The Pillow Book

In the tenth century, Japan was both physically and culturally isolated from the rest of the world. The Pillow Book recaptures this lost world with the diary of a young court lady. Sei Shōnagon was a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote the well-known novel The Tale of Genji. Unlike the latter's fictionalized view of the Heian-era court, Shōnagon's journal provides a lively miscellany of anecdotes, observations, and gossip, intended to be read in juicy bits and pieces. This unique volume was first rendered into English in 1889. In 1928, Arthur Waley, a seminal figure in the Western studies of Japanese culture, undertook a translation. The distinguished scholar devised this abridged version of the text, re-creating in English the stylistic beauty of its prose and the vitality of its narrative. Waley's interpretation offers a fascinating glimpse of the artistic pursuits of the royal court and its constant round of rituals, festivals, and ceremonies.

The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shonagon during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. In it she included lists of all kinds, personal thoughts, interesting events in court, poetry, and some opinions on her contemporaries. While it is mostly a personal work, Shonagon's writing and poetic skill makes it interesting as a work of literature, and it is valuable as a historical document. Part of it was revealed to the Court by accident during Shonagon's life.

The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shonagon during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. In it she included lists of all kinds, personal thoughts, interesting events in court, poetry, and some opinions on her contemporaries. While it is mostly a personal work, Shonagon's writing and poetic skill makes it interesting as a work of literature, and it is valuable as a historical document. Part of it was revealed to the Court by accident during Shonagon's life.

'A mistress of wry observation and scalding wit ... The Pillow Book retains its fresh, authentic appeal more than 1,000 years after its inception' Japan Times Written by the court gentlewoman Sei Shonagon as a journal for her own amusement, The Pillow Book is one of the greatest works of Japanese literature. A fascinating exploration of life amongst the nobility at the height of the idyllic Heian period, it describes the exquisite pleasures of a confined world in which poetry, love, fashion and whim dominated. From brief reflections to longer, lyrical tales, Shonagon moves elegantly across themes including nature, society and her own flirtations and frustrations, to provide a witty, unique insight into a woman's life at court in classical Japan. Translated with an introduction by Meredith McKinney

'A mistress of wry observation and scalding wit ... The Pillow Book retains its fresh, authentic appeal more than 1,000 years after its inception' Japan Times Written by the court gentlewoman Sei Shonagon as a journal for her own amusement, The Pillow Book is one of the greatest works of Japanese literature. A fascinating exploration of life amongst the nobility at the height of the idyllic Heian period, it describes the exquisite pleasures of a confined world in which poetry, love, fashion and whim dominated. From brief reflections to longer, lyrical tales, Shonagon moves elegantly across themes including nature, society and her own flirtations and frustrations, to provide a witty, unique insight into a woman's life at court in classical Japan. Translated with an introduction by Meredith McKinney