Ryunosuke Akutagawa - A Japanese Genius (with a troubled soul)

[@Sachie465]

Akutagawa famously said “All literatures that rise above the times have many facets that can be appreciated from multiple places, like the peaks of Lushan”. Your video brought back memories of long time ago when I was reading his stories for the first time and fascinated by them. I watched and enjoyed almost all your videos on literature. Please keep doing what you are doing. Pleasure to support. Cheers from Japan:)(sorry for poor English).

[@Fiction_Beast]

Your English is great! Thank you for your support and comment. Keep them coming.

[@kira4204]

How is this comment 4 days ago?? U literally just posted now

[@Sachie465]

@@kira4204 It is one of the benefits of being a patreon. You get them earlier.

[@kira4204]

@@Sachie465 ohk

[@renjiewu6993]

Great work! Please keep on bringing such high quality content to us!

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thanks so much!

[@alkaloitongbam6684]

Now, I really need to read his work. Thank you so much for familiarising us with him and that too with such intense passion.❤️

[@rememberthefuture944]

You have a great mind , thanks for sharing it with us!

[@shelleyscloud3651]

Thank you for introducing me to this writer. He’s now on the ‘must check out’ list 🙏

[@Fiction_Beast]

You’re welcome.

[@ReynaSingh]

Another brilliant video. Keep it up

[@Fiction_Beast]

Appreciate it.

[@alaahourani0104]

Such an astonishing video, thank you

[@j0nnyism]

The story of the nose is more apt now than it’s ever been with so many influencers changing their appearance to attract more and more people.

[@Takeda_1582]

After watching your videos and Liking them,i download them so i can rewatch them offline. Great,didactic and informative as ever.Thanks a lot💝

[@raskolnikov1461]

What an amazing MAN ❤️I have two WAVE prints 🌊 in my bathroom and looking at it gives me peace and appreciation of the style. Another wave by Aivazovsky 🌊. Russian and Japanese. To hear comparison to Chekhov makes me want to read his stories and pay respect. Thank you so much for this video. It’s an amazing revelation and I will learn about his literary work more ☺️❤️

[@paddy654]

Thumbs up 👍 before even watching the video..title is sufficient..

[@burke9497]

Hey FB. Loved the Tale of Genji, and Snow Country. That’s the extent of my Japanese literature. Love sushi and good sake!

[@Fiction_Beast]

Same here!

[@sgytsjy]

This video is as elegant as useful, perfect combination. I'm very passionate about Japanese literature and Akutagawa is one of the writers that interests me the most. Could you talk about Dazai Osamu? He is also a very famous writer and Akutagawa was the author who inspired him the most.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Yes I discussed Dazai in my top ten Japanese novels but he deserve a vide on his own.

[@donaldkelly3983]

This documentary is what I love about your channel! If you asked my follow countrymen to name a famous Japanese writer you might get Mishima. Might. His stories are spare and elegant, but powerful. I cannot forget "In the Grove" and "Hell Screen" because they are so realistic despite being weird. Akutagawa's short stories are what is meant by The Uncanny.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you! Always great to hear from you.

[@maximilyen]

Thanks

[@mariavm9178]

Thank you so much for this introduction!

[@Fiction_Beast]

You are so welcome!

[@alesjanosik1545]

Okay, I am done listening half way... I need to read those stories!

[@Reza090]

Great. Thank you very much🙏🙏

[@BitterDawn]

There seems to be a lot of artists having to forsake love and family in order to retreat from society to dive deep into themselves. I can not but help to identify with this on some level given that a year ago I had to leave the family I help create due to personality clashes that felt increasingly dangerous and agonizing for all involved. Now most of my nights are spent creating and listening to these sort of lectures or music.

[@cheri238]

Rashamon, I loved it. Thank you for this. ❤️

[@Fiction_Beast]

You are so welcome

[@literallyreal8938]

I see how you introduced the two haikus and left us to figure it out just like the artist 👌👍

[@jospram6116]

Thank you very much for making this one. 😉

[@Fiction_Beast]

You're welcome 😊

[@jospram6116]

@@Fiction_Beast If you don't mind, can you also give your opinion about the style for nowadays? Did they're still relevant? Because I admire his style. But most of the times also I'm afraid that if write like this kind of stories, people wouldn't recognize it or even dislike it. Because in my country, Indonesia, most of the stories are realist and romance. I know it's kind of foolish question, but I hope for your opinion to cure my anxiety. 😅

[@gs547]

Thanks. Well done! Very informative.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JustinFisher777]

I loved Chekhovs short stories. For a second I thought this was going to be about Kawabata who was my favorite Japanese writer. I'll have to read some of this author now.

[@vincentandrew4544]

What Kawabata do you love? I read snow country and love it, then I read Thousand Cranes but doesn't like it very much. Some of his short stories are pretty cool. Any recommendations?

[@maximilyen]

Valuable ,thanks

[@Socratez7]

Great episode! Btw the annotation should be “In a Grove” not Groove

[@Fiction_Beast]

Yea. It was a typo

[@Hellismary]

I never knew about this guy , but I’ve watch Rashomon many many times!

[@YoYo-gt5iq]

For some more information about the US involvement in Japan leading up to the 1905 war, you can see a book called The Imperial cruise by James bradley. It was very interesting

[@j0nnyism]

Kappa is a story inspired by gullivers travels. A man who travels to a strange new land who became a misanthrope. The journey changes how he sees his homeland

[@gracefitzgerald2227]

Gorgeous as always. So are you!

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you!

[@TheYouApple]

Great video! You should cover Osamu Dazai too!

[@Fiction_Beast]

Yes he’s a good suggestion. I discussed him in my top 10 Japanese novels.

[@johntravena119]

We dream of a paradise in which, if we should find ourselves there, we would be lost. -MP

[@sweeneytod4734]

16:28 This theme is also similar or found in Kurosawa's film 'High and Low'.

[@Fiction_Beast]

I’m not surprised and the title of high and low perfectly captures that.

[@j0nnyism]

Spinning gears is excellent too although very dark. His contemporary stories aren’t considered as successful but are nonetheless worth reading

[@Shitabha]

Please make a similar kind of video for sociology, psychology as you have made for "2500 years of philosophy". Please please please 🥺

[@Fiction_Beast]

Thank you! I have plans to make a few courses. Still have to find the time.

[@positivequotes2793]

Good video :)

[@JustinFisher777]

Now that I watched the whole video, I think the parallel between Akutagawa and Chekhov is rather weak. The Gothic sounding nature of his stories marks a break with the style of Chekhov. Chekhov has a more serene mood. Which is the same mood I got out of Kawabata. I'd like to see you talk about Kawabata some day. Kawabata also has a very Proustian opening in Snow Country.

[@JustinFisher777]

Akutagawa seems more like Gogol or Kafka.

[@JustinFisher777]

I'm watching your video about four great Japanese stories and you talk about Akutagawa and Kawabata right next to each other. Your reading of Kawabata feels very similar to my own. It would be nice to see you do a whole video on him, but it looks like you've done a couple that touch on him well. Funnily, when you talked about him in the video I'm watching, which seems to be your first video, I started to get a very relaxed feeling. Similar to Chekhov. These experiences and moods are fascinating. Also I think we have very similar tastes and responses to literature. I've spent a lot of time thinking about doing a literature channel but I hesitate because you talk about the things I would want to talk about but you do a better job of video editing than I would. And it looks like there aren't enough viewers for this to make much money. But there's a part of me that wants to make videos like these just to have a dialogue with similar thinkers like yourself. But you're a better worker and producer than I am. I'm stuck in my head. Perhaps like Proust in that way.

[@robinbergfeld5140]

Just bought Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories. Thanks, I didn't know him. PS you didn't read Carson, did you? I understand. I do that too. When someone tells me you should really read this, even if I buy the book, I resist. All too human.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Unfortunately I didn’t read. I have far too many things on my plate right now. Appreciate your comment.

[@michaeligloo]

I’m surprised you don’t have any clips on Junichiro Tanizaki and his works. Do you not like his works? If so, why?

[@dipr4169]

I always considered author Yukio Mishima the genius with a troubled soul.

[@Fiction_Beast]

Most geniuses are

[@parthasarathisaha5765]

Please make one video on Bengali literature

[@Fiction_Beast]

I made one on Tagore. Did you watch?

[@X_Marks-u7r]

Russia is not European.

[@annleland6422]

I always have sushi and sake together. They are a heavenly pair.

[@burke9497]

I used to always like sushi with Japanese beer. But now, whenever there is a high quality sake available (not the tap stuff) I prefer sake. It’s like sushi demands Japanese beer or good sake! Cheers.