Weak as a God and Other Stories

What does kindness mean when it comes from an enemy? In “Weak as a God,” a writer intervenes in a sick friend’s affairs, certain that loyalty demands a firm refusal. His friend’s response leaves him questioning the very strength he has admired in himself.

Elsewhere, a man watches a crowd turn the recovery of a drowned woman into entertainment; a troubled couple enters the sea; and young writers mark their own success while measuring the distance between themselves and an old classmate. “The Demon of Self” finds a disquieting moral encounter amid the everyday irritations of a streetcar ride.

The collection also includes Kikuchi’s affectionate recollection of Kume Masao as a student and his energetic explanation of an ambitious publishing project for elementary schoolchildren. First published from 1918 to 1927, these seven works reveal a writer attentive to both literary ambition and the practical pressures of modern life. Kikuchi Kan (1888–1948) was a major novelist, dramatist, and publisher. This new English translation presents all seven works complete, with brief explanatory notes.