As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams: Recollections of a Woman in Eleventh-Century Japan (Penguin Classics)

The subject of this work is an anonymous low ranking aristocrat who describes her feelings and experiences while going through daily life. Make sure to read the introduction/preface whatever because while I normally skip that and read it after completing the book so it doesn't color my interpretation. However, the background here helps establish an understanding of the nature of this work that does not at all detract from the reading. Also, read the notes at the end. The book is short so I just waited until I finished and read the notes to get the researcher's background notes because the events were still in my mind.I found the book very haunting because even through the veneer of similarity caused by a modernizing translation to English I still felt a deeper common ground in her thoughts to thoughts I have experienced in my life. Sadness, grief, concerns and hesitancy over one's place in the world. These are things I don't usually consider because of the high 100000 foot view reading one gets from a biography or work of fiction where the writer can only speculate on or in the case of fiction articulate the most basic thoughts of the subject/characters in the work. They cannot know the mind of their subject but here this comes straight from the mind of the subject (across a 1000 year and language gap). Also, minus the dangers of bandits and disease that existed in her world her trips felt a lot like trips I have made with my parents in other countries; especially the part where she must lodge with strangers who look at her group with as much suspicion as they had for her group. That had an eerie similarity to my childhood. I also was surprised by how poetry was used then; it reminded me of the musicality of Hobbits and Elves in Lord of the Rings exchanging songs to convey greetings, disdain, appreciation and other feelings that would not be said outright but instead were very elegantly conveyed to blunt their cutting quality. She often exchanged poems with passers by to convey some irritation, longing or gladness. Her account is very fragmentary because this was not a diary or journal; it was simply a means to record events that she felt worth or at least necessary to record so large gaps in time exist in the narrative. Sometimes years. The court lady in waiting section was truly informative as well.Well worth the read.

The Heian Period in Japan must have been extraordinary. It produced such great writers and poets. This is another in a group of wonderful women authors. It's remarkable that in a society so bound in restrictive social limitations and formalities that there was also so much freedom of expression. Lady Sarashina (or whatever her real name was) produced a remarkable autobiographical book/diary/travelogue/social commentary. Unfortunately, this edition is quite unremarkable. The extremely poor paper quality, resulting in very poor print, makes it difficult to recommend it wholeheartedly! Also the illustrations which reputedly come from an ancient copy, suffer from the same problems. The story (and the translations) are excellent but if you are a reader like me who enjoys the feel and appearance of a book you are reading, find another edition. I intend to do so. The seller is first rate, sending in record time and in good condition. I highly recommend them.

Imagine if 12-year-old Anne of Green Gables lived as a little princess in medieval Japan, and she wrote a diary. This would be it. I keep on rereading this thing just because the author is so dang likeable! Also, there are rumors that she was the author of the hilariously bad exotic Tale of Genji fanfic, "Hamamatsu Chunagon Monogatari," which involves reincarnation, long-lost parents, a Chinese Empress, and is everything you could hope for in that. I wish she'd lived long enough to discover Livejournal.

This book is a travelogue written by a Japanese woman almost a thousand years ago. It is the recollections of her life. She was a daydreamer, often more involved in her dreams than her husband and children who receive scant mention in the book. She talks about the places she visited and shares poems written everywhere she went.The book is another glimpse in a world long gone. It is one of the few to survive from this period. Tale of Genji and others are more interesting, but for someone really interested in this time period, it is a worthwhile read.

Last year I read an article in the Guardian Review about the Penguin Classics series. The author of the article selected ten titles – apparently at random – to illustrate the richness and variety of the works available from Penguin. I realised that of the ten works, I had only read one, so I resolved to read the other nine in 2019. This is the last of those nine that I’ve read.This short work (you can easily read it in a day if, like the author, you have plenty of free time) was written in the early eleventh century by the daughter of a provincial governor. It is quite amazing that these works by medieval women are still considered among the greatest works of Japanese literature, whereas the works produced by men at that time gather dust. I can’t think of a similar situation in western literature. Of course Lady Sarashina and her peers were upper middle class or aristocratic/imperial ladies who had access to education, or enough education to enable them to write in an exquisitely lofty Japanese without the pernicious Chinese influences that their male counterparts were susceptible to. They also had masses of leisure and masses of servants to run around after them. Ivan Morris, the translator, notes that although Lady Sarashina’s descriptions of nature and landscapes are evocative, it was considered good form for a writer to be fairly vague about humdrum stuff like rice and paddy fields, despite – or perhaps because – their wealth came from the thousands of peasants toiling away in those same paddy fields. He also notes that these ladies lived through a time of turbulence, insurrection and rebellion, but the politics are ignored, certainly by Lady Sarashina. She is a very isolated and retiring individual, and even when she eventually marries and has children, she seems very remote from her family, especially after her father’s death. Having failed to make it as a lady-in-waiting to an imperial princess, she seems to spend most of her time going on pilgrimages to various remote temples.

A very special book. Have bought several copies for friends and they all agree.

thank you

Reading this and "The pillow book of Sei Shonagon" gives you an insight into two worlds - of success and failure - in the Imperial court of early Japan. While Sei Shonagon is vivacious and lively, Lady Murasaki writes with an air of bitterness and tiredness at spending her life in a place to which she was obviously not suited.Combine the two for a fascinating glimpse into another time and place - but expect to like Sei Shonagon all the more by the end.