The old bamboo-hewer's story Taketori monogatari: the earliest of the Japanese romances, written in the tenth century

By F. Victor Dickens and F. Victor Dickins

Book Overview

This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. So that the book is never forgotten we have represented this book in a print format as the same form as it was originally first published. Hence any marks or annotations seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 935395729X
• ISBN13: 9789353957292
• Release Date: January 2020
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 110 Pages
• Weight: 0.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Magnificent in every respect

The book is lovely. The artwork is beautiful and printed in beautiful vivid colours. The book makes one wish to save up to try to purchase artwork by the artist, Masayuki Miyata (not because the illustrations in the book are in any way not fully satisfying but because they are so incredible). Keene's translation is, as one would expect, wonderful. It is also wonderful to have the Japanese as well as Keene's English translation, another very attractive aspect of this book for the person receiving it as a gift. As the book contains a translation from the traditional story into modern Japanese by the Nobel laureate in literature Yasunari Kawabata a student wishing to read the Japanese need not be concerned about struggling to read Ancient Japanese. Even though it is described a 'paperback' it is a very high quality book that feels as if it has been made with care to last a long time. This is a time when I wish I could give extra stars to indicate an utterly extraordinary book.

A subtle blend of story and art

This is an elegant package. The story is a classic Japanese folktale interpreted by one of Japan's greatest writers. A cautionary tale about love between humans and spirits, it is a well paced story, calm and quiet like a new moon. The text is balanced with the original Japanese script on one side and the English translation on the other. Interspersed though out are beautiful paper-cut illustrations. "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" is very much a piece of book art.The only drawback of this edition is the size. It is small, and would have benefited from a hard-backed coffee table edition. As it is, it is too fragile to be a child's book.

Beautiful

This is a wonderful story beautifully told. The excellent translation brings across Kawabata's style. The pictures are gorgeous. It is short, but wonderful.

Wonderful

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter was my introduction to Kawabata and I loved it. Yasunari Kawabata was the first Japanese writer to be honored with a Nobel Prize. Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter) is an extremely old Japanese story, credited to around the late ninth or early tenth century under disputed authorship.Donald Keene has done a wonderful job of translating Kawabata. This is a fast paced fable beautiflly presented in an oblong book. Physically it is one of the most attractive books I have ever purchased. This translation of Tale of the Bamboo Cutter had been delayed by twenty years before the translator Keene came across a brilliant series of paintings done by Miyata Masayuki of the same story. The elements finally came together to create one of the most beautifully presented books I've come across.The book is 176 pages long, presented with Japanese and English on opposite pages. Don't expect a long read here, perhaps only a day or so's worth, but you won't be disappointed. This is truly a beautiful story that I hope you, like me, will return to from time to time to enjoy.