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rhysquez's review
4.0
It feels weird giving a collection of very short, barely (if at all) interconnected haiku poems a star rating, especially in this case where the pieces almost certainly lose in translation. But this gets 4 out of 5 from me for the beautiful little verbal still lives Bashō creates, and that are able to transcend the shift in language.
Some were forgotten immediately, some stuck, some will definitely continue to haunt me for a while, some work because of their implicit thematic attachment to others.
4 stars for the "Noh cry / of pheasant", for the raincoated monkey, the cheeky self-referentiality, the "moon-wreathed / bamboo grove", the "sweet song / of non-attachment", the "frozen shadow", and the "chrysanthemum / silence".
"Wake, butterfly – / it's late, we've miles / to go together."
Some were forgotten immediately, some stuck, some will definitely continue to haunt me for a while, some work because of their implicit thematic attachment to others.
4 stars for the "Noh cry / of pheasant", for the raincoated monkey, the cheeky self-referentiality, the "moon-wreathed / bamboo grove", the "sweet song / of non-attachment", the "frozen shadow", and the "chrysanthemum / silence".
"Wake, butterfly – / it's late, we've miles / to go together."
chaistainedpages's review
What I’ve figured out after finishing this book is….. I don’t understand Haikus. Especially translated ones.
So it wouldn’t be fair for me to rate this book.
So it wouldn’t be fair for me to rate this book.
randomgirlmia's review
3.0
"If I'd the knack
I'd sing like
cherry flakes falling.
Come, see real
flowers
of this painful world.
Come, let's go
snow-viewing
till we're buried.
Lips too chilled
for prattle
- autumn wind."
I'd sing like
cherry flakes falling.
Come, see real
flowers
of this painful world.
Come, let's go
snow-viewing
till we're buried.
Lips too chilled
for prattle
- autumn wind."
obscuredbyclouds's review
3.0
I was confused about these haikus first, because they're not in the haiku format. However, I understand why the translator did this, they work well as they are. I think I could probably appreciate them more in the original language, though.