First published in 1776, the nine gothic tales in this
collection are Japan's finest and most celebrated examples of the
literature of the occult. They subtly merge the world of reason
with the realm of the uncanny and exemplify the period's
fascination with the strange and the grotesque. They were also the
inspiration for Mizoguchi Kenji's brilliant 1953 film "Ugetsu."
The title "Ugetsu monogatari" (literally "rain-moon tales")
alludes to the belief that mysterious beings appear on cloudy,
rainy nights and in mornings with a lingering moon. In "Shiramine,"
the vengeful ghost of the former emperor Sutoku reassumes the role
of king; in "The Chrysanthemum Vow," a faithful revenant fulfills a
promise; "The Kibitsu Cauldron" tells a tale of spirit possession;
and in "The Carp of My Dreams," a man straddles the boundaries
between human and animal and between the waking world and the world
of dreams. The remaining stories feature demons, fiends, goblins,
strange dreams, and other manifestations beyond all logic and
common sense.
The eerie beauty of this masterpiece owes to Akinari's masterful
combination of words and phrases from Japanese classics with
creatures from Chinese and Japanese fiction and lore. Along with
"The Tale of Genji" and "The Tales of the Heike," "Tales of
Moonlight and Rain" has become a timeless work of great
significance. This new translation, by a noted translator and
scholar, skillfully maintains the allure and complexity of
Akinari's original prose.
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