Book Description
In Ghostly Japan collects twelve stories from celebrated author Lafcadio Hearn. Some of these stories are ghostly and ghastly, while others are wonderfully benign. Whether he's telling a ghost story or explaining a Buddhist proverb, Hearn's writings are never less than enthralling.
Download Description
One night, at a very late hour, Tomozo heard the voice of a woman in his master's apartment; and this made him uneasy. He feared that Shinzaburo, being very gentle and affectionate, might be made the dupe of some cunning wanton,--in which event the domestics would be the first to suffer. He therefore resolved to watch; and on the following night he stole on tiptoe to Shinzaburo's dwelling, and looked through a chink in one of the sliding shutters. By the glow of a night-lantern within the sleeping-room, he was able to perceive that his master and a strange woman were talking together under the mosquito-net.
Customer Reviews:
Like Meeting a Buddha in Hell.......2007-01-01
In my snobbier moments I'm somewhat annoyed when people read a book because they saw its movie adaptation. Why not start at the source? It's a sad, sad day indeed when it takes Hollywood to get people to sit down with a good, classic book. Etcetera etcetera. Well, here I am, guilty of much the same, the karmic consequences of my snobbery having come back around to bite me. Years ago I saw the film "Kwaidan" (based on Lafcadio Hearn's retellings of traditional Japanese ghost tales) and loved it, and that's basically what inspired me to read "In Ghostly Japan" here. Which means that I was misled by the title just a bit, for this book is a mixed bag of short pieces, some of which are ghost tales but many of which are not, or not exactly anyway. This was a pleasant surprise, however. Hearn writes of Buddhism in real, down-to-earth Japanese culture (for this, if anything, is the overarching theme of the miscellany, the ghost stories being folkloric examples of Buddhist causality and karma) in an eloquent, personal style redolent of the Romantic flowing rhythms of late 19th-century prose but undergirded by a very solid but understated, unpretentious erudition. The guy knows what he's talking about. His keenly observant and sympathetic eye catches how Buddhism really operates in the Japanese imagination and how it manifests in proverbs and customs and such, but he then goes on to shed much light on these phenomena by analyzing and interpreting them in terms of formal Buddhist scriptures and doctrines--all of which sounds like pretty dry stuff, but it's actually enjoyable and fascinating, even entertaining, due to Hearn's wonderful presentation. Somehow he transcended the tired, misleading "great tradition"/"little tradition" dichotomy (a.k.a. the elite/folk religion dichotomy) before it even started and deftly avoided the twin pitfalls of Anthropology and Buddhist Studies early in the game--all without a bunch of tedious methodological navel-meditating. And what's more, he did so in style! The spooky tales of the karmically unquiet are cool too, of course. Once you start reading, there's not a ghost of a chance you'll be able to put this book down.
A study of Japanese ghostly traditions.......2003-10-13
"In Ghostly Japan" is a collection of old ghost stories, traditions dealing with ghosts, and personal ruminations on the afterlife by the turn-of-the-century Japanese scholar Lufcadio Hearn.
Much of the collection is short essays on Japanese traditions such as "Incense," and how incense relates to ghosts in terms of the Shinto and Buddhist religion. There is a true story of an accurate fortune teller know to the author, in "A Story of Divination." "Bits of Poetry" and "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" translates and teaches several bits of Japanese lore as they relate to the world of the dead.
Some essays, such as "Silkworms," are pure conjecture, relating the human ideals of paradise to the daily lives of silkworms. "Suggestion" is a conversation between the author and a monk on the nature of gender and re-birth in the Buddhist tradition.
Of true ghost stories, there are few. Many of the ghost stories, such as "Furisode," begin with a short lesson about something Japanese, in this case a long-sleeved Kimono known as a Furisode, and then relates a ghost story dealing with the object. Some, such as "Ingwa-banashi," are pure chilling horror that make you cringe. Other true ghost stories in this collection are "Story of a Tengu," "Ululation," "Fragment" and "A Passional Karma."
One of my favorites, a short story called "At Yaidzu," tells of the author swimming out amongst the Obon lanterns, which are put to see to guide home the spirits of the dead, and the feeling he gets being in the Ocean amongst the returning dead. Truly creepy.
All in all, "In Ghostly Japan" is a bit more scholarly than ghastly. The writing style is like many books from the 1880's, a bit dry and non-thrilling. It is a good resource for learning about the Ghostly traditions of Japan, but those seeking a collection of Japanese ghost stories will be disappointed.
Highly Respected in Japan.......2003-10-01
Lafcadio Hearn was one of the most respected English writers on Japanese History and Culture. He is highly respected in Japan to this day. This book is a treasure, and the Incense Chapter contains information on incense you can't find anywhere else.
In some cases the Japanese (romaji) is difficult to reference because the style is not the same as the modern spelling. Also, some references are hard to track under the titles given, but it is a great book just the same.
A study of Japanese ghostly traditions.......2002-09-29
"In Ghostly Japan" is a collection of old ghost stories, traditions dealing with ghosts, and personal ruminations on the afterlife by the turn-of-the-century Japanese scholar Lufcadio Hearn.
Much of the collection is short essays on Japanese traditions such as "Incense," and how incense relates to ghosts in terms of the Shinto and Buddhist religion. There is a true story of an accurate fortune teller know to the author, in "A Story of Divination." "Bits of Poetry" and "Japanese Buddhist Proverbs" translates and teaches several bits of Japanese lore as they relate to the world of the dead.
Some essays, such as "Silkworms," are pure conjecture, relating the human ideals of paradise to the daily lives of silkworms. "Suggestion" is a conversation between the author and a monk on the nature of gender and re-birth in the Buddhist tradition.
Of true ghost stories, there are few. Many of the ghost stories, such as "Furisode," begin with a short lesson about something Japanese, in this case a long-sleeved Kimono known as a Furisode, and then relates a ghost story dealing with the object. Some, such as "Ingwa-banashi," are pure chilling horror that make you cringe. Other true ghost stories in this collection are "Story of a Tengu," "Ululation," "Fragment" and "A Passional Karma."
One of my favorites, a short story called "At Yaidzu," tells of the author swimming out amongst the Obon lanterns, which are put to see to guide home the spirits of the dead, and the feeling he gets being in the Ocean amongst the returning dead. Truly creepy.
All in all, "In Ghostly Japan" is a bit more scholarly than ghastly. The writing style is like many books from the 1880's, a bit dry and non-thrilling. It is a good resource for learning about the Ghostly traditions of Japan, but those seeking a collection of Japanese ghost stories will be disappointed.
Book Description
Kwaidan translates from the Japanese as weird tales, which perfectly describes these haunting stories.
This collection of supernatural tales includes a musician called upon to perform for the dead, man-eating goblins, and insects who uncannily mimic human behavior. A perfect treat for fans of the strange and otherworldly.
Customer Reviews:
Kwaidan review.......2006-02-24
This book is a very readable series of very short stories
of Japan, followed in the latter part of the book by some
reflections on the part of the author, a Westerner living in
Japan one hundred years ago. It is of interest to read of
such cultural diversity, mythology and relgious views.
The author's book, IN GHOSTLY JAPAN, was a much better collection of Japanese lore, in that the stories were longer
and lent themselves to greater character development and
complexity. Nevertheless, I know of no other author who translates Japanese myths, and both books are worthwhile.
Japan's most famous collection of ghost and monster tales.......2005-06-12
"Kwaidan" is Hearn's most famous book, and justifiably so. It is the least academic of his works, collecting together some of Japan's core ghost and monster stories into one slim volume. Much like the Brothers Grimm, Hearn did not actually create these stories but rather compiled them and put them into written form for the first time, learning them from folk tales and storytellers.
Along with famous, "Kwaidan" is Hearn's most influential book. "The Story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi" is as well-known in Japan as "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is in the United States. The "Yuki Onna" has made it into a few films, including Kurosawa's "Dreams" and the filmed version of this book, "Kwaidan."
The stories themselves are of excellent quality, ranging from spooky ghost tales to humorous tales of wandering monks encountering monsters. Each story ranges from 5-15 pages long.
Along with the stories are three insect studies, the likes of which can be found in all Hearn books. These are excellent academic studies of insects in traditional Japanese folk lore, including children's songs and haiku poetry involving insects.
Included are:
The story of Mimi-nashi Hoichi
Oshidori
The story of O-Tei
Ubazakura
Diplomacy
Of a mirror and a bell
Jikininki
Mujina
Rokuro-kubi
A dead secret
Yuki-Onna
The story of Aoyagi
Jiu-Roku-Zakura
The dream of Akinosuke
Riki-Baba
Hi-Mawari
Horai
Insect Studies -
Butterfiles
Mosquitos
Ants
Kwaidan is Hauntingly Beautiful.......2001-02-20
Kwaidan, is a book of Chinese ghost stories, all of them strange and fascinating. The movie of the same title, based on this book, was one of the most beautiful works of art that I have ever seen brought to film. Kwaidan the movie, inspired me to read Kwaidan the book. Some of the stories from this book were used in the movie, but there are many more tales in the book, that are a joy to read. This book is a quick read, but I think that you should read one or two stories, savor them, put down the book, and read more stories at a later date. Kwaidan is like a fine wine, to be enjoyed slowly over time, appreciated, and come back to revisit again and again. Both the book and movie are a rare treat not to be missed, and both must be experienced to be appreciated. If your senses need something different to stimulate them, then I very highly recommend Kwaidan the book, and Kwaidan the movie, you will love them both.
Spooky Old Tales.......2000-10-25
This collection of 17 old stories from Japan was collected and translated by a well-known ethnographer, and first published in English in 1904. The tales are old folk stories (urban legends if you will) mostly dealing with ghosts and the spirit world. Many feature the theme of a spirit who takes a human form to disguise their true nature. Another common theme concerns the uneasy spirit who must be appeased in some form. They are fairly charming old-fashioned stories, which vary considerably in length. The final three sections ("Butterflies," "Mosquitoes," "Ants") are more like meditations on the three subjects and don't really fit into the ghost story theme of the rest of the book. Four of the tales were made into an excellent Japanese movie in 1964.
An interesting and sometimes chilling book.......1999-02-18
I'm not familiar with the Twelve Point Series, but the Tuttle version I have of the Kwaidan -- a collection of traditional Japanese "strange tales" -- is an entertaining book. Some of the stories strike Westerners as just plain silly, while others actually gave me chills. Nonetheless, they are all part of the fabric of traditional Japanese culture, just as urban legends like the one of the young couple at the lake with the killer with a hook for a hand on the loose (eek!!) is part of our American heritage.
Book Description
A book that deeply influenced the young Freud and was the inspiration for many artists,
The Temptation of Saint Anthony was Flaubert’s lifelong work, thirty years in the making. Based on the story of the third-century saint who lived on an isolated mountaintop in the Egyptian desert, it is a fantastical rendering of one night during which Anthony is besieged by carnal temptations and philosophical doubt.
This Modern Library Paperback Classic reproduces the distinguished Lafcadio Hearn translation, which translator Richard Sieburth calls “a splendid period piece from one of America’s premier translators of nineteenth-century French prose. In Lafcadio Hearn’s Latinate rendering, Flaubert’s experimental drama of the modern consciousness reads as weirdly as its oneiric original.”
Customer Reviews:
Good for understanding Flaubert as well as religeous history.......2000-11-09
As others have noted, this book is particularly helpful when trying to understand Flaubert and his other works. The popularly read Madame Bovary in particular features a character, Homais, who continually tries to impose his own ideas about religeon on people who aren't even interested in listening... it is interesting to see, though, where views similar to Homais' come out in the Temptation of St. Anthony.
The work itself is written like a play, though to do this on stage would be an interesting feat. It would perhaps better take the form of film, such as Bunuel's Simon in the Desert.
For those interested in getting in to studying early Christian movements following the death of Christ, although this will hardly serve as a textbook, Flaubert seems to have had a broad repetoir of little known (today, at least) historical facts and facets that will help point an aspiring student in the right direction.
Though hardly light reading, and probably of little appeal to those who do not have an interest in either Flaubert, French literature, or religeon, the trials and tribulations Antony is subjected to through one night of temptation will be at the least entertaining, if not enlightening, to a few.
A Metatext.......2000-08-15
This is a work that should not be neglected by those interested in Flaubert or by lovers of French Literature. It's format resembles an old-fashioned cyclorama, which was basically a revolving canvas, portraying various interpretive images to an audience that would be seated in the middle of a room. Or it may recall the same period's "magic lantern" which would produce a similar effect, projecting a series of images on a flat wall, the precursor of modern cinema.
Flaubert ushered in an entirely new sensibility to the world of letters. He reinvented the concept of the literary artist as word-and world shaper. The word is the world and vice-versa. No writer ever engaged in such a Herculean struggle to shape every word, every sentence, every image, every assonance or consonance to perfectly conform to his intention.
Flaubert engaged in a kind of ascetisism his entire adult life, which is hardly news, but is central to an understanding of this work and to his attraction towards St. Anthony for a protagonist. Flaubert was for many years a kind of hermit in his study at Croisset, where he retired to his study to read books and write novels. He had contact with his mother and adopted niece and wrote letters to a mistress (Louise Collet, and later to George Sand) along with a few male friends. He would make brief sojourns into Paris, but for the most part, stayed to himself in his provincial hideaway. What he dreamt of there, besides his most famous works (Madame Bovary and L'Education Sentimentale) were reveries such as this novel and Salammbo, another book set in the Near-East and equally evocative in terms of his treatment of that region's sensual and Byzantine richness.
"The Temptation" sparkles with some of Flaubert's most carefully and lovingly constructed imagery. It is the author's own homage to the fertility of his imagination. He never fathered a child literally that we know of, but this work and Salammbo were his ways of saying that he was fertile in all other respects. Each passing personage or creature is a seed sewn by this father of imagery.
One of the most senseless and ill-informed utterances in the annals of criticism is Proust's comment that Flaubert never created one memorable metaphor. Flaubert's entire cannon is one vast metaphor. They are evident in every sentence and every passage of every novel he ever wrote. This is particularly true in this work, as any informed reader will no doubt conclude after reading it.
One other area of recommendation extends to students of Gnosticism. Flaubert encapsulates much of the central theories of the early Gnostic Fathers and Apostles in a few well-delineated characterisations and brush strokes. I would also recommend the Penguin edition, edited and translated by Kitty Mrosovsky, for her introduction and notes. The only drawback I have with her is that she portrays Henry James as denigrating Flaubert's work, where in fact he generally effusively praises it. To those who can read it in its original text, I can only say I envy you and wish I were there.
Read this book!.......2000-07-27
This is a startling and brilliant piece of prose poetry that deserves to be more widely read; just don't expect anything like his more conventional novels. Indeed, don't read it expecting a novel at all; it reads more like a cross between modernist poetry and Medieval vision literature.
A work of interest to the Flaubert aficionado.......1998-05-14
This work is likely to challenge those readers used to Flaubert's more representative works, i.e. Madame Bovary, Sentimental Education, "A Simple Heart." The difficulty lies not in novelty. The Temptation of Saint Anthony harkens back to the morality drama "Everyman" and Erasmus' In Praise of Folly. History notables, mythical personages, and personified qualities appear. Saint Anthony converses with the Queen of Sheba, Apollonius, Buddha, Isis, Venus, the Devil, and the Sphinx. Other characters are simply titled "A Child", "The Old Man", "The Stranger", and so on. These and others occur in a narrative structure that in print resembles the layout of a play. This mode lends itself to Flaubert's ambition to expunge the author's present from the work in the way Yeat's Byzantine dancer is indistinguishable from the dance. As Ms. Mrosovsky says in her lucid and comprehensive introduction Flaubert was so armored of this work he revised it several times during his career. She makes a case for The Temptation to be considered a significant part of the Flaubertian cannon. Most academicians, however, do not agree with this assessment as evidenced by the fact Madame Bovary is easy to come by more than a century after the author's death and The Temptation is not. The exquisite descriptive passages plus the profundities Flaubert attributes to the characters are not enough to endow this book with the dramatic tension and irony a reader finds in his better known works. This is not to relegate the book to obscurity. An encounter with Saint Anthony brings a reader to a fuller appreciation of the master's stringent art illustrated by his more famous novels.
Customer Reviews:
Lafcadio hearn's Creole Cook Book.......2006-08-14
As usual, Lafcadio Hearn's meticulous description impressed me.
My wife tried one of Soup recipe, and we enjoyed the result a lot.
Kyo takahashi
A Piece of Creole History.......2000-09-12
As a true "cajun" who grew up on South Louisiana, I am interested in the history of cajun and creole culture, which is often centered around food. This book is a treasured piece of the history of creole cuisine in New Orleans. The text is sometimes hard to read, but the recipes are an authentic snapshot of what might have been the "standard" for New Orleans before the turn of the century. I am proud to have this book in my collection of early and historical Cajun and Creole cookbooks.
Customer Reviews:
A documentary prose artist.......2005-07-24
The impressionistic journalism of Lafcadio Hearn provides a more vivid first-hand picture of late nineteenth century America than any book I've read. As a classically-educated European and outsider with a penchant for the ghostly, Hearn's work also offers a nice counterpoint to Twain. The more fantastic passages (picturing a cotton press as a monster) Hearn himself later called too florid, but for the post-modern reader, it's a fitting route into old New Orleans. Few journalists of his day embraced places like Hearn. Having known destitution himself, Hearn writes from the bottom. He describes industry, architecture, manners, crime, clothes, furniture and flora while telling his stories. Those familiar with Hearn's later, more mature work in Japan know that he can both capture a society and retell a good ghost story, sometimes intertwining the two. I recommend this book to anyone seeking highly-visual, narrative vignettes of America's past underworlds.
Hearn on New Orleans.......2001-11-07
Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) is generally known for his groundbreaking work on the culture and folklore of Japan.
Less well known, despite the fact that it has been just as influential in its way, is the body of Hearn's Louisiana work. "Inventing New Orleans" -edited by S. Frederick Starr and published by University Press of Mississippi - is an admirable collection of Hearn's writings from the decade he spent in New Orleans prior to leaving the U.S. - first for Martinique and then, ultimately, Japan. From 1878 until 1888 Hearn lived in The Crescent City, and through a series of news articles, editorials, reviews, literary sketches (most published in the New Orleans "Daily City Item" and the New Orleans "Times-Democrat") and two studies of Creole culture, fashioned the romantic idea of New Orleans as a city of mystery, magic and wantonness that has endured to the present day. Nothing short of prolific, Hearn also translated books from the French and penned stories, poems, belles letters and a novel while in New Orleans.
"Inventing New Orleans" includes a small (considering Hearn's output) but thoroughly enjoyable selection of this material. The book is comprised of four sections as follows:
I. The Outsider as Insider: Impressions
II. From the Land of Dreams: Sketches
III. Of Vices and Virtues: Editorials
IV. Reports from the Field: Longer Studies
Sections I and II, each very similar in style and subject matter, are my personal favorites. Here, Hearn describes and discourses upon a variety of subjects pertaining to the City Care Forgot in a slice-of-life literary manner. Hearn's first impressions of New Orleans, famous residents of the city (the most well known of which is no doubt Marie Laveau), legends, traditions and myriad topical observations will be found in these pages.
Section III consists of a selection of editorials written for the "Daily City Item" and the "Times-Democrat". It is here that we see Hearn exercising his judgmental pen against political agendas to which he did not subscribe and social ills which he felt to be harming the city. He could not have been popular with the New Orleans police, for instance, judging from the scathing indictments against their alleged corruption to be found in this section.
Section IV includes selections from Hearn's two studies of Creole Culture: "La Cuisine Creole" and "Gombo Zhebes: Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs. . .". I personally found the former, essentially a cookbook, to be rather dry reading. Those interested in culinary arts will no doubt find much of interest here. The latter is a collection of Creole proverbs, as the title implies, and is a joy to read for those interested in language and a glimpse into the social mind of the lost Creole culture.
All of this is preceded by an erudite introduction (written by the editor) which provides an overview and definition of Southern writing as well as an excellent thumbnail biography of Lafcadio Hearn.
If you are an admirer of Lafcadio Hearn or simply one who has known the haunting charms of The Crescent City, "Inventing New Orleans" will provide you with pages and pages of reading delight.
Average customer rating:
|
Shadowings
Lafcadio Hearn
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O6LA2W |
Book Description
Journalist-by-trade Lafcadio Hearn used his wanderer's eye and guileless, graceful style to provide elegant chronicles for an English-speaking world fascinated by the exotic sensibilities of Japan. He set himself apart from others who attempted to translate the life and culture of this island country through his ability to reveal the truth of his subjects artfully-flawlessly exemplifying the Japanese aesthetic through his voice, as well as through his tale. In Kotto, first published in 1902, Hearn placed classical fables next to his own discoveries (of a woman's diary, for example) and reflections on the timeless themes of life, death, and meaning, showcasing the simple beauty and ever-present spirituality that define the Japanese ideology. Bohemian and writer PATRICK LAFCADIO HEARN (1850-1904) was born in Greece, raised in Ireland, and worked as newspaper reporter in the United States before decamping to Japan. He also wrote In Ghostly Japan (1899), and Kwaidan (1904).
Average customer rating:
|
Children of the Levee
Lafcadio Hearn
Manufacturer: University of Kentucky Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
 History
| Subjects
| Books
| Africa
| Americas
| Ancient
| Arctic & Antarctica
| Asia
| Audiobooks
| Australia & Oceania
| Europe
| Gay & Lesbian
| Historical Study
| Large Print
| Middle East
| Military
| Military Science
| Russia
| United States
| World
African-American Studies
| Special Groups
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0007DMI0K |
Book Description
Originally published in 1885, Gombo Zhebes is a collection of 352 Creole proverbs selected from 6 dialects. Included are selections from the Creole of French Guyana, the Creole of Haiti, the Creole of New Orleans, the Creole of Martinique, the Creole of Mauritius, and the Creole of Trinidad. The proverbs are translated into French and into English.
Books:
- Job Challenge Profile: Participant's Workbook
- John Maynard Keynes: 1883-1946: Economist, Philosopher, Statesman
- Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum Novels)
- Life of Pi
- Life Skills 101: A Practical Guide to Leaving Home and Living on Your Own
- Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach (4th Edition)
- Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4)
- Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living from the Inside Out: Every Woman's Guide to Real Beauty, Renewed Energy, and a Radiant Life
- Mark Twain: A Life
- Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Successful Manager's Handbook: Develop Yourself, Coach Others
- Exotic Animal Medicine for the Veterinary Technician
- The Treasure of Montsegur: A Novel of the Cathars
- War and Peace
- Angels on Sunset Boulevard
- History: Fiction or Science
- Condensed Protocols from Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual
- The Costs of Worker Dislocation
- Work with Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living
- An Imperfect Lens: A Novel
Kwaidan: Stories And Studies Of Strange Things
Japanese Ghosts and Demons: Art of the Supernatural
Japanese Tales (Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library)
Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Myths and Legends of Japan
