'A Haiku Journey: Bashos Narrow Road to a Far Province (Illustrated Japanese Classics)' by Matsuo Basho

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Books : A Haiku Journey: Bashos Narrow Road to a Far Province (Illustrated Japanese Classics)

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by: Matsuo Basho See Larger Image List Price: $15.00 Amazon.com's Price: $11.25 You Save: $3.75 (25%) Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 895 EAN: 9784770028587 ISBN: 477002858X Label: Kodansha International Manufacturer: Kodansha International Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 124 Publication Date: March 01, 2002 Publisher: Kodansha International Sales Rank: 128977 Studio: Kodansha International Related Items: Back Roads To Far Towns: Basho's Travel Journal (Companions for the Journey) Basho's Narrow Road: Spring and Autumn Passages (Rock Spring Collection of Japanese Literature) Matsuo Basho Basho: The Complete Haiku The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics) see more Editorial Review: Product Description: In the seventeenth century, the pilgrim-poet Basho undertook on foot a difficult and perilous journey to the remote northeastern provinces of Honshu, Japan's main island. Throughout the five-month journey, the master of haiku kept a record of his impressions in a prose-poetry diary later called The Narrow Road to a Far Province. His diary was to become one of the classics of Japanese literature. Noted professor of Japanese literature J. Thomas Rimer wrote of this classic: 'In his diary, which Basho kept reworking and revising until his death, he mixed fact, fiction, poetry, and prose to create the record of a journey that moves both geographically and spiritually, one strand mixing with the other on virtually every page. Read and reread with care, The Narrow Road to a Far Province can reveal more qualities still basic to Japanese cultural attitudes than perhaps any other work in the whole canon of classical literature. For once, the highest of reputations is truly deserved.' This new edition is illustrated with sumi-e ink sketches by Japanese artist Shiro Tsujimura. Customer Reviews Average Rating: Rating: - Nice volume, but not the best translation Although Ms. Bitton's translations of Basho's prose are not far off from other versions of this title, many have complained of the rhyming scheme she employs when translating the haiku verses of the author's most famous work. I do agree, that these translations are somewhat jarring and just a little cumbersome (especially if one has knowledge of other translations of this haibun). But Bitton's effort was devoted to making the verses more accessible to Western readers accustomed to the perceived ... Read More Rating: - Can Haiku Be Translatable? We can find Basho almost everywhere in Japan. My hometown is close to the Tokaido-highway and easy to find stone monuments with Basho's haiku inscribed in it. Dorothy Britton did fine job in the mission-impossible task of translating Basho haiku into palpable English. I am not well versed in poetry so I do not know how great her translation is with respect to literal viewpoint. She created the method by which peculiarly styled Japanese poem is converted into that of rhyme based ... Read More Rating: - Don't buy this one! There are several different translations of Basho's Narrow Road extant and without doubt this is the worst generally available. Dorothy Britten's translations of both the text and verse cloy terribly, and betray her shallow understanding of the form. Her translations of some of Basho's best haiku rhyme, which should be enough to put anyone off. If you want to buy a translation of this wonderful work, I recommend a different Kodansha publication -- the edition featuring Masayuki Miyata's breathtaking ... Read More Rating: - This translation is laughable! This is the worst translation of Basho that I have ever seen. She makes all the haiku rhyme!!! Ugh! I suppose in Lady Bouchier's idle mind that's how poetry should appear. Here's a quote: "Life itself is a journey; and as for those who spend their days upon the waters in ships and those who grow old leading horses, their very home is the open road." Now compare that to Sam Hamill's translation: "A lifetime adrift in a boat, or in old age leading a tired horse into the years, every day ... Read More

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