196 Books: Japan

 The Kagero Diary by Michitsuna no Haha, translated by Sonja Arntzen

I present, Japan:

I present, the (very long) summary:

Japan is the only country in the world where women writers laid the foundations of classical literature. The Kagerō Diary commands our attention as the first extant work of that rich and brilliant tradition. The author, known to posterity as Michitsuna’s Mother, a member of the middle-ranking aristocracy of the Heian period (794–1185), wrote an account of 20 years of her life (from 954–74), and this autobiographical text now gives readers access to a woman’s experience of a thousand years ago.

The diary centers on the author’s relationship with her husband, Fujiwara Kaneie, her kinsman from a more powerful and prestigious branch of the family than her own. Their marriage ended in divorce, and one of the author’s intentions seems to have been to write an anti-romance, one that could be subtitled, “I married the prince but we did not live happily ever after.” Yet, particularly in the first part of the diary, Michitsuna’s Mother is drawn to record those events and moments when the marriage did live up to a romantic ideal fostered by the Japanese tradition of love poetry. At the same time, she also seems to seek the freedom to live and write outside the romance myth and without a husband.

Since the author was by inclination and talent a poet and lived in a time when poetry was a part of everyday social intercourse, her account of her life is shaped by a lyrical consciousness. The poems she records are crystalline moments of awareness that vividly recall the past. This new translation of the Kagerō Diary conveys the long, fluid sentences, the complex polyphony of voices, and the floating temporality of the original. It also pays careful attention to the poems of the text, rendering as much as possible their complex imagery and open-ended quality. The translation is accompanied by running notes on facing pages and an introduction that places the work within the context of contemporary discussions regarding feminist literature and the genre of autobiography and provides detailed historical information and a description of the stylistic qualities of the text.

WARNING! THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD!

This one. WOW. I read the description and couldn't believe I would have the chance to read a book from 954. 954. And written by a woman! Who was an important part of society! 

I'll admit that I didn't appreciate the translation at first. But it became SUPER helpful. That's also why I added her up there with the author; she explained cultural references, festivals and traditions, geographical locations, and just details of the people and time that are different from our own. Literally half of the book was translation; on the right page was the actual book and the left page was notes. I can't remember if I bring up the translator in my musings...she deserved her own paragraph for the incredible work!

So, as it says in the translation, the book mostly covers her marriage. It starts out well, but doesn't take too long before he's cheating. Although I seem to remember a note that she was the second wife, so I'm slightly confused on that. Anyway they live in separate houses, and he starts to visit her less and less, but they do exchange poems. I'll start my thoughts with this one, cause it made me giggle: 

"Although I thought 
you no longer thought of me,
nor I of you? 
'Hey, return the arrow,' 
you said and I was startled"

The formality of the poems was fascinating. The paper they used was intentional, and it made a difference if the person wrote themselves or had a servant write for them. They also attached the poem to some sort of flower or branch. It was really intentional and intimate, and very beautiful. 

And back to the husband. Turns out assholes have pretty much been the same throughout history! He's pretty open about the cheating and doesn't see a problem with it. He's firmly in the "boys will be boys" camp. At one point she's mad at him about cheating, and he basically tells her she can complain to someone else. Later he writes to her "it's not that my heart has changed; it is you who keep seeing everything I do in a bad light." Is there a way to see cheating in a good light? 

Eventually, the author needs a purpose and takes in a young girl that her husband fathered. He'd all but disappeared, but suddenly he's interested again. Seems like putting lemon juice in a papercut. But, of course, he eventually fully loses interest again. 

She does not hold back her annoyance though! She talks about "that constantly upsetting person" ...and I just laughed so hard. Every wife understands being completely in love and also being SO FUCKING IRRITATED by him. But, uh, she maybe should have been more mad. (Okay, L, remember that multiple wives was common)

Then there's her depression. Heartbreaking. 

"Thus, the years and months have piled up. As I lament that this has not been the life I wanted, even the voices of well-wishers mingled with the birds signing anew brings no happiness; all the more I sense how fleeting everything is; the feeling arises-- Am I, is the world, here or not-- this could be called The diary of a mayfly or the shimmering heat on a summer's day." 

I could FEEL her pain. She was so open and honest with her thoughts and disappointments. She was so desolate at points. She would hear his entourage passing by her gate and hope he'd stop. She tried to tell him how she felt, she tried getting mad, she tried ignoring him. He never grasped, or maybe just didn't care, how he was treating her. 

She gets so depressed that she makes a pilgrimage to the mountains, and then just keeps staying there. He sends people to try and bring her back--the arguments are mostly that people will talk, and the husband will be offended. Finally he all but forces her to come back, and wants her to just snap out of it. Their son starts to be promoted in the government, so she focuses on that and (in my opinion) is able to bring herself back. 

Her descriptions of nature are nothing short of masterpieces. They truly painted a picture. "These days the sky has mended its complexion and the air feels soft and gently. A breeze that is neither warm nor cold wafts through the plums and invites the warbler. One hears the peaceful voices of the chickens in the garden. Gazing up to the roof, one sees the sparrows chirping as they go in and out from under the tiles building their nests. The garden grasses raise faces released from the ice." 

Absolutely gorgeous. 

So, if I haven't been clear, I loved this one. It's so REAL. It's from an entirely different reality, basically, and it was still relatable and relevant. I felt like I was watching her life, as if she was somewhat of a friend. And the translator helped immensely with that. Reading this book felt like a whole experience. One woman writes about her life, another woman put her work into translation and interpretation, and a third woman (me) had the privilege of following them on the ride. Read it. GO. Read it.