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

by Matsuo Basho (Author), Nobuyuki Yuasa (Translator) "He is man of true affection, and trustworthy enough to be called a friend in need..." (more)
Key Phrases: minor samurai, linked verse, starting piece, Kashima Shrine, Mount Haguro, Ise Shrine (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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.

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.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (February 28, 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140441859
• ISBN-13: 978-0140441857
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #104,814 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 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 (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

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

30 of 33 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)

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.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Seminal work marred by questionable translation, May 22, 2005

By	Zack Davisson "All Good Things" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Narrow Road to the Deep North" is one of the classics of Japanese literature, and a seminal work by Matsuo Basho, possibly Japan's greatest poet. A wandering spirit, he traveled across his home nation during a time when travel was dangerous, arduous, and almost impossible to the average citizen. Not only did he perfect his medium, the haiku, during his travels, but he also introduced the rare sights of Japan to his audience, painting a canvas of imagery that few would ever be able to see with their own eyes.

Unfortunately,this classic work is not fully realized in this translation. The translator, Nobuyuki Yuasa, is himself not a native speaker of English. Poetic translation is difficult under any circumstances, and when translating into a non-native language the task is made even more difficult. Yuasa makes use of fairly grandiose English words where Basho used simple language, and he attempts to fill in perceived gaps of foreign understanding with additional lines not included in the original. (Example: Basho's most famous poem includes the stanza "Mizu no oto" literally "The Sound of Water." Yuasa has given this as "A Deep Resonance" ) Yuasa also made use of a 4-stanza method of translating the haiku, which he defends in the introduction, but does not transfer the original intent of the form.

Unfortunately, the original Japanese versions of the haiku are not included, so a capable reader is not even able to attempt their own understanding.

Included in this single volume are several of Basho's travelogues, including "The Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton," "A Visit to Kashima Shrine," "The Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel" and "A Visit to Sarasina Village." The works are heavily end-noted, to clarify culture terms and names of note. Unfortunately, this is another flaw in the volume, as the end-notes are often short, and checking them interrupts the flow of the tale. Foot-notes would have been a better choice.

For a more capable translation of Basho's poetry, see Makoto Ueda's biography "Matsuo Basho." Hopefully in the future a better translation of all of these wonderful and important travelogues will be issued.