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A review by nwhyte
Năm Người Đàn Bà Si Tình by Ihara Saikaku
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.