Morito and Kesa

After all that sugar and sun the past days, it's time for some sinister gloom and darkness. Reading "Gates of Hell" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa leaves me depressed and oppressed, as if the title is very apt, I feel like I've been to the gates of hell indeed. I don't know if it's because of the intense emotional turmoil in the story itself or because its author committed suicide.

Ryunosuke is considered as one of the finest Japanese short story writers and he is famous for Rashomon. His stories are replete with Japanese culture and traditions which are decidedly alien to us Filipinos (for example, honor is a big thing with the Japanese, something which many Filipinos do not care about, sorry to say).

And who are Morito and Kesa? They are the doomed lovers in the story. Maybe I'll tell you more about them after our lit class tomorrow.