The Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman of Heian Japan (Tuttle Classics)

Amazon.com Price: $12.95 (as of 10/11/2019 17:01 PST- Details)

Description

Kagero Nikki, translated here as The Gossamer Years, belongs to the similar period as the celebrated Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikuibu.

This remarkably frank autobiographical diary and personal confession attempts to explain a difficult relationship as it reveals two tempestuous decades of the creator’s unhappy marriage and her growing indignation at rival wives and mistresses.

Too impetuous to be satisfied as a subsidiary wife, this pretty (and unnamed) noblewoman of the Heian dynasty protests the marriage system of her time in considered one of Japanese literature’s earliest attempts to portray difficult elements of the predominant social hierarchy.

A classic work of early Japanese prose, The Gossamer Years is crucial example of the development of Heian literature, which, at its perfect, represents an unusual flowering of realistic expression, an attempt, unique for its age, to regard the human condition with frankness and honesty. A timeless and intimate glimpse into the culture of ancient Japan, this translation by Edward Seidensticker paints a revealing picture of married life within the Heian period.

Home » Shop » Books » Subjects » Arts and Photography » History and Criticism » History » Asia » Japan » The Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman of Heian Japan (Tuttle Classics)

Recent Products