| NOTA |
()(Here, the first of its kind, is a collection of essays intended for the general reader who is broadly interested in Japanese literature and culture. Included are reviews of works by over one hundred authors --from the compilers of the LManLyoshuL poetry collection, through Lady Murasaki and her LTale of GenjiL, on to Saikaku and Miyamoto Musashi, up to Kawabata, Tanizaki, Mishima and beyond. As J.Thomas Rimer says in his introduction, this collection is La virtual cornucopia of observation and comments on the entire range of Japanese literatureL, including not only works of literary ambition, but also novels for entertainment as well.^@'Both shed considerable light on the linking layers of Japanese literary and artistic cultureL since Richie has the sure and universal taste to locate and appreciate the virtues of what he reads whatever this might be. This collection of reviews --to be dipped into or read straight through-- is intended to be an accessible and popular guide to enlighten and enrich its readers. As Rimer has said, LI know of no more sophisticated or persuasive guideL.^@Named by TIME magazine as Lthe dean of JapanLs arts criticsL and acknowledged as the foremost Western authority on Japanese cinema, Donald Richie has also written widely --some forty books in all-- on other aspects of the country and its people. Resident in Japan for over half a century, Richie has long been the most articulate of its commentators. His book,LThe Inland Sea [recently reissued by Stone Bridge Press]L, and its film version, has won prizes at international film festivals as well as the National Geographic Earth Award. LPublic People, Private People Lhas been called LunforgettableL by Tom Wolfe and of his two collections of essays,LA Lateral View and Partial ViewsL, Susan Sontag has said LDonald Richie writes about Japan with an unrivaled range, acuity, and witL. Richie has also written many reviews including, most notably, those for his LAsian BookshelfLcolumn in The Japan Times. LJapanese Literature ReviewedL is a collection of these, plus others originally appearing in other publications, in which the reviews are formed into a critique of Japanese literature itself. Here is a compilation that offers a full survey of its subject --one as detailed as it is inclusive.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
Print Page