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Reviews
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Yuasa) by Matsuo Bashō, Nobuyuki Yuasa
_bookmoth's review against another edition
3.0
More like a travel log than a haiku companion. I guess I am too unfamiliar with Japanese geography and topography to appreciate the travels that much, though writing poems during travels is an inspiring idea.
ryderstanley's review against another edition
3.0
This book disappointed me. I really wanted to love it, I did, and I thought I would considering I really liked the collection from Saigyo I read and Basho was heavily influenced by him. It's not bad, I wouldn't go that far, but it's certainly not special and I don't see why Basho is often representative of Japanese Poetry as a whole. There are definitely a few beautiful poems in here, but the majority of the book is prose which, apart from a few lines, was bland and uninteresting. None of the poems made me feel anything beyond a vague sense of nostalgia at the rustic scenes, but there was no real emotional impact beyond that. Overall, it was fine, but not something I would recommend picking up if you want to get into Japanese Poetry.
annemariewellswriter's review against another edition
2.0
I was rather disappointed at how boring this was. Essential Haiku, for example, gave compelling recounts of the events in the haikaishi’s life, and then shared pertinent journal entries that revealed their emotions as the events took place. This translation of bashos journal entries left me wondering, “what am i getting out of this?”
“Went by river-boat down to harbor of Sakata. Stayed at En an Fugyoku, the doctors house.” Like okay... i guess i don’t want to read about someone’s daily minutia unless it’s beautifully written.
I did enjoy the Japanese being on the opposite page and being able to see the characters and their translations.
“Went by river-boat down to harbor of Sakata. Stayed at En an Fugyoku, the doctors house.” Like okay... i guess i don’t want to read about someone’s daily minutia unless it’s beautifully written.
I did enjoy the Japanese being on the opposite page and being able to see the characters and their translations.
dragonlilly's review against another edition
4.0
Only read "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" specifically.
A lovely journey and beautiful and at times funny poetry.
My favorite poem about a country and castle overgrown with grass:
"summer grass—
all that remains
of warriors’ dreams"
A lovely journey and beautiful and at times funny poetry.
My favorite poem about a country and castle overgrown with grass:
"summer grass—
all that remains
of warriors’ dreams"
krng's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful description of ancient japan in the form of prose and haikus.