scaly, child-sized creature with a face like a tiger and a sharp, pointed beak. In the hands of Ryunosuke, one man's journey to `Kappaland' becomes the vehicle for a critique of Japanese life and customs in the tradition of Swift and Kafka. A perfectly formed gem from the pen of one of Japan's most important modern writers (creator of Rashomon), Kappa is at once a fable, a comedy, and a brilliant satire.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780720613377 (072061337X)
ASIN: 072061337X
Publish date: September 1st 2009
Publisher: Peter Owen Limited
Pages no: 141
Edition language: English
Category:
Fantasy,
Classics,
Novels,
Science Fiction,
Literature,
Cultural,
Literary Fiction,
Asian Literature,
Japan,
Dystopia,
Japanese Literature
This was a fascinating Japanese novella about a man who finds himself in the land of the mythical Kappa.He lives there quite peacefully with the Kappa, and begins to analyze his own society based on what he sees in the Kappaland. I found it quite fascinating, and it reminded me a bit of Gulliver's T...
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; artisti...
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