cantordustbunnies's review against another edition
5.0
The translator not only provides explanatory notes but gives alternative translations of each poem: a standard version in English, the original Japanese with pronunciation, and a literal translation. Also included are paintings associated with each poem. More information would have been appreciated but this book is still quite excellent. Some poems within can be difficult to understand as a lot of their meaning hinges on word play that ultimately cannot be fully understood by an English speaker but the majority were perfectly clear and quite gorgeous.
alash612's review against another edition
3.0
I've read better interpretations of the poems however I really liked how the collator explains the literal meaning as well as the poetic. This collection of Japanese poems shows you how smart the golden age poets of Japan were very smart playing with Japanese phonetics and words to send hidden messages to their lovers through a poem that, at the first glance, describes a natural scenery
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