Heresy: and Other Stories, (Paperback)

<p>In Heresy, courtly elegance turns into spiritual danger as forbidden doctrine, desire, rumor, and supernatural power unsettle an aristocratic world. Ryunosuke Akutagawa builds the tale through intrigue, religious conflict, and a narrator's wary memory of splendor shadowed by terror.</p><p></p><p>Heresy and Other Stories gathers five works: Heresy, Toshishun, Agni, The Faint Smiles of the Gods, and The Life of St. Christopher. The volume moves from Heian court drama and Chinese legend to occult possession, missionary anxiety, and a playful hagiographic retelling.</p><p></p><p>Akutagawa stands among the defining masters of modern Japanese short fiction. His art joins classical sources, sharp irony, psychological compression, and a modern awareness of how stories transform belief, violence, and illusion.</p><p></p><p>This collection offers Akutagawa at his most varied and theatrical: historical, fantastic, satirical, and spiritually charged, with each story revealing a different pressure point in one of Japan's most influential literary voices.</p>

• Heresy: and Other Stories, (Paperback)
• Author: Yuko Yamashita
• ISBN: 9798344925967
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2026-06-14
• Page Count: 128