Description

By (author) Shōnagon, Sei; Translated by Waley Arthur

Short /annotation:
Originally completed in the year 1002 and not meant for the public eye, this engrossing collection of anecdotes, observations, and gossip by a court lady to the Empress Teishi is a remarkable portrait of court life during the height of Japan”s Heian period.

:

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 Shōnagon 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, Shōnagon”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 a 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.

Reprint of the 1928 edition.