Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Vol 1 Lafcadio Hearn 9781542558174 Books
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A Japanese magic-lantern show is essentially dramatic. It is a play of which the dialogue is uttered by invisible personages, the actors and the scenery being only luminous shadows. Wherefore it is peculiarly well suited to goblinries and weirdnessess of all kinds; and plays in which ghosts figure are the favourite subject. -from "Of Ghosts and Goblins" In 1889, Westerner Lafcadio Hearn arrived in Japan on a journalistic assignment, and he fell so in love with the nation and its people that he never left. In 1894, just as Japan was truly opening to the West and global interest in Japanese culture was burgeoning, Hearn published this delightful series of essays glorifying what he called the "rare charm of Japanese life." Beautifully written and a joy to read, Hearn's love letters to the land of the rising sun enchant with their sweetly lyrical descriptions of winter street fairs, puppet theaters, religious statuaries, even the Japanese smile and its particular allure. A wonderful journal of immersion on a foreign land, this will bewitch Japanophiles and travelers to the East. Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (June 27, 1850 - September 26, 1904), also known as Koizumi Yakumo after gaining Japanese citizenship, was an author, best known for his books about Japan. He is especially well-known for his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Early life Hearn was born in Lefkada (the origin of his middle name), one of the Greek Ionian Islands. He was the son of Surgeon-major Charles Hearn (of King's County, Ireland) and Rosa Antonia Kassimati, who had been born on Kythera, another of the Ionian Islands. His father was stationed in Lefkada during the British occupation of the islands. Lafcadio was initially baptized Patricio Lefcadio Tessima Carlos Hearn in the Greek Orthodox Church. Hearn moved to Dublin, Ireland, at the age of two. Artistic and rather bohemian tastes were in his blood. His father's brother Richard was at one time a well-known member of the Barbizon set of artists, though he made no mark as a painter due to his lack of energy. Young Hearn had a rather casual education, but in 1865 was at Ushaw Roman Catholic College, Durham. He was injured in a playground accident in his teens, causing loss of vision in his left eye. Emigration The religious faith in which he was brought up was, however, soon lost, and at 19 he was sent to live in the United States of America, where he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. For a time, he lived in utter poverty, which may have contributed to his later paranoia and distrust of those around him. He eventually found a friend in the English printer and communalist Henry Watkin. With Watkin's help, Hearn picked up a living in the lower grades of newspaper work. Through the strength of his talent as a writer, Hearn quickly advanced through the newspaper ranks and became a reporter for the Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, working for the paper from 1872 to 1875. With creative freedom in one of Cincinnati's largest circulating newspapers, he developed a reputation as the paper's premier sensational journalist, as well as the author of sensitive, dark, and fascinating accounts of Cincinnati's disadvantaged. He continued to occupy himself with journalism and with out-of-the-way observation and reading, and meanwhile his erratic, romantic, and rather morbid idiosyncrasies developed.
Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Vol 1 Lafcadio Hearn 9781542558174 Books
I like the descriptions of Japan that are still true today. Captures the moment and mood of this magical country with its beauty, elegance, norms and sometimes idiosyncratic ways. Helps Westerners understand beyond what eyes can see.Product details
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Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Vol 1 Lafcadio Hearn 9781542558174 Books Reviews
I must admit that this review is tainted with bias. I read this book after staying in Izumo and Matsue on a week long trip to visit a good friend. In Matsue, Lafcadio is probably the most honored celebrity to have ever resided in the city. Statues, posters, honorary names of places abound with his image. I toured the house he lived in and describes in the book, and I became curious about this man I knew only in name.
So a week later I bought this book. It is a collection of his writings from 1891 and his first days in Japan to when he left Matsue just a few years later. The stories range from his personal favorite of telling ghost stories and fables of old, to his traveling adventures, which usually involve temples and festivals. Some stories are really edifying (especially when I had been to places he described), but I must admit that many times my attention was stretched thin and I grew bored.
Many moments in the book are enlightening and offer a glimpse of Japan and offer insights into the culture, but now after spending over a year here, I have to admit that most of these insights are a part of the past. Most of what is written is no longer around. Maybe it is because@I spend my time in Tokyo, but I feel somehow disconnected to the tales of festivals and people that filled Lafcadio's life over a hundred years ago.
But that is to be expected I guess. The true complaint I have is that after a few temples and shrines, every place seems the same in its confusing description, and it gets, if not redundant, old. The use of the Japanese language will prove confusing for people who have not studied the language. Even I, who is still slowly but surely learning, was stopped occasionally at a word thrown here and there. Also Lafcadio really does have a love for Japan. Sometimes it is easy to see why. Yet even though he never brings himself to admit it, he will often defend Japan at the expense of all things western. (The most foreboding was where he praises the loyalty of the common Japanese for their Emperor and how wonderful it is. Something that just 50 years later would be exploited and manipulated to horrific degrees.)
This is what half of the book is like. Other times there will be captivating stories that transcend time and bias and are completely absorbing. Lafcadio's prose are fluid and natural and I must admit make me jealous that I lack any such writing skill. It is captivating for exactly what the title says. It offers a glimpse into Japan that frankly does not exist anymore, at least that I know of.
Classic Hearn
Good
Lafcadio Hearn is a notable person in Japan now and yesteryear. In 1947 for a month I lived in "his Matsue" and also nearby Yonago. His tales of Fox are very relevant to this area with many shrines to foxes and in turn the many symbols for Fox from village folk. For a westerner his varied writings combine enthusiasim with accurate description of what must be the enigma of Japan. I enjoyed his writings, again, in an economical book. My reading supports my interest in HAIKU and four modest books.
Learned so much about cultures from long ago that still hold a sliver today in japan. Amazing how time changes so much in our collected manorisms and ideas with the growth of industrialization.
I like the descriptions of Japan that are still true today. Captures the moment and mood of this magical country with its beauty, elegance, norms and sometimes idiosyncratic ways. Helps Westerners understand beyond what eyes can see.
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