In Ghostly Japan


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.4 stars; 51 reviews)

This collection of 14 stories collected by Lafcadio Hearn, contains Japanese ghost stories, but also several non-fiction pieces. Hearn tries to give a glimpse into the customs of the Japanese, by giving examples of Buddhist Proverbs and explaining the use of incense and the nation wide fascination with poetry. Furthermore, he has again translated several hair-rising ghost stories, like "A Passional Karma" about the truly undying love of a young couple. (Summary by Availle) (4 hr 33 min)

Chapters

Fragment 5:41 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Furisode 6:26 Read by Scott Carpenter
Incense 35:17 Read by JDavidMoore
A Story of Divination 10:06 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Silkworms 14:35 Read by JDavidMoore
A Passional Karma, pt 1 28:00 Read by Availle
A Passional Karma, pt 2 28:17 Read by Availle
Footprints of the Buddha 19:03 Read by miette
Ululation 16:24 Read by Scott Carpenter
Bits of Poetry 23:19 Read by Availle
Japanese Buddhist Proverbs 36:29 Read by dill
Suggestion 5:16 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Ingwa-Banashi 10:37 Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet
Story of a Tengu 11:08 Read by miette
At Yaidzu 23:09 Read by Bellona Times

Reviews

top notch


(5 stars)

Mr. Hearn is a story teller on par with E.T.A. Hoffmann and Mark Twain. Able to identify and exploit within locally unique traditions the most basic and primal bricks, he then uses as mortar his gift of narrative to build walls of sweet nuanced terror. finally, he beckons you to step backwards, allowing you too see fully, with horror or terror, the walls of a ruined Gothic castle, crawling moss and lichens. what's been constructed using emotion compounded with the unfamiliar is then fully realized as a towering construct of eerie lore add archane fears, that towering edifice which had haunted men even after men had long since attempted to leave it as a forgotten ruin. this is horror, stagnate with the half known, cooked with the twining ivy of the strange within experience and from without. the readers were all of them swell.


(4 stars)

a charming little book one that I would not have come across were it not for LibriVox. most of the readers were good some excellent but for goodness sake ,somebody tell that guy how to pronounce proverbs. The section on poetry it was beautiful and especially the one about the child's fingers poking through the screen almost brought me to Tears, wonderful.

in ghostly Japan.


(5 stars)

listen to bits of poetry read exquisitely . so moving. section on Proverbs was ruined by the reader whose mispronunciation of the word Proverbs was intensely irritating and spoiled the Chapter

Hit and Miss


(2.5 stars)

A few of the selections are excellent while others felt dull and drawn out. I enjoyed the spooky stories, not so much the historical ramblings.

simonz review😋


(3 stars)

the story is flawlessly told with lacked in instilling fear in the readers which I wanted to feel but it was philosophically good.

5


(5 stars)

enjoyed the readers and the stories. will listen to more by this author. will try another book by same author

Disappointing


(2 stars)

Didn't really enjoy this collection and found some of the readers outright irritating.


(5 stars)

Very enjoyable book. All readers made the information clear.