The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Matsuo Basho (Author), Nobuyuki Yuasa (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: February 28, 1967

In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling. When he composed "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" he was a serious student of Zen Buddhism setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. He wrote of the seasons changing, of the smell of the rain, the brightness of the moon and the beauty of the waterfall, through which he sensed the mysteries of the universe. These travel writings not only chronicle Basho's perilous journeys through Japan, but they also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Matsuo Basho (1644-94) was the greatest of the Japanese haiku poets. The vitality and flexibility his genius gave to the strict 17-syllable form brought haiku to a level of immaculate perfection.

In later life Basho turned to Zen Buddhism and the travel sketches in this volume reflect his attempts to cast off earthly attachments and reach out to spiritual fulfillment. The sketches are written in the haibun style--a linking of verse and prose. The title piece, in particular, reveals Basho striving to discover a vision of eternity in the transient world around him and is his personal evocation of the mysteries of the universe.

About the Author

Basho, the Japanese poet and diarist, was born in Iga-ueno near Kyoto in 1644. He began to write verse while studying as the companion of the son of the local lord, and continued write when he moved to Edo (now Tokyo) in 1667. He eventually became a recluse, and on his travels relied on the hospitality of temples and fellow poets. His work is much influenced by Zen Buddhism. Nobuyuki Uasa teaches English at the University of Hiroshima.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; First Translated Edition edition (February 28, 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140441859
• ISBN-13: 978-0140441857
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Nonfiction > Japanese

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love of Nature and Passion for the Written Word, April 1, 2000

By 

Nicholas Beatty - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

With the pressures and obligations that are present in today's fast paced world, it is important to enjoy life in all of its simplicity.

The master Haiku poet, Basho, lived in Japan during the late 1600's. Born into a noble class, he felt his life was more fulfilled living as a simple peasant. Valued for his inability to distinguish the difference between economic barriers, he was well respected and highly sought after as a teacher.

The 1000 Mile Pilgrimage

Travel and nature were very much a part of his life. During the spring of his 46th year, Basho set off on a 1,000 mile pilgrimage. Travelling by horse and on foot, he bathed in cool streams and rested in fragrant meadows. His amazing journeys are recorded in several journals and haiku collections called Back Roads to Far Towns and The Narrow Road to the Deep North. His philosophy was simple. Everything he needed to know about life was learned from nature

When he came upon a little violet hiding shyly in the grass on a mountain pathway, it whispered it's secret to him. "Modesty, gentleness and simplicity," it said, "these are truly beautiful things." Glistening drops of dew on a flower had words of wisdom for him as well, "Purity is the loveliest thing in life", they said. Basho once wrote, "Real poetry is to lead a beautiful life. To live poetry is better than to write it".

Everyone who reads Basho's words will take away something different. Enjoying nature, the ability to look beyond social boundaries and living a simple life make Basho's writing an encouraging and pleasant way to meditate on what life has to offer.

"The months and days are wayfarers of a hundred generations, and the years that come and go are also travelers. Those who float all of their lives on a boat, or reach their old age leading a horse by the bit make travel out of each day, and out of each day their life is made." ....Basho

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Intimate and Comfortable, November 8, 2001

By 

Thomas F. Ogara (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Poetry translation is a thankless task, and in the final analysis it is rarely successful. Even when it is successful, it is usually for the wrong reasons. Lessing's translations of Shakespeare into German are a case in point; they are something of a minor classic in German literature, but that's because Lessing was a good poet himself. That doesn't mean that his translations are faithful.

Oriental poetry in English has a similar fate. We are used to accepting translations of Chinese poetry into blank verse, which is the last thing it resembles structurally in Chinese. However, it is true that the sentiment that we expect in blank verse tends to resemble the sentiments expressed in Chinese poetry, although it would be a mistake to carry that too far.

Then there is haiku, of which Basho is probably the greatest master. We all think we know what haiku is supposed to be - seventeen syllables (5-7-5), no rhyme, and a "surprise" at the end. This has become so familiar that the haiku has actually become a genre in English poetry. It doesn't take into account the almost stream-of-consciousness sensibility that haiku normally express in Japanese, and it can't, due to the limitations on what is acceptable sentence structure in English.

What I feel Mr. Yuasa achieved in his translation was to bring some of the Japanese sensibility of wabi and sabi into Basho's work, not by his translations of the poems themselves, but in his translation of Basho's commentary. This was a stroke of genius on his part. Anybody who has attempted translations of haiku feels the frustration of not being able to convey the atmosphere inherent in the poems; after all, there's only so much you can do with seventeen syllables! By letting the intimate loveliness of Basho's own commentary shine through, he provides a proper setting for the poems themselves. An excellent bit of work.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life as a Journey, September 21, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I periodically re-read this book as a reminder that all one truly "has" in life is one's experience. In his mastery of haiku Basho pares life down to one's experience and response to the present moment. In his travels it is not the destination that is important but the journey itself, an evocation of the transience of life.