山椒太夫・高瀬舟 - Ōgai Mori

Well, if you know about Japanese literature/movies, you have probably heard of "Sansho the Bailif" or "山椒太夫" in its Japanese original. Well, this book includes this famous story of two children sold into slavery and what happens to them afterwards. It is just one of many in this varied compilation. Because, even if it is the most famous of the stories that can be read in this volume, it is basically forty pages long. So, what have we got here? A little bit for everyone. From stories of samurai having to commit suicide for different reasons, to the story of two children of a good family that become slaves, to a thief not much of a thief, going to the last story, the trip on a boat of a man that has been condemned by killing his brother. And what can we say about the collection? First, that it is good. Mori knows how to write and how to make his characters human. You will care about the two small children that have become slaves, or about the samurai with death in their future. Mori is clearly interested in (self-)sacrifice and also in patriotism and what makes a Japanese be a Japanese (clearly shown in the in-your-face way he writes about the reaction of a French character to Japanese samurai committing suicide by 'seppuku'). He is good in creating a vivid world and in making the reader feel immersed in the story. He also does a good job in the more humorous moments, as with the not 'very good thief' story. The obsession in this volume with characters killing themselves for different reasons, though, makes one think about the limits and the sacrifices one is willing to make and why some sacrifices are seen as justified and others as wrong. Mori seems to be in awe of the 'seppuku' ritual, and this raises interesting questions to the whole of the book and on his views about patriotism. It is not a perfect compilation though. The language has become stiff after more than a hundred years since his works were published, and in the samurai stories there is so long a list of names and so repetitive they are that it becomes a drag sometimes to read and reread them. Don't be surprised if you happen to disconnect from the story while your head curses on the long names Japanese samurai seemed to have in their era. Because, how many times you want to read 10-kanji-long names of samurai and of whom is helping them to commit suicide by cutting their heads? Interesting, fascinating, a little bit slow on parts, and a look on how Japanese literature created a world around the image of the samurai during the Meiji/Taisho era. The best: the look on another era; the "Sansho the Bailif" story, the thief story and the last one; Mori raising questions about self-sacrifice, suicide or the relationship between country and its inhabitants; samurai? The worst: the long list of names of samurai; it irks a little bit Mori's fascination with suicide Further reading: you can read "Kwaidan" to have a look on Japanese famous old stories, or Jun’ichirô Tanizaki or Natsume Sôseki for Japanese literature of the era; Shusaku Endo to have a different look on old Japan; and if you want blood, Ranpo Edogawa is your man. 6.5/10 (Original Japanese)