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A review by kahell
The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon
4.0
Awe-inspiring things — The first leaf appearing from a seed planted weeks ago.
Sunset from the mountain you've spent the whole day scaling.
The realization that no matter how many years, miles, or walls separate us, humans are essentially the same. The specific objects of our preoccupations may differ, but intrinsically we are all looking for an answer to the same question – why keep living?
Sei Shōnagon delightfully demonstrates the Heian period's answer to that: an acute appreciation of beauty and harmony, the development of a keen sense of poetic sensibility. I almost can't believe that I related as much as I did to someone who lived a whole millennium ago, but I did and it was an amazing experience.
I find myself going back to her quirky lists again and again, imagining the sensation evoked by every little scene. I've written some of my own and enjoyed the process of categorizing the trivial occurrences of everyday. It's singular in its purpose and it's refreshing, especially living in an age where everything seems to need to be all-encompassing solutions in themselves to be considered good.
Sometimes you just want to lay under the sun and attempt to put in words the way the sunlight reflecting on a particular leaf is making you feel, and that's okay. As we work to make things better, we should also appreciate the things that already are.
Sunset from the mountain you've spent the whole day scaling.
The realization that no matter how many years, miles, or walls separate us, humans are essentially the same. The specific objects of our preoccupations may differ, but intrinsically we are all looking for an answer to the same question – why keep living?
Sei Shōnagon delightfully demonstrates the Heian period's answer to that: an acute appreciation of beauty and harmony, the development of a keen sense of poetic sensibility. I almost can't believe that I related as much as I did to someone who lived a whole millennium ago, but I did and it was an amazing experience.
I find myself going back to her quirky lists again and again, imagining the sensation evoked by every little scene. I've written some of my own and enjoyed the process of categorizing the trivial occurrences of everyday. It's singular in its purpose and it's refreshing, especially living in an age where everything seems to need to be all-encompassing solutions in themselves to be considered good.
Sometimes you just want to lay under the sun and attempt to put in words the way the sunlight reflecting on a particular leaf is making you feel, and that's okay. As we work to make things better, we should also appreciate the things that already are.