Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Pillow Book of Sei Sh?nagon
The Pillow Book of Sei Sh?nagon | Sei Sh?nagon, Ivan I. Morris
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon is an immensely detailed account of court life in eleventh-century Japan. Written at the height of Heian culture, it is a classic text of great literary beauty, full of lively anecdotes, humorous observations, and subtle impressions. Sei Shonagon was a contemporary and erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji, fictionalized the court life that Lady Shonagon captures so vividly in her diary. The Pillow Book contains her reflections on royal and religious ceremonies, nature, pilgrimage, conversation, and poetry. Lady Shonagon shares character sketches and the things she both loves and loathes. Her style is so eloquent, her wit so sharp, even the briefest fragments enchant us. There is no better introduction to the daily preoccupations of the Heian upper class, and Ivan Morris's notes and contextualization enrich the material for scholars and general readers.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
Angeles
The Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image
Pickpick

The audio book I listened to was not the original but a bbc radio adaptation. I don‘t know how close to the original material my audiobook is but the voices and characters are superb and the little detective stories are amusing and sometimes insightful. Loved it!

blurb
squirrelbrain
The Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image

Not one that I‘ve read but apparently it‘s one of the classics, alongside ‘The Tale of Genji‘, which I know was a Littenish #buddyread recently. It‘s the dairy of a 10th century court lady...

#pillowtalk
#ayupaugust

*Zayn Malik was born in Bradford in 1993*

BarbaraBB This is one I‘ve been eyeing for years. Seems such a good read! 5y
Cinfhen 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 5y
67 likes2 comments
blurb
brilliantglow
The Pillow Book of Sei Sh?nagon | Sei Sh?nagon, Ivan I. Morris
post image

I have been thoroughly enjoying this book. It's quite an interesting look into life at the Palace in Heian Japan (11th century).

81 likes1 stack add
blurb
Sarah83
Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image

While browsing at Amazon, I found these pillows. They are called book pillows. Any one knowing or even using these?

Look quite cosy.

julesG I could make you one? My friends and I made some a few years ago. I can't believe a company is mass producing them now. 6y
Sarah83 @julesG would you? 😍💖 6y
heikemarie Gute Idee 💡! 6y
See All 7 Comments
julesG It'll be home/hand made with love! 6y
Moony Das sieht gut aus, wobei ich lieber so eine Rücken-Stütze (großes Lesekissen) fürs Bett oder die Couch hätte. Ich schlafe im "Liegen" zu schnell ein. Auch beim Lesen. 6y
Sarah83 @julesG 💖💖💖😍😍😍 thank you 😍 6y
Sarah83 @Moony Ja, das Problem kenne ich auch. 🙈 6y
52 likes7 comments
quote
QuoteQueen
The Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image
blurb
RealLifeReading
Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image

This is the second half of my reading list for #backtotheclassics2018

LeahBergen I have The Winthrop Woman, The Black Moth, and Shirley all waiting for me, too. 😬 6y
103 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Tsubame
Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image

Today I'm rummaging through Shonagon's Pillow Book, which is a work that makes me want to be able to read and understand Japanese so badly! A translation is never able to truly evoke the original language and what it intends to tell, yet I love the words which McKinney chose in her work. Some of Shonagon's lists leave me totally perplex, others fascinate me and overall I feel as if she did let us enter her into her mind and memory. What a journey!

Desha One of my favorite books! (yes I was an East Asian Studies major lol) So glad you love it too! 🎊🎉🎊📚📚 7y
Tsubame @Desha Cool! Then you're ages ahead of what I have on background knowledge! Did you read it as part of your studies? Did you also read the Genji Monogatari? 7y
Desha Yes I did read it for one of my classes...it was in a class where we were able to have a choice of material for one of our papers. I loved it! It's still in my top ten list of books ever lol! ❤️😜❤️ I was so happy to see that someone else loves it too! 📚❤️📚 Yes I read the Tale of Gengi but it's been a long time lol! 😉 7y
Tsubame Genji is a tough one I think! I never read the whole thing, but parts of each chapter 😆 I understand why Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu were said to be antagonizing each other ^^ 7y
4 likes2 stack adds4 comments
blurb
RebeccaH
Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image

I published a list of 100 must-read lesser-known classics on Book Riot today: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/22/100-must-read-lesser-known-classics/

OSChamberlain Definitely gonna check it out. I love me some good classics! 8y
Rebeccak Yes! This is the kind of list I have been waiting for! 8y
SharonGoforth This is great, thanks!! 8y
See All 9 Comments
britt_brooke Thanks for sharing this! 8y
Sue That's awesome thank you! Looks like there are some crackers on there!! 8y
Lindy I've only read 8 of them and look forward to trying more; it's exciting to see such an international list! 8y
LauraBeth Thanks for sharing 😀 8y
LeahBergen That was fun to read! 👍🏼 8y
34 likes9 comments
quote
BreathlessTess
Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image

Very much looking forward to reading this.

quote
sparrowpost
Pillow Book | Sei Sh?nagon
post image

Sei Shōnagon's lists create time, one detail upon each other.