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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I picked this book up on impulse in a used bookstore in Port Townsend. I read the first few pages and was hooked. It's the autobiography of a Japanese courtesan in the late 13th century. This book wouldn't be for everyone as there are a lot of detailed descriptions of clothes and numerous haikus about tear-drenched sleeves, but I really enjoyed it! The introduction and the footnotes are a must for understanding what's going on unless you're already an expert on 13th century Japan. And hey! The haikus have really started to grow on me!
"This kind of life or that, it all comes out the same. One cannot live forever in a palace or a hut." (Shinkokinshu Poem 1851)
"This kind of life or that, it all comes out the same. One cannot live forever in a palace or a hut." (Shinkokinshu Poem 1851)
informative
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
One of those books that really make you feel like you know the person writing from almost a thousand years ago in a totally different place and culture. I loved her sense of humor, and the way she saw the world in light of classical allusion and poetry was fascinating. Lady Nijō’s relationship with the the Retired Emperor in particular was layered with trauma and obsession— she was likely assaulted by him at fourteen, and yet over the course of the next forty-odd years in close proximity their relationship developed into one that feels close to mutual respect. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while
Lady Nijo's story begins when her father gives her to the retired emperor GoFukakusa as his concubine. Lady Nijo's mother died when she was two, and she was raised at court, knowing GoFukakusa all her life. Lady Nijo doesn't describe her experiences with GoFukakusa as rape, but she describes being taken unwillingly to the palace, and weeping and being unable to speak for days. She spends the majority of her time at the palace with GoFukakusa and the other courtiers and his other concubines. She is a person of high rank and accomplishment: she writes poetry, plays instruments, and paints. She is constantly besieged by men: men at court approach her all the time, and she has many affairs and has several children by different men. She is attached to these men, and becomes attached to GoFukakusa, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much pressure she was under, and how men constantly demanded her affection and attention. She longs to live a secluded life, and it's no surprise that becoming a nun offers freedom and solace to her. Her life is an unhappy one, but it's an amazing account: full of details of court life and of life as a travelling nun, as well as details of poetry, art and Buddhist thought. I found this book moving and sad, and I'm glad it survives.
informative
slow-paced
read this for graduate course on japanese women in love
Lady Nijo is a cool gal. she falls in love and becomes obsessed with the guy who rapes her, and it's all kind of sad, but also there's power to her love and her pining.
Lady Nijo is a cool gal. she falls in love and becomes obsessed with the guy who rapes her, and it's all kind of sad, but also there's power to her love and her pining.
Brazell brings to life the remarkable account of a previously unknown court lady in medieval Japan. Lady Nijo writes a remarkably clear piece that not only withstood the test of time but is likely to be unique, considering its rediscovery, the sheer honesty of its narrator, and the (from what I can gather) lack of other material documenting court life at the time.
emotional
funny
medium-paced