A review by rkkmistry
The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon

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.