The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon

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Ebook in EPUB format. Available for immediate download after we receive your order

DRM:
Watermark

Publication Year:
2024

ISBN-13: 9781774646625

In the tenth century, Japan was both physically and culturally isolated from the rest of the world. The Pillow Book  recaptures this lost world with the diary of a young court lady. Sei Sh?nagon was a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote the well-known novel  The Tale of Genji. Unlike the latter's fictionalized view of the Heian-era court, Sh?nagon's journal provides a lively miscellany of anecdotes, observations, and gossip, intended to be read in juicy bits and pieces.

This unique volume was first rendered into English in 1889. In 1928, Arthur Waley, a seminal figure in the Western studies of Japanese culture, undertook and published this translation. The distinguished scholar devised this abridged version of the text, re-creating in English the stylistic beauty of its prose and the vitality of its narrative. Waley's interpretation offers a fascinating glimpse of the artistic pursuits of the royal court and its constant round of rituals, festivals, and ceremonies.