---
product_id: 52969907
title: "The Life of a Stupid Man: Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Penguin Little Black Classics)"
price: "68 kr"
currency: DKK
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.dk/products/52969907-the-life-of-a-stupid-man-ryunosuke-akutagawa-penguin-little
store_origin: DK
region: Denmark
---

# The Life of a Stupid Man: Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Penguin Little Black Classics)

**Price:** 68 kr
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Life of a Stupid Man: Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Penguin Little Black Classics)
- **How much does it cost?** 68 kr with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.dk](https://www.desertcart.dk/products/52969907-the-life-of-a-stupid-man-ryunosuke-akutagawa-penguin-little)

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- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

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## Description

Buy The Life of a Stupid Man: Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Penguin Little Black Classics) 1 by Akutagawa, Ryunosuke, Rubin, Jay (ISBN: 9780141397726) from desertcart's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

Review: lovely stories - I loved this little book. There is a simplicity in the telling that is refreshing.
Review: Hidden Gems - I am a great lover of Japanese literature, mainly of Dazai Osamu. With an desertcart book order of just under £10, I decided to add in The Life of a Stupid Man to my basket in order to get free shipping, as Akutagawa is an author I have wanted to read for some time now. I finally managed to read it last night, and gladly read it in one sitting. I absolutely adored this writing. Akutagawa was a man skeptical about living, but too nervous, or scared, to die. Within the two autobiographical pieces within this, Death Register, and The Life of a Stupid Man, we can see this coherently throughout his works. There's the fear there, the skepticism of what life is, but when it comes down to it, he is struck by fear, and cannot bring himself to do it. Against the seeming popular opinion for this book, I actually didn't like the first story, In a Bamboo Grove. I wasn't keen on it, I felt it read too much into he said she said, and I skimmed through it mostly. Perhaps this will change upon a second reading of it? I hope so. But Death Register and The Life of a Stupid Man are two works that really made me realise just how mortal I really am. That's the tone of these works. Morality. Death. How we succumb, no matter if we want to or not. Death doesn't differentiate from the rich and poor, old and young, deserving or not. These are so prevalent throughout Akutagawa's two works, that I actually felt something that felt like dread creeping up my spine as I read through them, almost as if Death itself was stood behind my as I devoured page after page. There's something scary about that. Words written in 1927 are so prevalent to today that it gives me chills, and makes me shudder as I glance around a half darkened room, reading by candle light. This is a book I think I'm going to read at least once a week. It's short, only 55 pages, and of course, the sheer morality of it definitely has me thinking of many questions, wondering what life is, am I on the right path, are we all just destined to die no matter what. It's a bit of an illusion breaker - surprise, our lives aren't perfect. We don't really have control over our own lives at all. Even if we think we do, there's still the fact that we all die at some point, that we have to take into consideration. Akutagawa definitely has all of this portrayed well throughout Death Register and The Life of a Stupid Man. This has definitely made me much more excited to not only read more works by Akutagawa, but to read more of the Penguin's Little Black Classics collection. A stunning start to this series for me, I'm super glad I started with this one. I cannot wait to buy another eleven. I definitely recommend this to modernist lovers - although maybe not considered modern today, Akutagawa was definitely ahead of the game within Japanese literature of his time, and I definitely recommend this to those who enjoy foreign literature. This has a lot of little hidden gems within it that definitely make it worth the £1 purchase.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 13,526 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 507 in Short Stories (Books) 892 in Fiction Classics (Books) 2,680 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer reviews | 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (538) |
| Dimensions  | 16 x 1 x 11 cm |
| Edition  | 1st |
| ISBN-10  | 0141397721 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0141397726 |
| Item weight  | 55 g |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 64 pages |
| Publication date  | 26 Feb. 2015 |
| Publisher  | Penguin Classics |

## Images

![The Life of a Stupid Man: Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Penguin Little Black Classics) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61t-wxBS2SL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ lovely stories
*by M***T on 13 February 2025*

I loved this little book. There is a simplicity in the telling that is refreshing.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hidden Gems
*by S***N on 2 November 2017*

I am a great lover of Japanese literature, mainly of Dazai Osamu. With an Amazon book order of just under £10, I decided to add in The Life of a Stupid Man to my basket in order to get free shipping, as Akutagawa is an author I have wanted to read for some time now. I finally managed to read it last night, and gladly read it in one sitting. I absolutely adored this writing. Akutagawa was a man skeptical about living, but too nervous, or scared, to die. Within the two autobiographical pieces within this, Death Register, and The Life of a Stupid Man, we can see this coherently throughout his works. There's the fear there, the skepticism of what life is, but when it comes down to it, he is struck by fear, and cannot bring himself to do it. Against the seeming popular opinion for this book, I actually didn't like the first story, In a Bamboo Grove. I wasn't keen on it, I felt it read too much into he said she said, and I skimmed through it mostly. Perhaps this will change upon a second reading of it? I hope so. But Death Register and The Life of a Stupid Man are two works that really made me realise just how mortal I really am. That's the tone of these works. Morality. Death. How we succumb, no matter if we want to or not. Death doesn't differentiate from the rich and poor, old and young, deserving or not. These are so prevalent throughout Akutagawa's two works, that I actually felt something that felt like dread creeping up my spine as I read through them, almost as if Death itself was stood behind my as I devoured page after page. There's something scary about that. Words written in 1927 are so prevalent to today that it gives me chills, and makes me shudder as I glance around a half darkened room, reading by candle light. This is a book I think I'm going to read at least once a week. It's short, only 55 pages, and of course, the sheer morality of it definitely has me thinking of many questions, wondering what life is, am I on the right path, are we all just destined to die no matter what. It's a bit of an illusion breaker - surprise, our lives aren't perfect. We don't really have control over our own lives at all. Even if we think we do, there's still the fact that we all die at some point, that we have to take into consideration. Akutagawa definitely has all of this portrayed well throughout Death Register and The Life of a Stupid Man. This has definitely made me much more excited to not only read more works by Akutagawa, but to read more of the Penguin's Little Black Classics collection. A stunning start to this series for me, I'm super glad I started with this one. I cannot wait to buy another eleven. I definitely recommend this to modernist lovers - although maybe not considered modern today, Akutagawa was definitely ahead of the game within Japanese literature of his time, and I definitely recommend this to those who enjoy foreign literature. This has a lot of little hidden gems within it that definitely make it worth the £1 purchase.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ it somehow does manage to be a good version of 'i was a bit superficial and then ...
*by M***A on 4 December 2015*

a sort of literature-ified autobiography (it seems), and very posey and elegant rather than passionate and sincere, but despite this and because it's short, where beauty and elegance can work as melancholy, it somehow does manage to be a good version of 'i was a bit superficial and then got pierced by love and now i'm an old/er man with regrets' and is so beautifully written (and foreign enough) that it is a different enough working of the topic and worth reading. Best of the Penguin 80p books (unless you want one of the poetry ones exactly that size or are a devout Buddhist looking for a pocket dhammapada).

## Frequently Bought Together

- PENGUIN The Life Of A Stupid Man
- White Nights
- Metamorphosis

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*Product available on Desertcart Denmark*
*Store origin: DK*
*Last updated: 2026-02-28*