The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon (Classics)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.97 (827 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0140442367 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 416 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-10-27 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
'The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon', an informal diary of the reminiscences of a lady-in-waiting at the court of a Heian Empress.
(Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies)"Morris's scholarship is a living thing he sees through all the painted paper screens. It comes over extraordinarily well in this translation, and can rank with any other collection of court memoirs the world over. Outstanding. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon has not only amply filled the long-felt need for a full English translation, but has also made a contribution to Heian studies. (New York Times)A beautiful translation. (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies)The liveliest and most endearing of Heian writers, and the one who gives the most
He taught at Columbia University and was chair of its Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. His books include translations of Lady Sarashina's As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams, Jiro Osaragi's The Journey, Ihara Saikaku's The Life of an Amorous Woman, and Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden P
A Fresh view of an ancient World This book opens a window on a vanished world. Yet, because the lady who wrote the book writes what she believes a private volume we get to see her world warts and all.In many ways it shows that while society may change, and people are shaped by their culture, what it comes down to in the end is that we are still human beings.I can't think of a volume from western litrature of this age written by women. This is proof is you ever needed it that Japan truly is a land of ancient cultured people. Thankfully one that has preserved at least some. "A look back in time" according to E. A Solinas. Relatively little is known about Sei Shonagon's life, except what is revealed in "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon." What is known is that she was a court lady in tenth-century Japan, at the pinnacle of the Heian culture. Her reminiscences and thoughts add up to both an entertaining read and a glimpse back in time.The story behind the Pillow Book is that when Shonagon (possible real name: Nagiko) was serving the Imperial Family, the Empress received a bunch of notebooks that she couldn't use, so she gave them to Shonagon. Part diary, part . Best of the heian journals The entire book aside, one reason I enjoyed this more then The confessions of Lady nijo was for the fact that this book has no references to the tale of genji, which is considerably nice if you havn't read it. With the book itself and sei shonagons writing style, i myself did not find it hard to follow so long as i checked in with the notes in the back to read the follow up information on certain sentences. Just know that this is not a conventional diary, it describes things (spending copious amounts of time on clothes) in detail, describ