A review by mitskacir
The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon

4.0

This was a really incredible read: Firstly, the book is 1000 years old. It is incredible to read a text this old, but even more amazingly to feel such a strong kinship with the characters. Shonagon's observations and commentary often feel like they are from the 21st century, and I think she would be well suited to be a modern Twitter satirist... She is judgmental, petty, observant, witty, sympathetic, and wise, and has many of the same dislikes and desires that I have felt myself. The attitudes about male and female respectability and beauty, sexual/romantic/platonic relationships, and class in the Heian era were very different than what I expected going in to the book (I guess I was expecting more or less what I've read in old western texts, were are rather conservative in comparison). Secondly, I really appreciated the footnotes that the editor provides. His commentary ranges from historical fact, to humorous quips, to personal judgements of Shonagon's behavior, and I found them all quite insightful and necessary - this book would be incredibly opaque without his contextualization. Despite Shonagon's relatability in her feelings, many of them would have been lost on me because they are deeply rooted in Heian tradition and other cultural customs that I am completely unfamiliar with. Thirdly, the "pillow book" format is such an intimate and unique style of writing. It was amazing to be able to truly get inside the mind of this woman from so long ago. I highly recommend this book to anyone willing to put in the effort to read the footnotes, because I think the pay off is great.