A review by miistical
Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death by Yoel Hoffmann

reflective fast-paced

4.0

And anyone who has seen a Japanese stand silently for a good hour to view the blossoming cherries in spring and the reddening maples in fall, or to gaze at the full moon in the autumn sky, knows that this is no mere gesture of aesthetic appreciation, but an act of worship.

I was not expecting such a thorough introduction to the concepts behind haiku. While it was great contextual and cultural knowledge, I do not feel as if Yoel Hoffmann used the space he was given to its greatest potential. His language is beautiful, but dry and dragging in certain places. I can appreciate his knowledge, but the execution of it was lacking. However, this does not extend to the annotations of the actual poetry.

If you have an interest in haiku or Japanese literature in general, then the poems themselves are a wonderful read. For an English-speaking reader, Hoffmann's additional information only heightened my enjoyment of the poetry. This isn't only about certain symbols or events non-Japanese people wouldn't know, but the stories behind the poems themselves. I might have really liked the wording of a haiku, but knowing what was happening in the author's life enhanced the experience.

Hoffmann was also smart in his separation of the monks from actual poets (though, of course, these two circles often overlapped). An untrained eye might not recognize the difference between the poems, but it is there nonetheless. Seeing the difference in how each group accepted their death, no matter circumstance or age, gave me new interest in a largely ignored art in Western countries.
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