Mostow: Pictures of the Heart [Hardcover]

Joshua S. Mostow (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Japanese

Product Details

• Hardcover: 552 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824817052
• ISBN-13: 978-0824817053
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #980,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Hyakunin Isshu around, March 13, 2010

By 

Manuel Del Rio Rodriguez "Galician Bookworm" (Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mostow: Pictures of the Heart (Hardcover)

There's quite a few English (and other) translations of the Hyakunin Isshu. This stems from the fact that we are talking about a very classical anthology of Japanese Literature and that it is reasonably small (100 poems, and being waka poems, quite small at that).

The Hyakunin Isshu was compiled at the beginning of the 13th century as a kind of private collection, thought to decorate with it the walls of his rural mansion at Ogura, by one of the greatest of Japanese poets: Fujiwara no Teika (a noted poet and compiler of anthologies, among them the Shinkokinshu and the Shinchokusenshu). Much later, it would become a very popular text, a staple book for the Japanese of lower classes when studying the old waka poetry tradition (which always remained quite elitist and aristocratically oriented) or for women's education. The more noted printers of the Edo period and later would make nice editions with drawings of the poets and the poems, including also extensive commentaries in the editions with different interpretations of the poems and their arcane images and language.

So... Why is Mostow's edition so good? It includes the poems in carefully made translations. It includes pictures from different books (and even kimono patterns), explaining why the images are not just 'illustrations' of the text and act as 'pictorializations' (they create and independent and proper iconic language with pictorial metaphors for their textual equivalent, and they sort out and choose their images among different possibilities reflected in the criticism). And it also includes comments with biographical information on the poets and the interpretations of each poem.

Overall, this is a delightful edition of the Hyakunin Isshu, which merges good scholarship and nice reading qualities. I heartily recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars The one that I return to again and again, September 13, 2008

By 

Cerulean (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mostow: Pictures of the Heart (Hardcover)

This is the translation that shows various images throughout time, comprehensive descriptions and has Japanese and English translations of the poems side by side.

For great commentary and background, I return to this one again and again.

I love the line illustrations.

Happy browsing and reading!