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Travel Writings

By Matsuo Basho
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Travel Writings presents six poetic travel diaries by the celebrated seventeenth-century haikai master Matsuo Bashō. This definitive collection includes both his beloved works and lesser-known gems, translated into clear and accessible English prose and poetry. Richly annotated with detailed background, extensive allusions to Chinese and Japanese texts, and insightful commentary, the volume illuminates Bashō’s lyrical reflections on the beauty and hardships of the road, capturing travel as a metaphor for life itself.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Poets, students, scholars, and anyone interested in Japanese literature and cultural history will find this volume invaluable. Its thorough annotations and accessible prose also make it suitable for general readers seeking to deepen their appreciation of classical haiku and travel writing.

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'The literary significance of these six texts is enormous, and a single, affordable volume containing all of them, in clear and accessible translations, with thorough annotations, [will] be a great boon to teachers of Japanese literature.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The literary significance of these six texts is enormous, and a single, affordable volume containing all of them, in clear and accessible translations, with thorough annotations, will be a great boon to teachers of Japanese literature.

The strengths of this translation are clear... The annotations are extremely valuable: they show a solid grasp of Basho's life, work, and times, and provide rich and detailed background, with plentiful information about allusions to Chinese and Japanese texts and connections with other works by Basho.

I don't think I have encountered an English translation of Basho, or indeed of any Japanese poet, with such comprehensive annotation. The thoroughness with which these translations are annotated will make this book a significant scholarly resource; it will also help general readers appreciate the density and delicacy of Basho's writing.

In short, I think this translation of Basho's travel diaries will be an important and welcome addition to the English-language literature on one of the most important poets of the Japanese tradition. - David Lurie, Columbia University

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised for its vibrant, precise translations and comprehensive scholarly annotations, this edition is acclaimed by experts as the essential English-language resource on Bashō’s travel diaries. Reviewers highlight the superb work of translator Steven Carter and the volume’s appeal to poets, students, and scholars. It offers introductions, maps, and appendices informed by contemporary Japanese scholarship, encouraging readers to imaginatively retrace Bashō’s journeys across Japan.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781624668579

Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co, Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 July 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Hackett Publishing Co, Inc

Illustration: 5 maps

Contributors:

  • Translated by Steven D. Carter

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 404g

Pages: 320

Collections

Arts & Culture Asian History Biography & Memoir History & Archaeology History & Military Matsuo Basho Non-Fiction Travel & Adventure

About the Author

Steven D. Carteris Yamato Ichihashi Chair in Japanese History and Civilization, emeritus, Stanford University. His most recent books are How to Read a Japanese Poem (Columbia University Press, 2019) and The Columbia Anthology of Japanese Essays (Columbia University Press, 2014).

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