This text is adapted from the 1908 volume Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan which quite frankly is a more accurate title than Myths and Legends. I felt like the title was quite misleading, as I was expecting actual, well... myths. There is almost nothing about the Japanese gods, despite the brief mention in a few of the stories. I was hoping to learn more about them here but this book is more a random collection of strange folkloric tales on ghosts, doomed love, samurai, and a bit of war for good measure. Due to its age, it abounds with what some readers may accuse of being 'white superiority' but I didn't notice it too much, he seemed respectful enough. R. Gordon Smith, was a British traveller, naturalist, and full time chauvinist who lived in Japan and documented the local folklore for European audiences. He was also responsible for discovering thirty five species of animals, all of which are named after him to this day.
There are fifty stories in total, with no proper attempt to curate them into a particular order. Most are entertaining enough, the ghost stories especially. But as always, I have some criticisms. There are quite a few typographical and grammatical errors, a common complaint of this series it seems. Smith often uses an English equivalent of a word instead of introducing readers to a Japanese concept, i.e. 'knight' instead of 'samurai', although he is inconsistent in this. Nearly every single story begins in the same format - a man has a beautiful teenage daughter, and it's high time a husband was found for her. The obsession with beautiful young girls gets a little wearisome after a while, bordering on fetishisation, and characters are ever eager to commit suicide and disembowel themselves over mere trifles.. I was disappointed that, knowing the wealth of Japanese folklore concerning yokai, fox spirits and the like, the stories do not really explore these at all.
Rating: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment