Welcome to Litsy!

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin reads for November are a novella based on Japanese folklore, and a 'fifties science fiction classic.

Spoiler: I'm gonna love these, y'all.

Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

I love reading Japanese authors. There is just something about the way they tell a story. This is somewhat reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland but with a Japanese myth. This is less than 100 pages but well worth the read.

I loved this book, I am including this photo because they don‘t seem to feature the version I read here.
A short but fulfilling journey to an interesting place that left the protagonist with a new perspective on his own world. Recommended.

I enjoyed Kappa, although I'm not sure that I entirely "got it". Maybe I don't know enough about Japan 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; artistic pretension, etc.

There is a poignancy about the suicide scene and the knowledge that Akutagawa took his own life a few months after writing this book. 3.5/5 ?

Best