Devils in Daylight

Although over a century old, Devils in Daylight feels like a very modern (short) story. Tanizaki is much revered by many modern authors, including Angela Carter and David Mitchell. He has a clear reverence for the Gothic (indeed, Devils in Daylight borrows quite significantly from Poe's short story, "The Gold Bug"), and in Tanizaki's writing, the quotidian regularly merges with the much more surreal and inexplicable. The story begins with one man proposing to another the opportunity to witness a murder being perpetrated. It is a both tantalising and shocking prospect. The work then preoccupies itself with the consequences—intended and unintended—that ensue. Devils in Daylight also works and remains relevant, since it embodies the concept of cinema. Reading Tanizaki is akin to watching a film. The author even asks—provocatively—why write a novel (as the narrator is ostensibly doing) when you could witness a murder instead?

By Jun'ichirō Tanizaki