Autumn and Other Writings

Two sisters once seemed destined for very different futures. Marriage, work, and an old affection gradually disturb that certainty, revealing desires neither can comfortably admit. In Autumn, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke turns quiet domestic scenes into a searching study of disappointment and love.

Autumn and Other Writings gathers six complete works. Autumn Mountains follows the memory of an incomparable Chinese painting through conflicting testimony. In Dragon, a monk’s practical joke draws a vast crowd to a pond, with consequences even he cannot explain.

The Art of Tatsumura Heizō celebrates weaving as an artistic achievement. From the Fourth Husband takes the form of an unsettling letter from Tibet, questioning the moral confidence of civilized society. Itojo’s Memorandum recounts the last days of a noblewoman through the sharp, irreverent eyes of her maid.