Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (27 June 1850 – 26 September 1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲), was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories. He also translated several works some of which are included in this collection.
Clarimonde (or La Morte Amoreuse)
Théophile Gautier (1811 - 1872)
Translated by Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904)
Read by Joy Chan
Running Time:1:23:09
Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction, Romance
This is the story of a priest named Romauld, and his all-consuming love for the beautiful courtesan, Clarimonde.
Exotics and Retrospectives
Read by William Gavula, MaryAnn Spiegel, Availle, Larry Wilson, Lynne T, Isana, JenMitchell, Kristin G., Heeheekitty
Running Time:05:32:41
Genre(s): Essays & Short Works, Philosophy
Lafcadio Hearn, born 1850 in Greece, went to Japan when he was 40 years old and became a Japanese citizen only 6 years later. His writings about Japan from the beginning of the Meiji era, when the country was just opening to the West, remain among the most important explanations of Japanese culture.
This book contains in the first part, "Exotics", his observations of and personal insights into Japan. For example, Fuji no Yama tells about him climbing the highest mountain in Japan; and A Question in the Zen Texts, Literature of the Dead, and Of Moon Desire try to explain Buddhist teachings. In the second part, "Retrospectives", Hearn leaves both Japan and his vantage point as impartial observer behind and delves into personal experiences and musings that occurred to him in the numerous countries he visited. The main topic of these very personal pieces is beauty in all its forms.
Fantastics and Other Fancies
Read by Ben Tucker
Running Time:04:46:00
Genre(s): Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales, Horror & Supernatural Fiction
This posthumous collection of short stories by noted author and historian of weird folklore brings together 36 of his earliest works, many of them brief romantic sketches of phantasmagoric imagery, supernatural occurrences and tales from far away places. H. P. Lovecraft said of this collection in his seminal essay Supernatural Horror in Literature that it "contains some of the most impressive ghoulishness in all literature".
Gleanings in Buddha Fields
Read by Availle,Tom Penn, MaryAnn, Nuria, Corrinne LePage, Dan McAdam, Eva Davis
Running Time:06:25:05
Genre(s): Culture & Heritage Fiction, Essays & Short Works
Lafcadio Hearn was one of the first Westerners to live in Japan during the early Meiji era, and a prolific writer. Although chiefly known for his collections of Japanese ghost stories (in particular Kwaidan), he also wrote many non-fiction essays about his life in Japan.
This book contains 11 essays covering a variety of topics. For example, Hearn writes about his visits to Kyoto and Osaka, Japanese art, as well as Buddhism and Nirvana.
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan: First Series
Read by Marisol Cui
Running Time:11:38:58
Genre(s): Essays & Short Works, Travel & Geography
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan is a collection of essays by Lafcadio Hearn detailing his first impressions of the country he found so fascinating he decided to stay there for the rest of his life. In these essays and recollections he expresses his curiosity, bewilderment, and marvel at Japanese tradition, culture and lifestyle. Lafcadio Hearn is best known as the most notable person to introduce Japan to the West. He produced about thirty works, including translations, retellings of folktales, and travelogues.
In Ghostly Japan
Read by Nadine Eckert-Boulet, Scott Carpenter, J. David Moore, Availle, Miette, Dill Cuthamin, Bellona Times
Running Time:4:33:47
Genre(s): Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales, Horror & Supernatural Fiction, Short Stories
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.
Fragment
Furisode
Incense
A Story of Divination
Silkworms
A Passional Karma
Footprints of the Buddha
Ululation
Bits of Poetry
Japanese Buddhist Proverbs
Suggestion
Ingwa-Banashi
Story of a Tengu
At Yaidzu
Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation
Read by Julia Niedermaier
Running Time:13:58:18
Genre(s): *Non-fiction, History, Religion
Greece-born Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904) spent decades of his life in Japan, even marrying a Japanese woman, thus becoming a Japanese citizen by the name of Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲). He wrote many books on Japan, especially about its folklore. In this posthumously published book, he takes a closer look at Japan's religious history: How it developed from ancient beliefs into Shintoism, resisted suppression attempts by both Buddhism and Christianity and how – despite efforts to westernise Japan during the era known as Meiji Restoration – it remained the basis for Japanese society. Even today, over 100 years after this book was written, some of the described traditions and fundamental ideas still exist.
Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life
Read by Expatriate
Running Time:07:57:17
Genre(s): Essays & Short Works, Travel & Geography
In an introductory paragraph, Lafcadio Hearn declares his intention: "The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, for which reason they have been grouped under the title Kokoro (heart). Written with the above character, this word signifies also mind, in the emotional sense; spirit; courage; resolve; sentiment; affection; and inner meaning, just as we say in English, "the heart of things."" The result is a highly eclectic collection of stories, diary entries, cultural essays, and collected traditional texts that illustrate not only the state of Japanese society in the 1890s but also the endlessly fascinating issue of the intersection of cultures as demonstrated in a Westerner's interpretations of what he observed in Japan. As much is revealed about the Western mind as the Japanese mind whenever such an intersection occurs.
Kottō : Being Japanese Curios, with Sundry Cobwebs
Read by Scott Carpente, Nadine Eckert-Boulet, Ruth Golding, Ana, summerdaze, Availle, Eine-von-Vier, Martin Geeson, David Barnes
Running Time:4:19:41
Genre(s): Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales
Kottō contains 20 Japanese stories, collected from different sources and translated by Lafcadio Hearn. The types of stories in this collection are widespread: There are old ghost stories Hearn is best known for (The Legend of Yurei-Daki), his own observations and musings (Pathological), as well as the translation of 'A Woman's Diary', a touching account of the life of the poorer classes in Tokyo, written at the end of the 19th century.
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things
Read by Vilay Vanh, Nadine Eckert-Boulet, Availle, Scott Carpenter, Martin Geeson
Running Time:3:51:40
Genre(s): Short Stories
Most of the following Kwaidan, or Weird Tales, have been taken from old Japanese books,— such as the Yaso-Kidan, Bukkyo-Hyakkwa-Zensho, Kokon-Chomonshu, Tama-Sudare, and Hyaku-Monogatari. Some of the stories may have had a Chinese origin: the very remarkable "Dream of Akinosuke," for example, is certainly from a Chinese source. But the story-teller, in every case, has so recolored and reshaped his borrowing as to naturalize it… One queer tale, "Yuki-Onna," was told me by a farmer of Chofu, Nishitama-gori, in Musashi province, as a legend of his native village. Whether it has ever been written in Japanese I do not know; but the extraordinary belief which it records used certainly to exist in most parts of Japan, and in many curious forms… The incident of "Riki-Baka" was a personal experience; and I wrote it down almost exactly as it happened, changing only a family-name mentioned by the Japanese narrator.
Introduction
The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi
Oshidori
The Story of OTei
Ubazakura
Diplomacy
Of a Mirror and a Bell
Jikininki
Mujina
RokuroKubi
A Dead Secret
YukiOnna
The Story of Aoyagi
JiuRokuZakura
The Dream of Akinosuke
RikiBaka
HiMawari
Horai
Insect Studies - Butterflies
Insect Studies - Mosquitoes
Insect Studies - Ants
Shadowings
Read by Availle, Isana, Jennifer Fournier, Larry Wilson, Risa Tsunagi, realisticspeakers, Rich Burgess, Eva Davis
Running Time:05:04:48
Genre(s): Essays & Short Works, Social Science (Culture & Anthropology)
This is another of the popular books that Lafcadio Hearn wrote on various Japanese subjects. The first part "Stories From Strange Books" is a collection of Japanese tales about ghosts and strange occurrences. In the second part "Japanese Studies", Hearn discourses on cicadae, girl's names, and Japanese songs. The third part "Fantasies" are stories and essays on various topics written by Hearn himself.
Some Chinese Ghosts
Read by Ben Tucker
Running Time:02:16:33
Genre(s): Fantastic Fiction
Noted writer of Asian folklore Lafcadio Hearn brings us a volume of mysterious and magical folk stories from the country of China.
The Temptation Of St. Anthony
Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880)
Translated by Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904)
Read in English by Tony Addison
Running Time:06:53:35
Genre(s): Literary Fiction
An extraordinary work of the aesthetic imagination, cast in the form of a psycho-drama detailing the events of one night in the life of the aged hermit, later Saint, Anthony, in the course of which his claims to sainthood are severely tested by, among other things, Gods, Magicians, Science, Food, Monstres, Lust and Death. Beautifully translated by Lafcadio Hearn, justly celebrated for his eerie re-tellings of Japanese ghost stories and legends, it boasts equally extraordinary printworks (for those who follow the link to the Online Text) by renowned symbolist artist Odilon Redon.