Review: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan by Murasaki Shikibu
My rating:

An interesting collection. I can't really give it a rating. My favorite (and the one most resembling a diary, albeit a disjointed one) was Lady Sarashina's. But they were each different and singular. I don't know why the collection wouldn't include The Gossamer years, but there you go. 

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Review: The Izumi Shikibu Diary: A Romance of the Heian Court

The Izumi Shikibu Diary: A Romance of the Heian Court by Izumi Shikibu
My rating:

I confess this wasn't what I was looking for. After having read the journals of Lady Sarashina, Lady Murasaki, the Tosa Diary, etc., I thought this would be similar, but it rather just narrates a specific love story, more as a story than a journal. It is told in the third person and begins and (sort of) ends with just this story. It is an interesting one, considering it really happened, and it is also a sad one, considering how it ended (although the ending isn't really mentioned in the journal). 

Regardless, I'm glad I read it. 

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