Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things


Lu par LibriVox Volunteers

(4.6 stars; 23 reviews)

Most of the following Kwaidan, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old Japanese books,— such as the Yaso-Kidan, Bukkyo-Hyakkwa-Zensho, Kokon-Chomonshu, Tama-Sudare, and Hyaku-Monogatari. Some of the stories may have had a Chinese origin: the very remarkable "Dream of Akinosuke," for example, is certainly from a Chinese source. But the story-teller, in every case, has so recolored and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it… One queer tale, "Yuki-Onna," was told me by a farmer of Chofu, Nishitama-gori, in Musashi province, as a legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been written in Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it records used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious forms… The incident of "Riki-Baka" was a personal experience; and I wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, changing only a family-name mentioned by the Japanese narrator. (Summary by L. Hearn, from the Introduction to the book) (3 hr 51 min)

Chapitres

Introduction 6:49 Lu par Vilayvanh
The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi 23:17 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Oshidori 3:31 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
The Story of O-tei 8:13 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Ubazakura 3:39 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Diplomacy 5:37 Lu par Availle
Of A Mirror and a Bell 8:59 Lu par Scott Carpenter
Jikininki 9:28 Lu par Scott Carpenter
Mujina 5:12 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Rokuro-Kubi 19:10 Lu par Scott Carpenter
A Dead Secret 5:39 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Yuki-Onna 10:14 Lu par Availle
The Story of Aoyagi 19:44 Lu par Availle
Jiu-Roku-Zakura 3:11 Lu par Scott Carpenter
The Dream of Akinosuke 12:00 Lu par Scott Carpenter
Riki-Baka 4:30 Lu par Scott Carpenter
Hi-Mawari 5:30 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Horai 12:04 Lu par Martin Geeson
Insect Studies - Butterflies 27:15 Lu par Availle
Insect Studies - Mosquitoes 7:26 Lu par Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Insect Studies - Ants 30:12 Lu par Scott Carpenter

Critiques


(4.5 stars)

The readers are all good in that they each bring a narrative character to the stories through their different voices. Some bring the narrator alive a participant, others tend to let the text speak more for itself. The stories have an anthropological quality that gives an sense of Japanese life where the wierd and the horrific is rarely footnoted in Western traditions.

Very Enjoyable


(5 stars)

An entertaining collection of stories that made 4 hours of vacuuming and cleaning mirrors much more bearable. All of the readers were excellent - well paced and perfectly understandable. There are a few spine-chilling moments and listeners get to learn a lot about Japanese folklore.

A patchy collection


(4 stars)

It's not really a single book. Japanese ghost stories at the front, musings on ths spiritual meaning of the social organisation of insects at the back. The ghost stories are great, though. IMO: stop there unless you like a bit of theology.

A fascinating reading


(5 stars)

Thank you for this wonderful recording, it is greatly appreciated -- all the time and effort of the volunteers


(3.5 stars)

some good stories some bad.some good readers one or two terrible readers. all-in-all and entertaining collection

A true comfort listen


(4.5 stars)

whenever I