The Blue-Eyed Tarokaja: A Donald Keene Anthology

by Donald Keene, J. Thomas Rimer (Editor)

Overview

The preeminent Western authority on Japanese literature a presents a collection of personal essays and literary vignettes that offers a fresh and personal insight into his prolific career as a writer and translator, traveler and social observer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231103404
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	06/27/1996
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.29(w) x 9.26(h) x 0.96(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Editorial Reviews

Reflections include personal experience, from wartime to the present [of Japanese society and culture]; travel in Japan; and naturally, some brilliant pieces on literature and language.... The dozen or so chapters on travel in Japan are positively exhilarating.... Equally, the most devoted and knowledgeable admirer of Kyoko will find new insights of value here.... The essays... would be hard to match for depth of interpretation and clarity of exposition.

Asian Affairs

Here is a delightful collection of miscellaneous essays, along with several previously unpublished translations, by a writer with an unobtrusively elegant style, a sneaky wit, and a unique perspective. Professor Keene is not only America's preeminent scholar of Japanese literature but also one of the most eminent literary scholars in Japan.

New Yorker

This selection of early and late articles by the eminent translator, scholar, and professor of Japanese (Columbia Univ.) is loosely divided into five parts: "Myself," "Japan," "Travel," "Japanese Literature," and "Personal Observations." Most of the 37 articles introduce Japan (men, women, food, language, Kyoto, Nara, Abe Kobo); others discuss more advanced topics (the Iemoto system, teaching The Tale of Genji). Some of the essays deal with history (e.g., cannibalism), some are translations of short stories, but most deal with Keene's own experience. Editor Rimer (East Asian language and literature, Univ. of Pittsburgh) has compiled an eclectic mix of Keene's work that gives a taste of his various writings. Recommended for small collections and for those lacking Keene's other works.Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Coll., Garden City, N.Y.

Library Journal

A charming collection of Keene's personal essays and literary vignettes on such topics as the cultural interaction between the East and West, Japanese cuisine, music, and language; people and places in Japan; and Americans who study in or visit the country, as well as critical meditation on Japanese literature and the experience of continually commuting between Japan and the United States. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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