Reviews

The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon

idleramblings's review against another edition

2.5

The rating is for this edition; it was a weird translation, with a lot of added parts by Waley and comparisons to Western literature/culture that felt reductive, when I just wanted to read what Sei Shonagon actually wrote. However, Sei's words are interesting. Just makes me wonder how much I missed by reading the edition I could find first.

amotisse's review against another edition

5.0

the pillow book in english, last read in 2001, listed under

Things that I keep coming back to...

because it is so beautiful, in any language!

I remember seeing a film inspired by this too by Peter Greenaway

it is an incredible creative writing ressource,
full of endless inspiration for lists of all sorts,
not to mention life and living, simplicity, nature...

amazing, and it's all real.

rkkmistry's review

5.0

OMG!! I’M OBSESSED!! So first of all, this book was written OVER A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, which is like just so insane I really can’t believe it. Well, the reason I can’t believe it is because there’s so much in here that is just so incredibly relatable. Like there’s obviously a lot that is just impossible to understand—mostly how all of Heian period court culture is basically just about how good a poet you are (yes, I know, we were all born too early to explore the galaxy and too late to allow our wit and charm to let us rise through the ranks of imperial Japan). I mean it’s actually crazy how many of the footnotes are just letting you know that even scholars don’t understand a lot of the puns and references she’s making. Although even with that I wonder if it’s in some way akin to how we all spend so much time texting and emailing..? BUT, there so much that feels like it could have been written yesterday: our lovers, our friends, our enemies!! I hate to get on my human universalist vibe, but like this book really just made me feel lucky to be human. I’m like, damn, life is suffering, but like I get the chance to hear birds chirp in the morning and watch the sun stream in through my window and that’s significant because millions of other people before me got to do that and now I also get to like take the whole “being a human thing” for a spin. Now, I’m not gonna say it’s an easy book, but if you’re up to the task, I really feel like the highs are just so high because you’re just getting such a candid picture of someone’s emotions from such a long time ago rendered in a way that feels so understandable. I’d recommend reading the first few pages of the intro and then most of the early footnotes, then just blasting through for a while so you can just enjoy and not looking anything up unless you absolutely have to. Then halfway through the book I read the whole intro and dig back into the appendix and especially the pictures before continuing.

mstooba's review against another edition

5.0

A magnificent book. The way Sei Shonagon describes day-to-day things not only shows her witty personality but also describes society during Heian period, Japan at this time. Her descriptions of nature are so detailed and beautiful as far her descriptions of children and things that she likes.

neveroutofbooks's review

4.0

I'm very glad I read this book. It brought home to me how women born long ago are just the same as women born now. Some of the things she was irritated by, I thought, "Yes! Me, too!" The descriptions were lovely and poetic (naturally, since she was a poetess). I did have to force myself to read at times because this isn't a book with a plot; it's not even a diary because it has no dates and events are mixed around as she felt like writing them. Overall, I really enjoyed this and am glad to have expanded my horizons in a way I never expected. I read this for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2016 for the category of a book by a non-white author.

gruenlichst's review against another edition

informative lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

meghan111's review

4.0

Heavily featured in Ruth Ozeki's novel [b:My Year of Meats|12349|My Year of Meats|Ruth Ozeki|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388513889s/12349.jpg|265218], I picked this up and read it in fragments here and there, basically the same way it was written. Lists of precise, interesting things and anecdotes about court life in Japan in the tenth century. Amazingly modern. The aesthetic is interesting, the lines of poetry carefully transcribed and delivered to a paramour, the women waiting for men to steal into their bedrooms at night.

Hateful things: "One is telling a story about old times when someone breaks in with a little detail that he happens to know, implying that one's own version is inaccurate - hateful behavior!
Very hateful is a mouse that scurries all over the place."

Pronouncements: "A Palm-Leaf Carriage Should Move Slowly.
"Oxen Should Have Very Small Foreheads.
A Preacher Ought To Be Good-Looking."

Beautifully precise descriptions of nature and weather.

bookeateryum's review

5.0

tender and clever - the lists were equally cutting as they were just plain silly. i wrote some lines into my pocket notebook so i could always have them with me, but far and above the best part was when she wrote that priests being ugly should be a sin

glowbird's review

2.0

Though the translation was quite clear and made for easy perusal, this is more a book for cultural study than for light reading. The text is fragmented and there's no story line, so you're picking up interesting snips of court life or passing thoughts but without a more complete understanding of historical context it doesn't add up to much. I could see this being really fascinating if you were studying Japanese history, but as a light piece of summer reading it didn't work.

vickie101101's review against another edition

3.0

This year, I am focusing on reading more international books. This is how I borrowed "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon" from my local library. I read reviews on Goodreads before taking this book out and had high hopes. Unfortunately, I did not love this book. I wanted to love this book, but I did not. I found sections to be dry and cumbersome. I often caught myself dosing off. The thing that I did enjoy, however, was the sense of humour throughout the book. I often found myself smirking over some of the passages. Before reading this book, I had no idea about the dry sense of humour that was present during this time period. Overall, I liked this book, but I would not recommend this book except to people who are wanting to learn about this time frame in Japanese culture.