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Title: The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon by Ivan Morris ISBN: 0-231-07337-2 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.39 (23 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Not a "highly intelligent statue"
Comment: I would like to disagree with the last reviewer and stress that Sei Shonagon was certainly not a highly intelligent statue and she was not particularly zen either. Shonagon was a lively wit and intellect, known for her erudition and scholarship. The thing that I found most wonderful about the Pillow Book was not its serene contemplation of nature, which was often a literary conceit in Heian times, but rather her robust enjoyment of life. In the Tale of Genji, the Gossamer Diary, and the Sarashina Diary, you find disappointed women, unhappy with the way their lives turned out and often betrayed by their men. Although several lovers are hinted at in the Pillow Book, Shonagon never lets anything get her down. The time she describes was probably not a happy time, her patron, the Empress was suffering due to lack of political support, and Shonagon's own future must have looked bleak. However, she never falls into self pity and rather treats us to a delightful look through the eyes of an extremely intelligent and realistic woman. Her description of the worst lover ever is hilarious today. I've read it to friends of mine who have never read any other Heian literature and it made them laugh. Shonagon's keen observations and ready wit shine through after a thousand years and a translation. It stands as a testament to the fact that somethings, love, laughter, friendship, and the relations between men and women never change.
Rating: 5
Summary: Thank you Sei Shonagon!
Comment: This memoir/diary from a lady in the Heian Period of Japan is one of the most fascinating things you will ever read. Here, a Japanese court lady puts down her thoughts on all things, and on her daily life. You will realize how sensual and tuned in to everything she is, and how little things can hold such infinite, endless beauty. Her powers of description are entrancing, and even devastatingly brilliant. There are parts that are extremely funny, extremely amusing, and parts that are insuperably beautiful. This book is highly suggested!
Rating: 5
Summary: A look back in time
Comment: 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 lists, part essays on things around her, the Pillow Book pretty much defies classification.
One of the most intriguing things about the Pillow Book is the glimpse into tenth-century Japan that it gives. Shonagon's stories are about little things like flutes, disobedient dogs, clothes, and the Empress's ladies betting on how long it would take a giant mound of snow to melt (no, I'm not kidding). It makes the past seem a little less distant. And the people in it seem more like people and less like historical paper dolls. An example is the Empress chatting as her hair is being done one morning.
It's pretty obvious that Shonagon was a bright and witty woman, although she could be quite a snob. However, her appreciation for simple pleasures will probably win over readers. Her charming love of beauty is often enchanting; she often lists things that she finds pleasing, such as moons, summer nights, flowers and willow trees.
She also listed her pet peeves (such as parents worshiping a very unappealing child -- something that made me chuckle), things she found depressing or annoying. A stickler for form and ettiquette, she had very precise ideas about how things should be done (right down to how lovers should act).
"The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon" is beautifully-written and highly entertaining. You don't have to be well-versed in this sort of literature to appreciate this unique memoir by a unique woman.
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Title: Diary of Lady Murasaki by Murasaki Shikibu, Richard Bowring, Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki ISBN: 014043576X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 09 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, Royall Tyler, Murasaki Shikibu ISBN: 014243714X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, Royall Tyler, Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki ISBN: 0670030201 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 11 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $60.00 |
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Title: As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams: Recollections of a Woman in Eleventh-Century Japan (Penguin Classics) by Ivan Morris, Lady Sarashina ISBN: 0140442820 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: December, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman of Heian Japan by Edward Seidensticker ISBN: 0804811237 Publisher: Charles E Tuttle Co Pub. Date: June, 1974 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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