Imatge de l'autor
68+ obres 3,736 Membres 21 Ressenyes 2 preferits

Sobre l'autor

Donald Keene was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 18, 1922. He was a child prodigy and entered Columbia University on scholarship in 1938 at the age of 16. He received a bachelor's degree in 1942, a master's degree in 1947, and a doctoral degree in 1951 from Columbia. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, mostra'n més he enlisted in the Navy and volunteered to study Japanese. His first experience as a translator came in Hawaii, where he worked on routine military reports captured from Japanese units in the Pacific theater. He then became a wartime interrogator after the battle in Okinawa on April 1, 1945. After he was discharged, he taught at Columbia University for 56 years. Over his career, he translated many of the most important works of Japanese literature into English. He also wrote numerous books in both English and Japanese including Dawn to the West and Travelers of the Ages. In 1985, he became the first non-Japanese to receive the Yomiuri Prize for Literature for literary criticism. He became a Japanese citizen in 2012. He died on February 24, 2019 at the age of 96. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra'n menys
Crèdit de la imatge: Aurelio Asiain @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ionushi/323766792/

Sèrie

Obres de Donald Keene

Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 1 (1958) — Editor — 445 exemplars
Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2 (1958) — Editor — 192 exemplars
Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu (1961) — Traductor — 158 exemplars
Sources of Japanese tradition (1958) 102 exemplars
Travelers of a Hundred Ages (1989) 72 exemplars
20 Plays of the No Theatre (1970) 53 exemplars
Anthology of Chinese literature (1965) 53 exemplars
Five Modern Japanese Novelists (2003) 30 exemplars
Living Japan (1955) 30 exemplars
Eikoh Hosoe: Kamaitachi (2009) 26 exemplars
No and Bunraku (1990) 24 exemplars
Some Japanese Portraits (1979) 16 exemplars
The Blue-Eyed Tarokaja (1996) 8 exemplars
Letteratura Giapponese 1962 (1953) 3 exemplars
Meeting with Japan (1975) 3 exemplars
日本の文学 (1979) 2 exemplars
Travels in Japan 2 exemplars
Friends 1 exemplars
30 Things Japanese 1 exemplars
Un occidental en Japón (2011) 1 exemplars

Obres associades

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1956) — Introducció, algunes edicions2,378 exemplars
No Longer Human (1948) — Traductor, algunes edicions2,345 exemplars
Death in Midsummer and Other Stories (1953) — Traductor, algunes edicions864 exemplars
After the Banquet (1960) — Traductor, algunes edicions635 exemplars
Essays in Idleness (1330) — Traductor, algunes edicions535 exemplars
Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers): A Puppet Play (1748) — Traductor, algunes edicions260 exemplars
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (0010) — Traductor, algunes edicions212 exemplars
Five Modern Nō Plays (1956) — Traductor, algunes edicions160 exemplars
The Tale of the Shining Princess (1833) — Translator of Original Story — 143 exemplars
Madame de Sade (1967) — Traductor, algunes edicions125 exemplars
Introducing Kyoto (1979) — Pròleg — 41 exemplars
Early Light (2022) — Traductor, algunes edicions36 exemplars
The Major Plays of Chikamatsu (1961) — Traductor — 36 exemplars
Three Plays by Kobo Abe (1993) — Traductor, algunes edicions35 exemplars
From a Ruined Empire: Letters--Japan, China, Korea 1945-46 (1975) — Col·laborador — 21 exemplars
Kyoto: Compiled by the City of Kyoto — Traductor — 2 exemplars

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Membres

Converses

Donald Keene has retired. a Japanese Culture (maig 2011)

Ressenyes

I love you Eikoh Hosoe (Read at the University of Auckland Library)
 
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yuef3i | Sep 19, 2021 |
Huge book; short review.

Voluminous, informed ... but kinda boring: how was all that made so ... boring? Good passages, but overall just too much work. Look at how many other reviewers gave up on "A Distant Mirror" (I finished)

Structurally, the problem is that no real superstructure was presented, just a long disconnected series of follies, deaths & betrothments. One hundred years war, the plague shouldn't be boring, but successfully, they were.

5 stars for content
2 stars for interest, reader captivation
3 stars for me.
… (més)
 
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GirlMeetsTractor | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Mar 22, 2020 |
This is a rather slight work by a great scholar of Japanese history and literature, describing the political futility and great cultural impact of the Ashikaga shogun Yoshimasa. As shogun he was very ineffectual, and his mismanagement of the designation of his successor set off the Onin War which raged in Kyoto for ten years and almost completely destroyed the city, as well as the power of the shogunate, leading to the situation in which Japan was dominated by rival regional warlords (daimyo). However the main focus of the book is not on Yoshimasa's feeble politics but on his influential contributions to Japanese culture --in gardening, poetry, the tea ceremony, No plays, Buddhism, and especially architecture, with the creation of the famous Silver Pavilion in a restrained subtle style that later came to be seen as typically Japanese. It is very informative if one can bear reading about the devastation that Yoshimasa largely ignored while creating his artistic achievements. 80, 000 people died of famine in Kyoto while he spent lavishly on his palace.… (més)
 
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antiquary | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Feb 7, 2020 |


A Distant Mirrorr by Barbara W. Tuchman is, on one level, a seven hundred page encyclopedia of the 14th century’s political, military, religious, social, cultural and economic history. Since Ms. Tuchman is a first-rate writer, on still another level, the book is a compelling, personalized account of individual men and women living through these turbulent, disastrous times, especially one Enguerrand de Coucy V11 (1340-1397), a high-ranking noble, heralded as “the most experienced and skillful of all the knights of France”. The focus on Lord Coucy is supremely appropriate since this nobleman repeatedly pops up as a prime player in many of the century’s key events.

The 14th century witnessed ongoing devastation, including the little ice age, the hundred years’ war, the papal schism, the peasant’s revolt and, most dramatically, the black death of 1348-1350, which depopulated Europe by as much as half. Ms. Tuchman’s book covers it all in twenty-seven chapters, chapter with such headings as Decapitated France: The Bourgeois Rising and the Jacquerie, The Papal Schism, The Worms of the Earth Against the Lions and Dance Macabre.

Many pages are filled with the color and morbidity of the times. By way of example, here is one memorable happening where the French Queen gave a masquerade to celebrate the wedding of a twice widowed lady-in-waiting: six young noblemen, including the King who recently recovered from a bout of madness, disguised themselves as wood savages and entered the masked ball making lewd gestures and howling like wolves as they paraded and capered in the middle of the revelers. When one of the noble spectators came too close with his torch, a spark fell and a few moments later the wood savages, with the exception of the King, were engulfed in flames. Afterwards, the French populace was horrified by this ghastly tragedy, a perverse playing on the edge of madness and death nearly killing their King.


And here is what the author has to say about the young man who concocted the wood savage idea, “The deviser of the affair “cruelest and most insolent of men,” was one Huguet de Guisay, favored in the royal circle for his outrageous schemes. He was a man of “wicked life” who “corrupted and schooled youth in debaucheries,” and held commoners and the poor in hatred and contempt. He called them dogs, and with blows of sword and whip took pleasure in forcing them to imitate barking. If a servant displeased him, he would force the man to lie on the ground and, standing on his back, would kick him with spurs, crying, “Bark, dog!” in response to his cries of pain.” All of the chapters are chock full with such sadistic and violent sketches.

Speaking of the populate, there is plenty of detail on the habits and round of daily life of the common people. And, of course, there is a plethora of detail on the lives of the upper classes. Here is a snippet of one description: “In the evening minstrels played with lutes and harps, reed pipes, bagpipes, trumpets, kettle drums, and cymbals. In the blossoming of secular music as an art in the 14th century, as many as thirty-six different instruments had come into use. If no concert or performance was scheduled after the evening meal, the company entertained each other with song and conversation, tales of the day’s hunting, “graceful questions” on the conventions of live, and verbal games.”

As in any age, it makes for more comfortable living being at the top rather than at the bottom of the social scale. And all those musical instruments speak volumes about how the 14th century was a world away from the plainchant of the early middle ages. In a way, the 14th century musical avant-garde fit in well with the fashions of the times: extravagant headdresses, multicolored, bejeweled jackets and long pointed shoes. For those who had the florins, overindulgence was all the rage.



Ms. Tuchman offers ongoing commentary: for example, regarding military engagement, she cites how the 14th century nobility was too wedded to the idea of glory and riding horses on the battlefield to be effective against the new technology of the long-bow and foot soldiers with pikes. And here is a general, overarching comment about the age, “The times were not static. Loss of confidence in the guarantors of order opened the way to demands for change, and miseria gave force to the impulse. The oppressed were no longer enduring but rebelling, although, like the bourgeois who tried to compel reform, they were inadequate, unready, and unequipped for the task.” Indeed, reading about 14th century economic upheaval one is reminded of Karl Marx’s scathing observations four hundred years later.

On a personal note, my primary interests are literature and philosophy; I usually do not read history. However, if I were to recommend one history book, this is the book. Why? Because Ms. Tuchman’s work is not only extremely well written and covers many aspects of the period’s art, music, literature, religion and mysticism, but the turbulent, transitional 14th century does truly mirror our modern world. Quite a time to be alive.
… (més)
 
Marcat
Glenn_Russell | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Nov 13, 2018 |

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Izumi Shikibu Contributor
Ki no Suemochi Contributor
Yamanoue Okura Contributor
Fujiwara no Umakai Contributor
Prince Ōtsu Contributor
Kenneth Rexroth Translator
Arthur Waley Translator
Lady Ōtomo Contributor
Lady Kasa Author
Tajihi Contributor
Princess Hirokawa Contributor
Ki no Tsurayuki Contributor
Emperor Yūryaku Contributor
Emperor Jomei Contributor
Ōtomo Yakamochi Contributor
F. Vos Translator
Ono no Komachi Contributor
Mibu no Tadamine Contributor
Richard Lane Translator
Lady Akazome Emon Contributor
Mibu no Tadami Contributor
The Priest Egyō Contributor
Lady Ukon Contributor
Semimaru Contributor
S. W. Sargent Translator
Sakai no Hitozane Contributor
Ki no Tomonori Contributor
Sōjō Henjō Contributor
Ise Contributor
Princess Okū Contributor
Matsuo Bashō Contributor
Barry Jackman Translator
Fukami Tanrō Illustrator
Janine Beichman Translator
James A. O'Brien Translator
Royall Tyler Translator
Susan Matisoff Translator
Karen Brazell Translator
Calvin French Translator
Eileen Kato Translator
Carl Sesar Translator
H. Paul Varley Translator
Unkoku Toteki Cover artist
W. H. H. Norman Translator
Howard Hibbett Translator
Robert H. Brower Translator
Nenjiro Inagaki Illustrator
Shiko Munakata Cover artist
Glenn Hughes Translator
Ivan Morris Translator
Yozan T. Iwasaki Translator
Shio Sakanishi Translator
G. W. Sargent Translator
Roy Kuhlman Cover designer
Arthur E Tiedemann Contributor
Tony Gonzalez Translator
Motoichi Izawa Illustrator

Estadístiques

Obres
68
També de
17
Membres
3,736
Popularitat
#6,781
Valoració
3.9
Ressenyes
21
ISBN
140
Llengües
4
Preferit
2

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