The Devil

Tanizaki, Jun‘ichiro, 1886-1965Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 18K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.惡魔 by Jun'ichiro TanizakiAuthor: Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro, 1886-1965,Language: Japanese, Class: PL: Language and Literatures: Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania, Release Date: Oct 3, 2011

Editor's review

Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's "The Demon" is a highly representative short work of modern Japanese literature, depicting the dark and obstinate side of human nature with a cool, delicate touch. The work continues the author's ongoing exploration of the boundaries of sensuality, ethics, and psychology; the narrative pace is restrained and the detail dense, producing a sense of pressure that slowly tightens—best read closely in a quiet setting. This edition is a public-domain electronic text in Japanese, preserving the texture of the original language, and is of reference value to readers studying Tanizaki's early style or the modern Japanese short story. As a free e-book, it is easy to search and compare at any time, making it especially suitable as supplementary material for literature courses or as a sample for comparative reading. Note that this is not a light entertainment piece; its themes and emotional tone are cool, and readers should approach it analytically rather than seeking plot thrills.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern Japanese literature who want to understand Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's style
Learners of Japanese who want to improve their reading through short original texts
Students and teachers needing short-story samples for literary analysis in courses
Deep readers who prefer psychological depiction and dark themes of human nature

Not a good fit for

Casual readers looking for light, pleasant stories with brisk plots
Beginners whose Japanese reading ability is not yet sufficient for modern literary prose
Readers sensitive to gloomy, oppressive, or ethically boundary-testing themes

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the overall atmosphere, then return to key passages and note shifts in narrative perspective
Read alongside other Tanizaki short stories to observe continuities and differences in theme and technique
When reading the Japanese original, keep notes on unfamiliar words and sentence patterns to avoid frequent lookups interrupting the rhythm
After reading, write down your understanding of the characters' motives to help sort out the psychological layers of the work

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese translation or the Japanese original?

According to the information, this edition is in Japanese and is a public-domain electronic text, not a Chinese translation. Readers need some Japanese reading ability, or should use tools or a parallel translation for assistance.

Can I read this book without any Japanese?

Reading the original directly would be quite difficult. It is advisable to first read a Chinese translation to understand the content, then return to the original to feel the language style; if you only want the story, choose a translation rather than this e-book.

Is this book suitable as a literature-course text?

As a public-domain short text, it is easy to obtain and cite, and is suitable as supplementary reading for courses on modern Japanese literature, especially for discussing Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's narrative technique and thematic tendencies.

Do I need to know the author's creative background to read it?

Some familiarity with the modern Japanese literary context in which Tanizaki worked helps, but extensive background knowledge is not essential. Reading the text first and then supplementing with the author's life and period background often yields a firmer understanding.

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About the author

Tanizaki, Jun‘ichiro, 1886-1965 Author

Tanizaki, Jun'ichiro, 1886-1965, was a major modern Japanese novelist. Four of his works are held in this collection: Shisei (The Tattooer), Akuma (The Devil), Zoku Akuma (The Devil, Continued), and Atsumono (Soup), commonly classified under inspirational growth. Public information is limited, and reliable in-collection records for biographical details such as nationality, education, and awards are unavailable, so they are not elaborated here. Judging from these four works, his subjects often concern the subtle recesses of human nature and the boundaries of desire; his touch is delicate, and he advances narrative through sensory description and psychological portrayal, creating a tense yet restrained atmosphere in short and medium-length forms. Titles such as Shisei, Akuma, and Zoku Akuma themselves reveal an attention to abnormal psychology and sensory experience, while Atsumono shows that he could also write with fine observation in everyday subjects. This method of carrying complex humanity in compressed length leads Chinese readers to place his works within the context of modern Japanese literature, offering reference value for understanding the aesthetic shifts in the fiction of that period.