Scan barcode
wannabekingpin's review against another edition
3.0
First two stories left little to no impression. But the three last ones are the ones who deserved the stars. And beside the simple and yet fun short little stories, there's lots of interesting facts about those-days Japan, culture, religion, traditions.
mrswythe89's review against another edition
4.0
Punchy and amusing; also interesting for stern format of straying lovers who die or enter nunneries/monasteries. But they are sympathetic stories, even though the characters who stray from the (occasionally obscure) dictates of society must by ruthless moral logic of narrative's world be punished. There were more English translations of Saikaku's stories in the bookshop where I picked these up; wish I'd got more of them.
inthether's review against another edition
3.0
All about how women are deceitful and bring misfortune to men. At least that's what was striking to me when I read it. The five stories were unique and Japanese people have a way of telling the story in such a poetic way. I feel that one should be familiar with their culture, history, and religion to really like the references. It's not that the book was bad but just that it was not for me even if the writing was really amazing.
alexainsworth's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked this set of short stories but I had really hoped for more. The last story, Book Five, Gengobei the Mountain of Love was my favorite story. The others were nice and I liked them just didn’t love them.
lillyminasyan's review
5.0
I always say this, but the Japanese literature isn't for most people's taste and I don't think I'll ever comfortably recommend them to my friends, since they might read it and think "what is wrong with Lilly's taste?!".
When I started this book, it was very confusing and I was constantly comparing it to the other Japanese authors, but then I reminded myself that this book was written during the 17th century and this author used to be the Haruki Murakami (I've used Haruki Murakami, since he is the most known Japanese author currently in my humble opinion). Back then, other authors heavily plagiarized his works. And when you read this book, it is so full of ordinary but yet not ordinary book. He wrote about a monk being in love with two men in the 17th century. I don't know about the LGBTQI+ rights back then, but you need to be very brave to write about that. Even one of the female characters was pretending to be a guy.
I constantly notice that it is very common to write about suicide, gay/lesbian love in the Japanese books. Considering how traditional they are in real life, I wonder why it is so.
Back to the book. Once I got over the comparison, I really liked the book. It is surely weird and in some places confusing, but I think the translation lost some of the beauty. I bet in Japanese it is way better, and it really sucks I can't read it in Japanese to compare.
If you end up reading it, I wonder what you thought about this book.
When I started this book, it was very confusing and I was constantly comparing it to the other Japanese authors, but then I reminded myself that this book was written during the 17th century and this author used to be the Haruki Murakami (I've used Haruki Murakami, since he is the most known Japanese author currently in my humble opinion). Back then, other authors heavily plagiarized his works. And when you read this book, it is so full of ordinary but yet not ordinary book. He wrote about a monk being in love with two men in the 17th century. I don't know about the LGBTQI+ rights back then, but you need to be very brave to write about that. Even one of the female characters was pretending to be a guy.
I constantly notice that it is very common to write about suicide, gay/lesbian love in the Japanese books. Considering how traditional they are in real life, I wonder why it is so.
Back to the book. Once I got over the comparison, I really liked the book. It is surely weird and in some places confusing, but I think the translation lost some of the beauty. I bet in Japanese it is way better, and it really sucks I can't read it in Japanese to compare.
If you end up reading it, I wonder what you thought about this book.
nwhyte's review against another edition
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3212901.html
It's a set of five love stories set in contemporary 1680s Japan - in fact, all based more or less on real life, where those who loved outside their social class would often face the death penalty (in four of the five stories, one or both of the protagonists is executed). I found it a really easy quick read, markedly more realistic than, say, Pilgrim's Progress (which was published the previous year). The last of the five stories is particularly interesting - Gengobei, a monk, is heartbroken by the deaths of two young boyfriends in quick succession; Oman, a young girl, falls in love with him and disguises herself as a boy to get into his bed; Gengobei discovers he likes her too, and they live happily ever after (after certain dramatic tribulations). It's the only story of the five with a happy ending. Sex is a universal, and probably tales of doomed love have fascinated humans since we were first able to gossip about how Ugg and Obba wanted to get together despite being from different caves, but here we have a fascinating snapshot of a changing Japan, a growing bourgeoisie not entirely happy at the policing of sexuality by the authorities. The translation by Wm. Theodore de Bary is maybe a bit old-fashioned and a twenty-first century treatment would be fun to read.
It's a set of five love stories set in contemporary 1680s Japan - in fact, all based more or less on real life, where those who loved outside their social class would often face the death penalty (in four of the five stories, one or both of the protagonists is executed). I found it a really easy quick read, markedly more realistic than, say, Pilgrim's Progress (which was published the previous year). The last of the five stories is particularly interesting - Gengobei, a monk, is heartbroken by the deaths of two young boyfriends in quick succession; Oman, a young girl, falls in love with him and disguises herself as a boy to get into his bed; Gengobei discovers he likes her too, and they live happily ever after (after certain dramatic tribulations). It's the only story of the five with a happy ending. Sex is a universal, and probably tales of doomed love have fascinated humans since we were first able to gossip about how Ugg and Obba wanted to get together despite being from different caves, but here we have a fascinating snapshot of a changing Japan, a growing bourgeoisie not entirely happy at the policing of sexuality by the authorities. The translation by Wm. Theodore de Bary is maybe a bit old-fashioned and a twenty-first century treatment would be fun to read.
amber_unabridged's review against another edition
4.0
I read this several years ago and don't remember a lot of details. More to come when I re-read it.
More...