What I’ve been reading:
“Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
A collection of short stories by one of Japan’s most beloved and respected writers.
However, in this week’s reading section of Existential Espresso, I believe you can get more value from hearing why and how I decided to start reading this book than from me giving you a detailed review of Akutagawa’s work.
I often talk about the value of fictional stories, but I still find myself dedicating the vast majority of my reading time to non-fiction. So recently, I decided to get back to fiction reading. And although I don’t like admitting this, when I tried, I had a really hard time reading long-form fiction. This is probably because I’ve been reading so much non-fiction lately, and I approach fiction and non-fiction reading in a different way.
Solution: "Warm up reading." In this case, reading something that allows me to more easily experience a fictional story. Something that, although it doesn’t have the details, the character development, and the world-building that’s present in novels, still takes me on a journey. No matter how short, it’s still a journey.
The idea behind "warm up reading" is that, instead of forcing myself to read something that I am having difficulty reading at the moment, I take a less challenging version of it, something that I can actually enjoy. When you enjoy something, you can spend more time doing it. As you spend more time doing it, you get better at it. As you get better at it, you move on to a more challenging version of it. Hopefully, you get the idea.
(This is not to say that the short story is not a beautiful form of story-telling on its own. I am not trying to say that the only, or main, purpose of a short story is "warm up reading.")
The second part is, how did I choose this particular book?
Once I knew what type of book I was looking for, I started researching both short-story collections as well as notable short-story writers.
Akutagawa’s name kept appearing on lists of the best short story writers, and multiple of his stories kept appearing on lists of the best/most famous short stories of all time.
However, he wasn’t the only writer where this was the case.
What made me choose him was the name that was being associated with him almost every time he was mentioned - Haruki Murakami.
Some of you who have been following my instagram page for a while might know that amongst the fiction writers who are still alive, Murakami is by far my favorite one.
And it turns out that he was influenced by Akutagawa’s writing in his youth, and holds him in extremely high regard as one of the most important Japanese writers.
This brings me to the point of choosing who and what to read - you can never go wrong with taking a recommendation from a writer that you love reading. This is true for both fiction and non-fiction.
I hope that what you get from the "warm up reading" idea and how I chose the book is that, unless you are studying for an exam, reading shouldn’t be an obligation, it shouldn’t be a chore. It should be an enjoyable experience, and you can make it be that.
("Warm up reading" is an idea I developed while creating a "Reading Guide"-a resource to help people develop (or re-establish) a healthy, consistent relationship with reading and actually get the most out of their reading time. It will first be available in the Sisyphus Society. If you are interested in it, as well as in other features of the Sisyphus Society, it will be opening for new members soon.)
What I’ve been listening to:
Rick Roderick lectures.
Let me put it like this: I cannot believe how fortunate we are to have these lectures available on youtube for free. Also, if Rick Roderick was alive today, he would be in my top 15 people in the world that I would like to sit down and have a conversation with.
He is probably the most engaging lecturer I’ve ever had a chance to listen to. Saying anything more and trying to give an extensive review of any of his lectures wouldn’t do them any justice. Search him on youtube and you will have a clear idea of the chronological order of his lectures.
However, of course I won’t leave you without something concrete. What I am going to share with you, and this could serve as your first “interaction” with Roderick, is his explanation of Nietzsche’s infamous statement that “God is dead.”
By now, it should be a well-know fact that it was far from a triumphant statement. But Roderick explains it in a way that shows why even Christians, and all religious people, can, and most of them who read Nietzsche actually do, agree with the statement that God is dead.
He actually gives an explanation in his lecture on Kierkegaard, because it’s part of a series of lectures where he talked about Nietzsche in the lecture before that one. But you can still listen to this without listening to the previous lecture and having any other context. I have timestamped the link, but just in case, the explanation starts at 4:57. Listen or watch here.
What I’ve been thinking about:
Dying gracefully.
This is something I was thinking about during one of my recent Memento Mori meditations.
I don’t know about other cultures, but in my country, or my region, when someone dies in their sleep they say “Lucky him. That’s the best and most graceful way to die.”
Why? Why is not being aware that your life has come to an end the best way for it to end? Not being able to say goodbye?
I think it shows how much of a taboo death is. How afraid we are of it. So much that we think the best way for it to happen is when we are not aware that it’s happening.
It’s maybe the easiest way to die, but is it the best?
For a person who has actually lived this life, who has memories to look back on, is that really the best way for it to end?
And not only to look back on proud moments and accomplishments but also the moments of joy and sorrow, beauty and tragedy, laughter and cry. All of those moments make a unique story. Isn’t it better to have one last chance to look back on that story?
I am not making a statement here. I clearly don’t know what is better. This is something that I’ve been asking myself.
As someone who has lost loved ones, I don’t take this topic lightly. That’s why I want to say that it’s not my intention to disturb anyone who has also lost their loved ones and make them question how their lives ended.
Still, I believe it’s something worth thinking about in relation to your attitude towards death, which in large part determines your attitude towards life.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
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