bibliowrecka's review
3.0
This was okay, though not as fascinating and readable for me as Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book. The introduction by Seidensticker is definitely dated, as whoever checked out my copy before me noted several times in the margins. I think I'd like to read a more recent translation of this to see if my opinion changes. Yes, the author is self-centered and whiny and her complaints got old fairly quickly, but the fact that her diary is so very open and personal shows the hardships that underlie even the most wealthy or well-placed woman in Heian society.
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